People can talk all day about missional strategy, external focused versus internal focused church, etc. etc. but if we do not have the means to shape a people dispositionally into God’s mission, missional church becomes another dead missiological theory. We need the means to shape a people who can see, hear, respond and participate in God’s work together in the world. This in essence is spiritual formation, the ways of discipleship we must cultivate in missional communities

To discuss all this, I recommend the Ecclesia network national gathering coming this February. We have Todd Hunter coming. He’s currently a Bishop within the western region of the Anglican Mission in America. Todd has years of experience in the area of mission & spiritual formation and has written some excellent books on the subject. He’s dynamic. We also have MaryKate Morse, professor of leadership and spiritual formation at George Fox University with us. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in equipping leaders in the area of spiritual formation. We have other practicioners speaking and leading discussions. I’ve been to alot of conferences in my time. None has been more refreshing than this one. I am not kidding. If you have it in your budget, and can make the time, I recommend it. Check it out here. I’ll be there and hope to see many good friends and co-laborers.

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UPDATE: In addition to the plenary sessions, Ecclesia announced the following workshops for the gathering. This line-up and listing of topics virtually covers the whole gamut of the spiritual formation of a missional community. I’m excited. To those interested in shaping/leading a missional community, this hits the nail on the head. Join us won’t you?

Re-Envisioning …

• Preaching & Teaching as Spiritual Formation – guided by David Fitch
• Leadership as Spiritual Formation – guided by Marykate Morse
• Worship & Liturgy as Spiritual Formation – guided by Todd Hunter
• Mid-Sized Communities as Spiritual Formation – guided by JR Woodward
• Small Groups as Spiritual Formation – guided by Doug Paul
• Justice as Spiritual Formation – guided by Corey Widmer & Don Coleman