StretchyChurch

Another great day of learning today! We talked mostly about frameworks, defined as a socially constructed way of reading and understanding the world (emphasis on the word “constructed”). In other words, we generally take for granted how we see the world. But how we see it and understand it is based on a perspective that has been constructed by our history, traditons, etc., etc…

The most interesting discussion had to do with strategic planning. The point that Roxburgh made was not that strategic planning is bad (he said, “Every time I get on a plane I thank God for strategic planning”), but that it’s bad when the church does it. The problem is that strategic planning basically objectifies the people God calls us to reach (”a narrative of objectification”) and assumes a certain “preferred future” (more members, more programming, better music, more diversity, etc.) without actually doing the necessary theological reflection needed to discern the initiatives of God.

Tomorrow we begin talking about what churches can do–the Missional Change Model.