Missional Church in an Era of Great Change Episcopal Church in Minnesota School for Formation October 2017 June 2018

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1 Missional Church in an Era of Great Change Episcopal Church in Minnesota School for Formation October 2017 June 2018 October: The Great Unraveling Who is God and who are we during this time of great change? October 9 class begins. October 9 and 10: Help the instructor and class participants get to know you and your ministry context better with a short (no more than 300 word) post. Who are you? Who is part of your team? Tell us a little bit about your church and ministry context. Alan Roxburgh, Joining God, Remaking the Church, Changing the World: the New Shape of the Church in Our Time, intro and chapters 1-3 Dwight Zscheile, The Agile Church: Spirit-Led Innovation in an Uncertain Age, chapter 2. Post a response to the following question by October 23: Do Alan Roxburgh and Dwight Zscheile s insights about the challenges faced by faith communities today resonate with you and if so, which ones? What if any signs of the great unraveling do you see in your faith community? Read your classmates posts and respond to the following questions by October 30: As you read your classmates posts, did you see any common themes? What captured your imagination? November: How Do Our Stories Intersect With God s Story? Who is God? Who are we in God? November 4 in-person meeting at Shattuck St. Mary s in Faribault, 9:30 am-3:30 pm. Discuss final project and have team work on it between now and the end of May. Begin spiritual practice of dwelling in scripture each week with your church team and anyone else who wants to join you. While dwelling in scripture in person is best, you can also do this via Skype or Zoom. Scripture Passage for November: The Road to Emmaus, Luke 24:13-35 Alan Roxburgh, Joining God, chapter 4.

2 Dwight Zscheile, People of the Way: Renewing Episcopal Identity, chapters 3 & 4. By November 20 post a response, individually or as a team, to the following question: Who is God to your faith community? How would most people in your church describe God and God s relationship with your church, it s neighbors, and the world? You are encouraged to talk to people in your church in order to answer this question. By November 27 read your classmates posts and respond to the following question: December: Discipleship in an Era of Great Change Individual and corporate spiritual practices Joining God, introduction to Part II and chapter 5. People of the Way, chapter 6. Dwell in the following scripture passage each week in December with your team and anyone else who wants to join you. Scripture passage for December: The Samaritan Woman at the Well, John 4:1-15. By December 11 post a response, individually or as a team, to the following question: What spiritual practices does your faith community emphasize and support regularly? Do you have a daily spiritual practice? What do you thirst for? What sort of daily spiritual practice could God use to quench your thirst and sustain you as you serve as Jesus ambassador in a time of great change? By December 18 read your colleagues posts and respond to the following question: January: Listening and Discernment Joining God, chapters 6 & 7. Grounded in God: Discerning Call in Community Dwell in the following scripture passage each week in January with your team and anyone else who wants to join you: Mary and Martha, Luke 10:38-42.

3 By January 22 post a response, individually or as a team, to the following question: What are the key components of the spiritual practices of listening and discernment? What changes might you and your faith community make to foster an ongoing culture of listening and discernment? By January 29 read your colleagues posts and respond to the following question: February: Testing and Experimenting Joining God, chapter 8. The Agile Church, chapters 1, 4 & 5 February 3 in-person meeting at Shattuck St. Mary s in Faribault, 9:30 am -3:30 pm. Introduction of Dwelling in the World. Dwell in the World each week in February with your ministry team and anyone who wants to join you. By February 19 post a small experiment that you and your team and perhaps some other people from your church would like to try. What would you like to learn about what God might be up to in your church or your church s neighborhood? After doing the readings listed above think about an experiment you would like to try and invite people into it. You will fill the rest of us in on the experiment and what you learned through success as well as failure toward the end of the course. By February 26 read your colleagues posts and respond to the following question:

4 March: Giving and Receiving Hospitality Dwell in the World each week in March with your ministry team and anyone who wants to join you. Christine Pohl, Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition, chapter 2, Ancient and Biblical Sources. People of the Way, chapter 5. Pat Kiefert and Nigel Rooms, Forming a Missional Church: Creating Deep Cultural Change in Congregations (pamphlet) chapters 5 and 6. By March 19 do the following and then post a response to the question listed below: Take time this month and in the coming months to offer hospitality to strangers in a variety of ways (giving them your time and full attention, offering help, inviting them to coffee, lunch or dinner), and to receive the hospitality of others. What was harder for you, giving or receiving hospitality? Did you learn anything about God or yourself during this exercise? By March 26 read your colleagues posts and respond to the following question: April: Reflecting, Deciding, Organizing for Mission Dwell in the World each week in April with your ministry team and anyone who wants to join you. Joining God, chapters People of he Way, chapter 7. The Agile Church, chapter 6. By April 23 post a response to the following questions: What do you need to do as a leader in order to foster innovation in your faith community? What will be easy for you to do? What will be difficult? How comfortable do you feel reflecting theologically on any new learnings? By April 30 read your colleagues posts and respond to the following question:

5 May: Expanding and Enriching Our Theological Frameworks The Interrelationship of Practice and Belief Kathleen Cahalan, chapter 7, The Practice of the Trinity in Introducing the Practice of Ministry. By May 21 post a response to the following questions: What is most important to you and to the church about God s Trinitarian life/character? How does your faith community participate in and point to the life of our Triune God and where does it fall short? By May 28 read your colleagues posts and respond to the following question: June 2 in-person class at St. Matthew s Episcopal Church in St. Paul, 9:30-3:30 By June 9 submit a 2-5 page paper on one of the following topics: 1. Write about an experiment you tried at your church after following Alan Roxburgh s process of dwelling in scripture and group discernment. What did you try? What did you learn? What did the Holy Spirit reveal to you about the future God is bringing forth in your faith community? 2. How is the Great Unraveling affecting your faith community and how are members of your faith community reacting? What needs to change to help your faith community focus on listening, discernment, experimentation, and giving and receiving hospitality, and especially with the church s neighbors? 3. What have your learned about God in this course and God s involvement in your life, church, and the world. What Good News do followers of the Way of Jesus have to offer their neighbors? What might God be up to in the lives of the church s neighbors? 4. How would you and other church leaders focus your church s energy and efforts on making disciples rather than members. What would need to change, and how?

MISSIONAL INNOVATION LEADING LEARNING COMMUNITIES IN THE SPIRIT. Dwight Zscheile

MISSIONAL INNOVATION LEADING LEARNING COMMUNITIES IN THE SPIRIT Dwight Zscheile RENEWING IDENTITY IN GOD S LIFE! In era of disestablishment, going deeper! Into God s life! Into the neighborhood (whatever