February 6, 2023 by Chris Kamalski
A Season of Disruption: Links from Our First Long-Form Series

*Editorial Note: It has been my deep privilege and honor to edit our first long-form series alongside Carol Cool, our Editorial Coordinator, who has recently transitioned off our team. Carol, we bless you as you step into the peace of this next season of life. May you experience the friendship of God in a felt sense in this coming season.

Thank you!

~Chris Kamalski, Editorial Director

 

 

A Review of Our First Long-Form Series

The Cambridge Dictionary defines disruption as “the action of preventing something, especially a system, process, or event, from continuing as usual or as expected.” Doesn’t this definition hit the nail square on its head in describing, well, pretty much every aspect of life in the Church over the past few years?

Our conviction is growing that communities of Jesus followers worldwide are undergoing a similar seismic shift in their praxis, values, and sense of formational approach to the challenges of our day.

We find ourselves asking crucial questions of formation, justice, and mission, including:

  1. Where is the Spirit of God on the move – in surprising, unexpected, and prophetic ways? (A question of missional praxis with God)
  2. How are the people of God being transformed to respond to the presence of God in this cultural moment? (A question of communal formation in Christ)
  3. What is the Church’s response to the deep and often chaotic disruption of the past few years? (A question of holistic justice in step with the Spirit)

We invited our writers to speak about this disruption in the life of the Church through the lens of culture, formation, the global church, theology, and witness – historically, the central framework through which we have written. Do these lenses still help us see with clarity? If not, how must they be adjusted for the Church to see the Kingdom in our midst once more?

Here’s what transpired over the past 3 months:

A Few Numbers to Geek Out On for a Minute

  • 34,171 words were published over the course of this series. This is the equivalent of a ~137 page book!
  • 14 writers (7 women, 7 men) contributed long-form pieces to this series. Missio deeply values this voice of mutuality.
  • 22 posts (including 6 two-part articles) over a course of 3 months were ultimately devoted to the subject of ‘Disruption in the Life of the Church.‘

Obviously, more could be said, but for an initial attempt, I think we said plenty (for now)!

 

 

As we pray and plan towards this crucial hinge point in Missio Alliance’s own story, it was amazing to see the integration of formation, justice, and mission naturally coming forth in our writers’ own chosen areas of focus, unprompted from our direction. Many, if not most, of these pieces already integrate formation, justice, and mission, let alone speak deeply from a place of well-considered theology, church history, missional witness, or cultural analysis, as has been true of Missio’s voice in its first decade of existence.

Here is our attempt to categorize these pieces in some form. We invite you to select several to return to, or reflect further on:

Formation

Justice

Mission

Chris Kamalski

Chris Kamalski facilitates space for Missio’s Writing Collective to thrive as Editorial Director, shaping both words and ideas to help our writers find and use their unique voice within the global Church. Born and raised in the Bay Area, he has lived in South Africa since 2009, married to Maxie, an Afrikaans South African. They have two amazing girls, Mia and Clara, and a furry son named Wally (their beloved Scottish terrier). Chris’s work and calling lies at the intersection of the holistic spiritual formation and leadership development of Christian leaders, particularly under-resourced leaders from the global south. He is a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach and long-time Spiritual Director with a D.Min in Leadership & Spiritual Formation from Portland Seminary.

Karina Kreminski

The Longest Night in the South: Winter is a Time for Enchantment

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Amber H. Jones

Sherene Joseph

Bethany Becker

Reflections on Wholeness and Beauty in the Life of the Church (Pt. 3)

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Amanda Hecht

Benjamin Park

Emily Beth Hill

Reflections on Wholeness and Beauty in the Life of the Church (Pt. 2)

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