Tag Archives: missional

Moving from the center toward the margins

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When you (aka along with your social/ethnic/religious/political group) perceive that you are moving (being moved/”forced”) from the center of influence and power, it may feel like marginalization or discrimination simply because you/we/I experience a loss of privilege. When my privilege declines, whatever the reason, I am likely to experience grief and loss. This may translate into fear or anger.
Even when in the intellectual abstract I recognize that no one group should wield disproportionate influence, when my influence decreases I experience a disequilibrium. It may be this feeling is impossible to avoid, even if I chose and initiate the move away from the center.


As a Christian I need to be reminded that our faith is rooted in this move from the center toward the margins. This move is essential to God’s salvific work. The incarnation itself is God moving from power toward weakness (cf Col 1 & Phil 2). To begin his ministry Jesus moves from Jerusalem to Galilee. The penultimate act of God is submission to trial, conviction and crucifixion as a blasphemer and traitor (placed on the margin of society and culture).

Jesus is the embodiment of God moving from the center to the margin. Genesis 1-2, John 1 and Revelation 20-21 tell us that this is where God chooses and prefers to be – here with us.

What does this mean for the church today, in the West, in the US, here in Dallas? Will we follow God in this move toward the margin and release our hold on he centrality of our power and influence? What will such a move cost us? What will it gain us?

During this Lenten season, my desire is to move toward the margins together with the people of Central. One might argue that my arrival as the Senior Pastor of a church on the border of Highland Park is a move toward the center. This can’t be honestly argued against. And yet for me it is a dance – moving toward the center so that together we might move toward the margins. Clinging to past glory or privilege gains us nothing. Jesus never sought favor because of his royal or priestly lineage. Instead, what if we carry the benefit and privilege we have gained at the center, which may simply be our solid sense of self, and what is possible. What if we take this hope and expectation for the future and carry it with us to the margins, offering hope to others? 

Central Christian Church of Dallas, Texas is literally on the margins of multiple largely homogenous communities: #ParkCities, #NorthPark, #Oaklawn, #Uptown. We are in Dallas (and #DallasISD) but look across the street into #HighlandPark. What might it mean for Central to be literally that – to be the center toward which people from all of these communities move. In the process they would be moving from their own community toward the margins, and toward a meeting place with others.

My friend Matthew Russell and his colleagues at Project Curate are doing exactly this in the city of Houston. Matt is also on staff at St Paul’s UMC in Houston.

Missional church is another way to consider this move. Missional calls us to “go out – go deep – go together”. Missional is a move together into deep community for the sake of going out in to the world, toward the margins, where Christ may be found. When we look at the beatitudes of Luke 6 or Jesus call to serving him by serving others (Mt 25) we are being called to the margins.

How can you move toward the margins in your own life? How can you do it not as a visitor and vacationer, but as a pilgrim, a migrant, with all the inherent trust and vulnerability those suggest?

Glossary: Multivocal

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Vocation

       the voice with which our life speaks good things into existence in the world.

Multivocal

       the experience of having multiple expressions of vocation

__________

Multivocal    adj.   

– prefix “multi-” from Latin multus – much, many
– root “vocal” from Latin vocalis, equivalent to voc– (stem of vox) – voice, or ‘to speak’

Multivocal is an adjective identifying a condition of having multiple vocations – literally – “speaking with multiple voices”.

 

This is rooted in the following understanding of “vocation”:

     Vocation is –
the voice with which our life speaks good things into existence in the world.

This understanding draws on the creation stories found in Genesis 1-3. Within these narratives we hear that:

  1. Through speech, God creates
  2. What God creates in this way is good
  3. Among these created things are humankind
  4. Humankind are made “in [God’s] image and likeness, both male and female”

I would argue then that part of the imago dei (image of God) in us is this power/ ability/ responsibility to create good things through the voice of our lives.

It is readily apparent within human relationships that our words matter – they have the power to create both good and bad things in ourselves, other people, and the world around us. We literally have the ability to speak blessings and curses – as we see clearly in the story of Isaac, Rebekah, and their sons Jacob and Esau (Genesis 27).

