Please forgive me for name-dropping but Thomas Turner, Evan Curry, Jermiah Stephens, KJ Marks and myself, sat in on the seminar (at Franke’s installation at Biblical) by Todd Hiestand and Gary Alloway.
Although there were about 30-40 people there, the room felt a little cold.
Maybe it was because they were two young presenters while the median age of the room was older. Maybe because they use words like “like” and quote Morpheus from the Matrix or maybe they forgot what a traditional audience looks like because they are over at the Well (where the oldest member is Todd. I joke).
But I want to tell you that not only was their presentation well done but perhaps more importantly, needed.
Todd posted about it on his site – check it out here.
It is rumored that Gary will blog about it (I know this because I started the rumor). You can find it here (if not, bother him until he does)
“Missional Church in Suburbia – Are You Kidding?”
Suburb is like a cornucopia of experiences and it can drive people in ministry crazy bc you experience anything and everything
Suburbia is in deep need of Christ
Consumerism and individualism is killing our culture (and, in a way, developing suburban culture”)
· We want what we want for us, screw everyone else
· Personal thought, in essence, Christianity is COMPLETELY counter to American culture
Africa
· Our culture could help them in some ways, but would kill them in others
o Ex. Our medicine and money would make their lives better, but hey would most likely lose their sense of giving and joy.
Todd shared that him and his wife
Gary Alloway
Quick Bio
Feasterville was the example of suburbia in this seminar.
· Couple polite jokes of Feasterville. No downtown street, etc.
if you want to be active in mission we have to know the right questions:
what values do people have, what do people perceive he gospel to be, etc.?
it is claimed that there is no culture in suburbia, not true, rather there is little cultural awareness in the burbs.
In suburbia, your identity is based on somewhere else.
Missional living in some place begins in knowing where you are.
The pride, the ownership of being where you are.
Missioanlity is not what happens “out there”, it’s everywhere
Step one then is to know where you are
· you need to talk to people, be neighborly,
· people in suburbia know where they are but they don’t know what they are
· in suburbia you become where you are (the mob mentality)
· riding your bike in the burbs is different then in the city
o you notice different things at 6mph then at 65 mph
· instead of going on a mission trip to Africa or even philly they took a trip to their own area, bucks county.
They also went and found the poor in their area.
Also went and discovered their was a chapel in the philly racetrack and casino.
I’m at the “Missional Christianity … Church Beyond Boundaries” Conference at Biblical Seminary. It will conclude with John Franke being installed as the Lester and Kay Clemens Professorship in Missional Theology. (Since my friends and have referred to it as the Franke installation, and they’re here and generally the only ones who read this blog, I’ll probably refer to it as the Franke Installation. If you are reading this and do not fall into the sentence, you are now not confused, right?)
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