thriving church

“The thriving church grows because growth is never its primary purpose. Mission is its primary purpose. Increasing participation and membership is a side effect – but it is an inevitable side effect. In the universal yearning for self-worth, inner meaning, and a noble destiny, people always discover that it is far more meaningful actively to give life away to the world, than passively to preserve life within the institution.”

Thomas G. Bandy from Kicking Habits

word and voice

I've been spending some time in John's Gospel lately. I love that book. In the first chapter, Jesus is The Word and John the Baptizer is The Voice. Clearly, it is a book about communication.

leadership

"If the Spirit of God is amongst the people of God then the role of leadership is not command and control, nor is the role of leadership to come up with the right plan. The role of leadership is to create the table… to cultivate the environments… to call into being the spaces where the people of God can begin to dream and imagine and experiment. And that’s not a […] program; it’s a way of life."

Dr. Alan Roxburgh

convert versus converse

There’s such a small difference in letters between convert and converse – between conversion and conversation. But their meanings diverge substantially. I have nothing against conversion, per se, except when someone tries to do it to me. It morphs into something more like coercion. I don’t like that at all. But engage me in a real conversation and there’s a chance that you might convert me to your way of thinking. I like conversation.

astonished

"Let us not be too sure we know the Bible just because we have learned not to be astonished by it" Thomas Merton (from Opening the Bible)