Vocation is the way this power is manifest, not only through our spoken words, but in all that we put into the world, whether through words, actions, or the simple energy of our presence or absence in a place.

“Multivocal” acknowledges that we do not speak or act in only one way, but in fact our lives create many things across the six domains of human flourishing – spiritual, physical, emotional, relational, intellectual and occupational.

In relationships, I have a vocation as a husband, a father to both a daughter and a son, a sibling, a son to my parents, a friends, a colleague, a pastor, a neighbor, etc. In each of these I hope to be consistently “the same person” though I need to relate to people differently depending on which relationship I’m in. The clearest example for me is this: If I relate to anyone else the way I relate to my wife, we are all in really big trouble. Either I’m not treating her in the unique way that our relationship deserves (treating her just like I would a neighbor or stranger) or I’m being far too familiar with other people (engaging a kind of intimacy that I believe only belongs to her). Our word “personality” grows out of the ancient understanding within both Greek and Roman society illustrated in their theatre, where the “persona” was the theatre mask worn by an actor playing multiple roles – first the king, then the beggar, now the soldier. Each role requires a different voice, both literally and figuratively.

Multivocal has a second meaning beyond this broadest application of the various aspects of life in which we use different voices. In regard to occupations, I believe that individuals and organizations can appropriately embrace and live into multiple vocations. A person can be both an accountant and a painter, for instance. Both of these are vocations, and they seem rather disconnected from each other in spirit and practice. Yet one person may embody them both. And for that person to be healthy, to flourish and thrive, it is best for the energy of these vocations to provide mutual benefit.  Rather than seeing numbers and colors in conflict, rather than experiencing the precision of spreadsheets contradicting the freedom of abstract expressionism, perhaps these opposite energies can serve one another, through balance and contrast that highlights the value and beauty of both. There is a reason that we are drawn to contrasting flavors like salty/sweet or sweet/sour. Through contrast, seemingly opposing experiences actually complement and enhance the unique

Contrary to the wisdom offered by Curly (Jack Palance) in City Slickers…

the pursuit of flourishing in an individual or organizational life is therefore not about trying to identify the “ONE THING” that will bring meaning and purpose. It is rather more reasonable and ultimately satisfying to recognize, celebrate and express multiple vocations with gratitude and joy. When there is just one thing, it is in the meta-narrative, the overarching theme that threads through all of the individual and particular expressions of vocation. A Christian might say, “My one thing is to follow Jesus.” People of many religious traditions might say, “to glorify God,” or, “to become one with God.” Others might say, “to become fully myself,” or, “to alleviate suffering and promote flourishing.” These are good aspirations, but until they find expression in the particular, they lack any concrete meaning. And it is in the particulars that a multivocal life finds its greatest realization.

The questions for us all then are these:

What good things do you want your life to speak into existence in the world, across all six domains of your life, so that you can flourish, so that your life can fulfill its purpose? And then, what specifically will you do to move toward those goals?

Here’s a resource you might consider using as you explore these questions.

 

Ministry Beyond Our Ability

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* Sermon notes for 082116

Ministry beyond our ability

Jeremiah 1:4-10;  Also: Hebrews 11:29-12:2; Luke 12:49-56

God calls us to ministry that is beyond our ability, and often beyond our confidence and comfort. At such times we naturally say, “Not me Lord. I / We can’t possibly do that. I / We are not __________ enough. Call someone else.” We may simply doubt the call and think we simply got someone else’s email. When this happens, God promises to bless us with all that we need, in ourselves an in those around us who will accompany us into ministry.

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What obstacles stand in your way of being who you know, down deep, you could be? Even who you are called by God to be? What’s present in your self-talk, your self-understanding, that limits your possibilities and undermines your courage.

Ministry BeyondOur Ability (1)I am not talking about ignoring limitations. Jeremiah was correct in saying that he was young, and that he was not practiced as a compelling public speaker. True and True. The problem that God addresses in the text that Jeremiah is allowing this to hold him back. Scripture does not suggest that any one of us has everything needed to accomplish something great. Rather, that we are called and formed to be one body, where each member contributes particular gifts to the whole. Where one is weak, others are strong. And where we are weak, there God’s power is able to work more fully in and through us in the world.

