Barnabas File

As I read the letters in the New Testament and the messages to the churches in the Book of Revelation, I am struck by the differences in the local gatherings of believers.     Many are engaged in conflict.     We would have far fewer books in the New Testament if we did not have the epistles that the apostles wrote to churches dealing with hypocrisy, heresy, and just plain old sin!    As the same time , the writers often point out the things that are good about a local fellowship and encourages the believers to do more of those activities.   Leadership often emerged from within the local church.  An apostle or an itinerant evangelist might come alongside for a while, but leaders were usually identified within the body and called out to serve important functions in the life of the church.  These individuals came from varied backgrounds. Therefore, there might be struggles over identity because the church included people with different racial, ethnic, or socio-economic profiles. Some mig

In my role as a Pinnacle Leadership associate, I received a contact recently asking, “Do you do strategic planning with churches?”     I responded that we don’t do strategic planning, but we do partner with churches to discover and fulfill God’s mission in the world.     What’s the difference?    The term “strategic planning” implies that a church or organization can set long-term (five to ten year) goals and marshal the resources to achieve them.  This approach assumes stability and predictability of their environment.     Even large corporations now think in terms of planning only one or two years into the future.  Why?  How about COVID-19?  This is just one of a number of volatile events that we face.  Certainly, a church or an organization can have a clear understanding of their Mission (for example, “loving God and loving people”) and Vision (for example, “to be the presence of Christ in downtown Briarcrest”) but the way to get there must be fluid.   Here are key questions we can

Let me start with a confession:     I never refuse the gift of a book.     I may not read it immediately, but I am honored when someone wishes to share with me a book that has impacted them I some way.     For All Who Hunger:     Searching for Communion in a Shattered World is such a gift.      In the Missional Imagination class I teach for Central Seminary (Shawnee, KS), we talk about creative ways to engage our culture with Christian presence.  One of our students in a class last summer was experimenting with dinner church in her home.  She was gathering friends regularly for a meal, fellowship, and worship.  In class and in subsequent conversations, she reported some of the lessons she was learning.  Out of her interest, she discovered this memoir and shared it with me.   Emily M. D. Scott’s work is a memoir—more of a reflection of a spiritual journey than a recitation of facts—and she clearly identifies it as such.  Scott joined with friends to establish St. Lydia’s in Brooklyn, N