Next week is our annual CBF General Assembly. This year it is in Memphis, TN. Those of you that are attending the assembly will hear mention in many of the workshops the term Communities of Missional Practice (CoMP). In many ways, the Communities of Missional Practice through which Fellowship people have been engaging the most neglected/ least evangelized encompass the UN Millennium Development Goals. Events and workshops that will touch on Communities of Missional Practice are:
- Working Together to End Poverty Breakfast: Thursday 8-9am, Convention Center Ballroom A
- Minister of Missions Network: Friday 1:30-2:40pm, Marriott Knoxville/ 2nd Floor
- Communities of Missional Practice: Friday 3:15-4:25pm, Marriott St. Louis/ 2nd Floor
Let me tell you a bit more about Communities of Missional Practice.
Defining Communities of Missional Practice
Fellowship Global Missions hopes to invite churches and individuals into intimate conversation and participation not only in their local context but also as apart of a global context by developing Communities of Missional Practice. By doing this we hope to empower and serve the local church by walking alongside and listening, uncovering areas where we can act together on mission and where individual participation can be developed on a local and global scale. A community (s) of practice is a group (groups) of people who have a common interest and intentionally come together to discuss this interest (Wenger 2002: 4). To enable a community to reach its full potential you need a well-developed domain of knowledge (this defines a set of issues), community (a group of people that engage with each other on multiple levels), and a shared practice (a baseline of common knowledge about the subject and how they will share, learn, and develop new ideas) (Wenger 2002: 27).
Fellowship people and churches are involved in ministries of all types and on many different levels. Many times these churches and individuals are working alone in isolation, unaware that there are others around them in the Fellowship that share the same ministry calling. They could be sharing ideas with one another and cooperating in ministry if only they had a way to connect. Communities of Missional Practice allow people and churches to connect over work in these areas and help us move away from an individualized approach to ministry. We have created broad Communities of Missional Practice based primarily on the work we already know Fellowship people, churches and field personnel are doing.
Spiritual Formation through Communities of Missional Practice
Missional participation and action within the Communities of Missional Practice connects intrinsically to spiritual formation. Dallas Willard explains in his book Reformation of the Heart that your external character springs from an internal forming of your spirit. This happens to all of us whether we are “religious” or not. What we need is an awareness that such a formation is occurring so that a transformation or “reformation” can happen where God shapes our spirit into the likeness of Christ (Willard 2002).
Communities of Missional Practice enable individuals to walk alongside each other and help each other experience transformation internally and externally through two key components: spiritual formation and participation in mission action. Such interaction requires fluidity, trust, grace and allows people to engage as they discover their calling, but does not dictate what their calling looks like. As the body of Christ, we connect by a common goal or end result: missional engagement in the world, locally and globally, that transforms us in Christ.
Communities of Missional Practice in Global Missions
- Poverty/Transformation Ministries
Fellowship people hear the prophetic call to care for the impoverished. As the body of Christ, we are incarnational, serving with and amongst and advocating on behalf of the billions of people who live on less than a dollar a day, and seeking to affect systemic change. Our practice of this call takes form in multiple ways including rural, urban, food and hunger ministries, clean water development, and ministry with orphans and neglected children.
- Disaster Response Ministry
From tsunamis in Asia, hurricanes and tornadoes in North America, to earthquakes across the globe, Fellowship people serve those in distress out of our common humanity. As God entered in to suffering and pain through Christ, we enter into suffering and pain as the body of Christ. Our hope stems from Christ born, crucified, risen, ascended and present with us in his Spirit. As responders to these local and international disasters, we point to the hope we know in the midst of pain and suffering.
- Internationals Ministries
As a city on a hill shining for all to see, we are a people of refuge and community. Fellowship people embrace the diversity in Gods human creation and act as reconcilers in Christ. We welcome and love the stranger, give shelter to the alien and offer hospitality to those who are often lonely, overwhelmed and seeking better life. Ministries to refugees, immigrants and internationals in academic settings give feet to our witness.
- Church Starts and Faith Sharing
The church is the body of Christ in the world, and its purpose is to be the continuation of the reconciling mission of Christ. The purpose of reconciliation and redemption is new life in the kingdom of God. Fellowship people seek to build local congregations in the US and internationally that live as covenant communities of the king. Our practice of this takes form in multiple ways including church planting initiatives, pastoral and basic theological training.
- Medical Ministries
Christ’s service to the father was borne out in ministry as reconciliation and healing. Fellowship people seek to be the presence of Christ by offering spiritual and physical healing. Ministry with and among those with and affected by HIV and AIDS, Malaria, offering opportunity for basic medical care, and training for better maternal health include the practical methods by which we serve.
- Education/Economic Development Ministries
God calls all that we are, all that we have and everything that we do into service. Our vocation is to Christ, and the way we earn our living through work is an expression of our life in Christ. Fellowship people educate and develop capacity in neglected people globally through efforts such as skills training, literacy, macro and micro economic and community development, and environmental sustainability so that the purpose of ones life work is centered in Christ, community and transformation.
- Justice and Peacemaking Ministries
Fellowship people believe that we are ambassadors of Christ in the larger societal context. We are to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God, which is both present, and to come. Such witness points to the authority of God and the opportunity to be reconciled in Christ. As ambassadors of the kingdom, we are advocates for peace, justice, and systemic transformation in Christ through such ministries as ending human trafficking, war, genocide, and child labor, furthering women’s rights and religious freedom.
Join the Conversation
We would love to hear how you are involved in ministry. Enter our forums to discuss, connect, ask questions, and engage with fellowship people centered by common ministry practice.