For me, it is pretty simple. I know my self-talk pretty well and how it limits me.

  • I am an introvert. This has taken multiple colors over the years, from:
    1. being very withdrawn, to
    2. severe insecurity, to
    3. self-doubt, to
    4. “nobody likes me everybody hates me think I’ll eat some worms,” to
    5. “I don’t really like people,” to
    6. “I’m invisible”
    7. And so on…
  • I have not experienced effectiveness at attracting people toward an idea, an event, a community. This is related to all the things above, at least in my head. Which drives the other or how they play on one another I’m not sure. Either way, I have plenty of negative self-talk around this.

SL Trinity Circle Synchronous LifeThese two things have been particularly problematic for me in the last 3+ years as I have attempted to build a business and a non-profit – both focused on individual and organizational vitality. I hold onto mottos like “We are companions for your journey. Wherever your road leads, you don’t have to travel alone.” And, “Don’t just survive, Thrive!” I developed a very solid theory for a coaching approach that addresses the various aspects of human life taken as a whole, not as siloed segments. I have written other really good material for individual and group work and for congregational transformation. What I can’t seem to do is get the word out so that those who would benefit from it can see, hear, understand and engage.

One could call it a failure of marketing and sales, and that would be true.

But there is something deeper going on. I can’t seem to get out of my own way. Perhaps you can relate.

The question is how do you see yourself in the Jeremiah text? What excuses are you giving yourself and God for not fulfilling the dream you have in your heart and mind? For not accomplishing the life giving and life transforming work you imagine?

Complete this sentence for yourself:

“I would do ___________________ for God,

if only I were more ___________________

or less ____________________.”

What stands in your way? What is your self-defeating inner dialogue? What sentences and paragraphs show up in your written journals or prayer diaries, year after year?

It is important also that we try to distinguish between something we would like to do or experience (I want to own a 50+ foot yacht and sail offshore.) and separate that from the seed of a dream that is God’s kingdom work within us.

The latter is that thing which disturbs your heart and mind, and for which you imagine a solution, or at least a response, but you hold back from pursuing it because it seems too big and you feel too small. A mentor friend of mine says,seed2

“The life-transforming dream within you
is a seed of the kingdom of God.
God placed it there, and
with your help and permission
God will bring it to blossom and bear fruit.”

Take a moment and write down a few key words, or draw a picture, that symbolize the dream within you. That passion that troubles your mind and won’t let you rest because “Someone needs to do something…”

  • Is it senior adults who are isolated and alone?
  • Is it children who are abandoned or abused?
  • Is it those with some special physical, mental, emotional or learning need?
  • Is it a particular racial or ethnic group?
  • Is it an issue of gender or sexual orientation or identity?
  • Is it a concern for creation – plants or animals?
  • Is it the lack of meaningful and sustainable employment?
  • Is it a general lack of health and wellness among one or another population?
  • Is it people who live in the midst of violence and civil unrest?
  • Is it people who live without hope?
  • Is it people who live in extreme poverty and some particular aspect of that?

This list could go on and on. There is, I am assuming and hoping, something that burdens you as it burdens God. All of these things and more weigh on God’s heart in a way that is incomprehensible to us. If we attempted to shoulder it all we would no doubt be crushed. So Go in Wisdom gives us one or two things that really stir us, make us want to act, to change or improve the situation in a measurable and meaningful way. Or at least to try.

I’ll say too that when it comes to a church, there are several ways of looking at this question.

  • We could ask, “What is the one issue that as a congregation we want to pursue with great energy and resource?” I’m in relationship with a pastor whose congregation has identified “early childhood education for our city’s poorest and most vulnerable children” as the population and the specific project or program to which they will dedicate themselves. This means their programming and building and budget are being radically reallocated to respond to this need. AND it means they are partnering with the local school district and several nonprofits to bring a collaborative approach to addressing these issues with the families of these children.
  • We could ask, “What is each person’s passion, burden or concern, and how can we as a church undergird and support the development and pursuit of these ministries?”
    I have developed two resources that follow this second approach, and which may also over time result in the emergence of the first.

