To kick thing off in terms of our “weekly conversations,” we wanted to highlight this workshop featuring Don Coleman of East End Fellowship in Richmond, VA and Kevin Haah of New City Church in Los Angeles, CA.
Workshop Description:
God’s Kingdom embraces people of all ethnicities, cultures, and socio-economic status. Unfortunately, very few of our churches reflect this kind of diversity. In this workshop, we will share the stories and theological visions behind the planting and pastoring of urban churches in Richmond, VA & Los Angeles, CA that have sought to embrace this kind of diversity. We will dialogue together about the ingredients and challenges of this much needed Kingdom-oriented work.
Using the code, FREE DOWNLOAD, you can download this 1-hour workshop session for free. This code is good all day Monday, June 17, 2013.
Once you listen to the workshop session, share your thoughts, reflection, stories, and questions in the comment section below. We’re testing out a Facebook commenting system in hopes to broaden the conversation to as many interested people as possible, so feel free to tag friends who you think would be interested in joining the conversation.
Missio Alliance Comment Policy
The Missio Alliance Writing Collectives exist as a ministry of writing to resource theological practitioners for mission. From our Leading Voices to our regular Writing Team and those invited to publish with us as Community Voices, we are creating a space for thoughtful engagement of critical issues and questions facing the North American Church in God’s mission. This sort of thoughtful engagement is something that we seek to engender not only in our publishing, but in conversations that unfold as a result in the comment section of our articles.
Unfortunately, because of the relational distance introduced by online communication, “thoughtful engagement” and “comment sections” seldom go hand in hand. At the same time, censorship of comments by those who disagree with points made by authors, whose anger or limited perspective taints their words, or who simply feel the need to express their own opinion on a topic without any meaningful engagement with the article or comment in question can mask an important window into the true state of Christian discourse. As such, Missio Alliance sets forth the following suggestions for those who wish to engage in conversation around our writing:
1. Seek to understand the author’s intent.
If you disagree with something the an author said, consider framing your response as, “I hear you as saying _________. Am I understanding you correctly? If so, here’s why I disagree. _____________.
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We deeply desire and value the voice and perspective of our readers. However you may react to an article we publish or a fellow commenter, we encourage you to set forth that reaction is the most constructive way possible. Use your voice and perspective to move conversation forward rather than shut it down.
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One of our favorite tenants is that “an enemy is someone whose story we haven’t heard.” Very often disagreements and rants are the result of people talking past rather than to one another. Everyone’s perspective is intimately bound up with their own stories – their contexts and experiences. We encourage you to couch your comments in whatever aspect of your own story might help others understand where you are coming from.
In view of those suggestions for shaping conversation on our site and in an effort to curate a hospitable space of open conversation, Missio Alliance may delete comments and/or ban users who show no regard for constructive engagement, especially those whose comments are easily construed as trolling, threatening, or abusive.