In 1908 the Franciscans Friars of the Atonement in Graymoor, New York, proposed the week spanning the Confession of Peter (January 18) and the Conversion of Paul (January 25) be designated the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,” and a century later many denominations commemorate this week by praying for greater understanding of our unity […]
This week we return to Hirsch’s final characteristic of mDNA/apostolic genius: Communitas. Hirsch contrasts communitas with community. Community is understanding the church in light of a consumerist culture and attractional forms of church. Community in that perspective is preoccupied with middle-class values: safety, security, comfort, and convenience. When those are the values sought within community […]
Kent and Rhoda are taking a week off from blog posting to attend the Annual Meeting of the North American Academy of Liturgy. It is a great opportunity for us to engage with other scholars in the field, to read and discuss papers on liturgical topics written by colleagues and offer feedback on works-in-progress, and […]
This excerpt from Leo the Great’s Christmas sermon (preached in 450) draws together biblical themes of baptism with the mystery of the Incarnation: May these ancient words by Leo the Great draw our readers to contemplate the Incarnation and its meaning in daily life in new ways. When the faithful meditate about divine things, dearly […]
(Note: We are taking a break for the next three weeks from our series on discipleship. We’ll conclude it the week of January 11.) Yesterday was the Commemoration of the death of Katie nee von Bora Luther, the patroness of all pastors’ wives. Luther said of her, “I would not trade my Kate for France […]
The 1st characteristic of mDNA that Alan Hirsch discusses (but the 4th in our series of blog posts) is disciple making or discipleship. This is what the catechumenate aims at: to form disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ and of his Father. So how does Hirsch define discipleship? “Following Jesus and becoming increasingly like him […]
Alan Hirsch’s 4th characteristic of missional DNA (mDNA) or Apostolic Genius is what he calls Organic Systems. This entails perceiving and structuring the church’s life in mission on organic, living models rather than institutional and bureaucratic models. As Hirsch says, “A living systems approach seeks to structure the common life of an organization around the […]
We took a one week hiatus a week ago from the blog but continue this week after Thanksgiving with our series on Alan Hirsch’s five characteristics of genuinely missional churches, the mDNA that constitute Apostolic Genius. This week, however, isn’t so much one of the characteristics, but the central definitive feature that permeates all of […]
For one who grew up on a farm in the Midwest, Thanksgiving Day meant more than church and cooking, turkey and the trimmings, football and family. The hymn that conveys the origin of the day is in the “Harvest and Thanksgiving” section (that title alone says much) of The Lutheran Hymnal, #574. Come, ye thankful […]
The third characteristic of genuinely missional churches, the mDNA that constitute Apostolic Genius according to Alan Hirsch, is Apostolic Environment. In the New Testament age, Hirsch perceives that the leadership of the Apostles constitutes the apostolic environment. This leadership “embodies, symbolizes, and re-presents the apostolic mission to the missional community…a missional church needs missional leadership” […]