    1. Ministry Internships – this process supports individuals in an intentional, intense and ongoing action / reflection study of their personal vocations – who and what God is calling and equipping them to be and do.
    2. Dream Discovery Process – this 12 month program walks a congregation through a study of scripture and their community to allow them individually and collectively to see how and where their strengths and the communities needs intersect. Along with how the congregation’s needs and the community’s strengths overlap. You see we are surrounded by people who want their lives to mean something – they want to make a difference and one of the greatest gifts a congregation can give its neighbors is space to explore and develop that dream.

The reality is that these are not mutually exclusive, but rather complementary and interdependent. Any large ministry focus of a congregation will require many within the church to see it as their personal calling and to be able to find their place in it. At the same time, many will also long to address things outside that main program focus, and so the congregation will want to address those passions as well.

My entire ministry is really about these two conversations, their intersection, and supporting the clergy and laity who are leading the discussion and providing the resources. I recognize that doing this kind of work is difficult and lonely and frustrating at times, while also being energizing and life-giving.

I love to come alongside leaders who are dreaming something new and discovering how I can support them, and how I can connect them with others on complementary paths. I can’t do it enough. Literally. If I could I would gather every pastor and lay leader together in a room and ask, “What do you need in order to pursue the dreams that God has placed within you and your people?” and then I would set about helping them find and access what they needed, whether it comes from within them, around them, or above them.

What about you? Look again at that piece of paper where you wrote or doodled a few ideas. What is the vision that floats before your eyes?

hand up rock climbing 1Now write briefly what stands in your way or holds you back. (Not the stuff outside of you – no doubt there may be plenty of that.) What is within you – thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, fears, inner dialogue, self-talk – what stops you from doing that which perhaps God has called and will gift you to accomplish.

Notice again what God says to Jeremiah:

“Do not say ‘I am only a youth.’”

  • Stop the negative self-talk. Stop taking what is factually true and using it as an excuse.

“I formed you. I knew you. I consecrated you. I appointed you.”

  • You are qualified and able because of me and who I am, not because of you and who you are. My strength, and your identity in me, will more than overcome any limitations in you.

“You shall go to whom I send you. You shall speak the words I give you.”

  • I am the one who sends you. I will provide what you think you are lacking, if in fact you need it and if in fact it is absent now.

“Do not be afraid, for I am with you.”

  • I know you feel inadequate. I understand, and it will be OK. You are not alone.

Then, God touches Jeremiah and says, “Now I have put my words in your mouth.”

  • There is both a physical and a spiritual experience for Jeremiah – a holistic response from God who recognizes that fear and self-doubt manifest in mind, body and spirit.

“See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”

  • Some things that exist now will need to end, to make room for what is next.
  • Some objects, ideas, programs no longer bear fruit – they must go.
  • Some systems hold on to the past too tightly and hinder new growth – they must go.

All the way through God says, “If you will walk forward, I will meet you at your point of need. It is time for the community to be transformed, and the dream I have put within you will work toward that transformation. No, I don’t expect you to do it on your own. You couldn’t even if you wanted to for the very reasons you have said. But I, I will do what I have promised.

AND: “My word which I sent will accomplish the purpose for which it went out, and will not return to me empty.” (Isaiah 55:11)

quadro-decorativo-we-not-me_1God is with us. We are not alone. Allow yourself to dream again, to imagine what God desires to do, what blessing you desire to see in the world around you. And remember that God calls and commissions us for ministry beyond our ability. If we know now how can do it on our own, then it is not from God and is not where we are to be investing our lives anyway.

If we will open ourselves to this hope, then God will provide the resources, the knowledge, the energy, the people, to accomplish that which God dreams for us and through us for the world.

 

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Ministry BeyondOur Ability

Worship Notes for Sunday 8/21/16

Psalm 71 sv

Leader: In you, O LORD, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame.
People: In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me.
Leader: Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
People: Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.
Unison: For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth. Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you.

PoC:  36A

Text: Jeremiah 1:4-10
Title: “Ministry beyond our ability”
Also: Hebrews 11:29-12:2; Luke 12:49-56

God calls us to ministry that is beyond our ability, and often beyond our confidence and comfort. At such times we naturally say, “Not me Lord. I / We can’t possibly do that. I / We are not __________ enough. Call someone else.” We may simply doubt the call and think we simply got someone else’s email. When this happens, God promises to bless us with all that we need, in ourselves an in those around us who will accompany us into ministry.

