Matt Smay

Thought I’d share a little snippet from an email between Sam, our CRM pres. and Hugh (who is currently in Beirut).  I’m often asked how all this missional stuff applies in different contexts - this email is an example of how the root of missional is really drawn from a missiological framework and appears to cross major cultural barriers.   

“Hugh: Just talked to the coordinating leader, and he wants any and all extra books (Tangible Kingdom) he can get his hands on. The thing has mushroomed on us in Beirut …25-30 people.  Heads of several denominations, leading pastors, etc …  it is a rather remarkable crowd for this country.   He is ecstatic about the response he has been getting to the book.  One pastor just called him …had read the book twice and is requiring all his staff to attend.  Another one called and said “This is exactly what we need.  My church is rusting.”

To prime the pump, he also met with each of these people individually and hand delivered the book, asking them to read it and explaining why they were invited.  I think we’ll find pretty much everyone will have done it.  The major question he is getting is, “OK, how do we do this?”

Hope it’s going well in Amsterdam.  Looking forward to hearing how things went on Monday after I left.

Sam”
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Dr. Sam Metcalf
President, CRM-US

I’m sure they’d appreciate a few prayers!

I thought I’d share some thoughts related to my Summer calendar. As I attempt to move into the summertime season of rest, relaxation, and fun - I’d like to take a minute to describe some of my dreams of a perfect summer.

Like many of you, I’m ready for a break and a time of intentional R&R. But I’m also aware that the summer can quickly fill up with things that were never part of the plan. So, when I imagine my perfect summer it involves several vital components:

• Focused time with the family - with Maegan turning two in July, and Maren due in November with our second kiddo, I’m realizing how fast time flies. So, I want to get a few special times away with the family this summer, which will include a week in Montana!
• Intentional community building with our village - I’d like to have more consistent and meaningful times with our village, which includes growing deeper in relationships, engaging our neighborhoods (we’ve already got 2 big block parties setup), and expanding the depth of our spiritual development.
• Rest - I just need to slow down a bit this summer. The pace that Hugh and I have been on the past few years has been overwhelming. Primarily, related to the ongoing growth of Adullam & Missio and getting the book ready for release. So, I’m planning to take seriously making up some much needed Sabbath times.
• Fun - I intend on scheduling some time that is purely devoted to having fun with friends and our community. This will include BBQ’s, some day-trips to state parks to let the kids play and parents relax, as much golf as possible, regular mountain bike rides, a few fly-fishing days on the Dream stream, Green River, or Frying Pan, and maybe even a few overnight trips into the mountains.

This may not be your dream summer, but I hope you begin to be intentional with how you’ll spend your limited amount of free-time. At Adullam we’re planning a number of park services, a few big State Park gatherings, and we’ll be focusing a lot of energy on getting our communities moving forward in the areas of:

Community~Communion~Mission

The past two weeks have been busy - we kicked off a new MCAP cohort and have been traveling a bunch, which for me included stops in San Francisco, Orange County, and Phoenix. It seems I don’t go more than a day without having an incredible conversation or exchanging an email with a leader that is applying missional/incarnational principles in an existing church or church plant, but is looking to connect with others that are doing the same.

Since the book describes our journey in Denver, it has created a natural opportunity to be an encouragement to leaders that have been on a parallel course and are resonating with our story. One of the most common questions that continues to come up is, “Have you heard of anyone else that is doing…?” Which is followed by a description of their unique ministry context and the challenges they face. Fortunately, I’m meeting more and more leaders with stories of success that I’m able to pass along. These stories include mega churches in Southern California and Arizona that are moving people into mission and community, church plants from coast-to-coast that are making it past the first two years and seeing incarnational communities form around their mission, and church leaders that are making significant changes in order to move their congregation out of an attractional paradigm. So, if you’re one of those leaders that feels “out there, all alone, or under renovation,” whether it’s in the board room or on the streets in a new city, I can honestly say there are more of us out there than you may realize.

By The Way - The common threads I’m finding among those that are experiencing success are a determination and commitment to the vision, coupled with a plan for developing leaders while creating a structure that provides some sustainability.

This week Hugh and I attended the Exponential – National New Church Conference and had some great conversations with leaders from a wide variety of ministries. This year, the missional track had significantly more stage presence than in previous years. Alan Hirsch and Neil Cole represented the missional track and spoke during main and breakout sessions with standing room only in each of their breakouts. Alan gave us the opportunity to share our story during one of his sessions, which created a flood of interest towards The Tangible Kingdom and the MCAP. We spent a majority of our time hanging out at the Leadership Network table - selling our books and connecting with church planters and denominational leaders. Here’s a list of the various conversations that stood out to me:

• Should missional churches avoid being attractive?
• What, if any, are the distinctions between house church, missional church, attractional church, and organic church?
• How do we define incarnational community?
• Are there examples out there of people starting movements of incarnational communities?
• What are some of the alternative funding strategies available for church planters?
• Most rewarding of all, listening to church planter’s describe their journey.

Perhaps we’ll see you there next year!