Will Mancini

This post is not for everyone. First, its for followers of Jesus who really want to reach messy people groups with the gospel, including some entrenched in darker darkness. Second, its for people who live within Las Vegas or a Southwest airlines trip to there at cities like:

San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Reno, Sacramento, San Diego, Phoenix, Tucson, Albuquerque, etc.

Vault is one of the most unique equipping opportunities you will ever have. This mini-conference (noon to noon, Monday-Wednesday next week) will bring you deep inside the thinking and methods Vince Antonucci and Verve Church use in Las Vegas, which have led them to reach atheists, pimps, prostitutes, bikers, Wiccan witches, Buddhists, strippers, lesbians, and many more of the truly lost, the people Jesus called all of us all to reach. I have been onsite with Vince and his team two times- his church work is the real deal!

How can YOUR CHURCH go from reaching church shoppers to reaching people who don’t like church? That’s what Vault is all about, and you don’t want to miss the conversation!

This year special guest John Burke will be leading three sessions of Vault.  You may have seen John speak at Willow Creek’s Leadership Summit.  He’s the author of No Perfect People Allowed, and the church planter and pastor of Gateway, one of the most evangelistically effective churches in America. John will share principles you can use to reach people who are truly far from God.

I will be there sharing thoughts on redemptive passion and vision clarity. Most importantly I am bringing one of our Auxano navigators, Dave Saathoff, who has learned how to reach thousands of people, far from God in San Antonio, Texas.

The cost is only $125 (or $100 for groups of 2 or more), which includes three meals and book giveaways! The conference is limited to about 100 people, which provides for an amazing dynamic that promotes learning and relationships. But it also means that registration will fill up soon, so register today!

Churches are not franchises to be reproduced as exactly as possible wherever and whenever—in Rome and Moscow and London and Baltimore—the only thing changed being the translation of the menu. But if we don’t acquire a narrative sense, a story sense, with the expectation that we are each one of us uniquely ourselves—participants in the unique place and time and weather of where we live and worship—we will always be looking somewhere else or to a different century for a model by which we can be an authentic and biblical church. The usefulness of Acts as a story, and not a prescription or admonition, is that it keeps us faithful to the plot, Jesus, and at the same time free to respond out of our own circumstances and obedience.

Peterson, Eugene H. (2011). The Pastor: A Memoir (p. 119). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

In light of Peterson’s words, I ask again, “How is it going?” Or maybe the better question to ask is “Where have you been looking?”

It’s my dream that each pastor find the time and place for the authentic church.  And the amazing answer is “It’s right now, right where you are.”

If you are new to my blog, thanks for stopping by. You may want to consider a book I wrote about discovering the authentic church for your time and place. I called the book Church Unique to highlight what Eugene Peterson is talking about here. It’s really about entering more deeply into the context that God has placed you to develop your own model of ministry. It’s about faithfulness to The Plot rather than mimicking another person’s story.

I had lunch today with Jeff Meyer, lead pastor of “the Church” and lead navigator with Auxano. I asked him to share his Vision Frame to illustrate the power of clarity for everyday pastors.

Jeff is a very intentional leader and is gifted at coaching and consulting churches through their own clarity journey that we call the Vision Pathway. In addition, he is one of the few innovative practitioners with the LCMS (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod) in charting a new course, not just of multi-site, but of serious missional engagement. For example I love Jeff’s switch from “Every member a minister” commodity language to “Every member a missionary.” You might enjoy connecting with Jeff at jeffm@auxano.com or follow him on twitter: pjfire. In addition, he is speaking this week with Alan Hirsch and others at the FiveTwo conference in Houston.

One thing to remember as Jeff shares his four mission measures of “life-marks,” is that each one is broken down into four developmental areas, creating a dashboard with 16 spiritual growth areas.

Last Sunday, I worshipped with a a 6-month old church called Neartown, planted in the heart of Houston.  Russel Cravens skillfully ended his message, not with a plea for church membership, but a call join as mission partners.

But this language is not the move of church planters only. Well established churches like St. Andrews in Newport Beach, California are evaluating their language. Another example is the regional force known as Christ Fellowship in West Palm Beach, Florida. In a process with them two weeks ago, they passionately refused to call their folks “volunteers” out of preference for the meaning that comes with the role of “partners.”

What about your church?

Sure, we are so well entrenched in the language of church membership, you make think it’s absurd to ask. And after all, isn’t the idea of “church membership” biblical? Paul does use body imagery to boldly remind believers that,  ”so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another” (Rom. 12:5).

Despite it’s historic use and the viable connection to make with the Scriptures, I think its time for a shift. In fact, I think most churches would benefit dramatically from flushing the terminology of “church membership.” I recommend the change for one purpose: to make the mission of Jesus for His church more  clear and concrete in the hearts of our people.

Here are five reasons to start. You help me build the list!

#1 Membership is culturally hijacked terminology by its use from country clubs to platinum cards. Partnership is a term that carries less baggage and brings new metaphors biblically.

#2 Membership may emphasize privilege to the neglect of responsibility. Partnership emphasizes both.

#3 Membership could bring deeply rooted assumptions about church in general that are no longer valid for your church. Partnership creates an opportunity to reset expectations.

#4 Membership is a static. Partnership brings a sense of both action and direction.

#5 Membership is a relatively small portal for vision-casting. Partnership opens a dynamic metaphor range for future-orientation, impact, togetherness, adventure and risk-taking.  It captures the “sentness” of a missional reorientation.

Have you made the move yet?

If so, drop me a quick note to share what language you use.

The Church Unique Visual Summary has been a fun little project for me and the team at Auxano Design. I hope it helps you engage the concepts of Church Unique by way of review or for the first time, if you have not yet cracked the cover.

Check out the Visual Summary  full screen version in the reader below or download the PDF for free.

Who do you know who might benefit from the Visual Summary? Thanks for taking a moment to pass it on!