The Church is Open for Business

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The Churchis Open for BusinessWe spend the majority of our waking hours at work between the ages of 20 and 70. Jesus was constantly entering into people’s work places and spaces – the fishing  pier, the market, the town square, the tax office. When we fail to show up and engage in the work place, we are missing an essential aspect of Jesus’ ministry strategy, and missing the opportunity to bless and be blessed by our neighbors.

Sometimes we can go to them, but we also have an opportunity to create a space where they will want to gather for work and community building.

Congregations have several elemental strengths when it comes to incubating small businesses:

  1. They are already physically present in communities.
  2. They are geographically close to individuals who are longing for greater meaning in their lives and a rewarding way to financially support themselves.
  3. They historically have a web of relationships with which to engage and collaborate
  4. They have property (buildings and land) which are often underutilized resources that can be leveraged for new and innovative projects.
  5. They may also have a tradition and a theology that encourages helping people to flourish and thrive in a holistic way – in every aspect of human life.

For more on this topic:
Small Business Incubators, Community Development, and the Church
Social Entrepreneurship on KenGCrawford.com

iVM in the Spotlight

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“You are not alone.”  

These life giving words are like cool water to a parched spirit for many who serve in ministry – both clergy and laity alike. Living one’s faith and spirituality by serving in ministry is an opportunity for incredible joy as we learn with, from and about other people. We can stretch ourselves as we lean into the places and situations that challenge us, perhaps even where we feel a sense of anxiety. Every day can bring new experiences and discoveries as we embrace Community, Loving God and Neighbor, and the Eucharistic Life – the three legged stool of discipleship that we seek to live at the Missional Wisdom Foundation.

And, it can be really tough. The Institute for Vital Ministry (iVM) was founded to meet people in the midst of their ministry and be “companions on the journey.” This companionship from iVM emerges primarily through coaching, pastoral care and spiritual direction offered to individuals, groups, and ministry teams. At the Missional Wisdom Foundation, we like to say “Go out. Go Deep. Go together.” Missional is always contextual, and it is always relational. For those of us raised and trained by and in the mainline Christian traditions, this sometimes comes as surprising good news. MWF seeks to respond to proclaim this good news in a variety of ways, including incubating other nonprofits whose vision is complementary to our core. The Institute for Vital Ministry is one such organization.

The founder, Ken Crawford, has served for over 25 years across multiple denominations and in ecumenical settings, both congregational and nonprofit. Through his own experience, and the research and observation of peers and colleagues, he has developed several resources and processes that support flourishing and wholeness for lay leaders and clergy. His most recent work has been with clergy who trained for and served in settled pastorates, but have found themselves drawn out into multivocal expressions of their ministry that include congregational, non-profit, for-profit, and social entrepreneurship settings.

At the center of all the work at iVM is an understanding of what we call a “Synchronous Life” – one in which individuals and groups are able to see and pursue wholeness across all of life. We help people move beyond surviving to thriving in ministry by integrating the life-giving energy available in each facet of life into a harmonized system. Too often we live siloed rhythms where our professional, personal and private lives do not overlap – if we can at all help it. Unfortunately, living this way is exhausting, and robs us of the gifts that each domain of life can offer to the rest of who we are and who we are called to be. Drawing upon the skills of coaching, pastoral care, and spiritual direction, working with individuals and groups, we are here to accompany you, because we believe that “wherever your road leads… you don’t have to travel alone.”

You can learn more about the work of iVM and Ken’s ministry at www.iVitalMinistry.org. If you would like to explore working with a coach or spiritual director, please contact Ken at KCrawford(at)missionalwisdom.com.

* from the Missional Wisdom Foundation’s “Wisdom for the Way“

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ABOUT:  Rev. Ken G. Crawford serves on staff with the Missional Wisdom Foundation as a holistic leadership and life coach to the people who work at The Mix Coworking. He is also part of the leadership team for Anam Cara. Ken was fortunate to work under the guidance of Elaine Heath who served as his DMin thesis advisor.