The Missional Order of St Fiacre at Life on the Vine.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Richard Rohr, in chapter 2 of his book Simplicity, talks about the pain of seeing so many missional communities start up and then fold within two to three years of starting. He blames various societal pressures and internal character weaknesses that come with the territory of planting missional communities in North America. I too have seen many missional communities fold in the third year of their existence. I have witnessed burn-out, depression, and disillusionment among the leaders in the 3rd year (sometimes sooner but mostly by the end of the 3rd year). Part of where this comes from is that certain swimming against the stream that every missional community organizer knows. It is the everyday grind against making people happy that comes with engaging the consumerism and narcissism of the average cultural American. But then even worse, there are these expectations that come from denominations and Christian institutions that derive from a Christendom mentality of church planting. Here numbers and attraction become the measures of success and when these things are subtly communicated, the self-worth of the church planters takes a dive. Even if the institutions are supportive (which mine has certainly been), the pressures and expectations of the past age haunt the average missional church planter. It is imperative therefore to have practices that support missional community cultivation!
A missional church planter is certainly of a different order, literally. It requires a different mindset, a long-term mindset for long-term survival. It requires a place for mutual love, support, edification, speaking truth in love, encouragement and discernment. For this reason, I am proposing the Missional Order of St Fiacre, the patron saint of gardening (yes we know he is patron saint of some other things, which just added to his suitability as symbol of missional church planting). The main goal of this missional order will be to mentally and spiritually prepare teams of 8-12 people from our church to join together to go live somewhere and begin life together, plant seeds, look for the hurting, be Christ in a given geographical context. Another side goal is to create a network for mutual support of these same teams. We might hold a once a year gathering for encouragement and support. We might seek ways of putting people together for a regular phone ritual whereby regular prayer, encouragement and centering in Christ and Mission can take place.
I'm looking for feedback on the commitments for the order. Are there too many? Are they repetitive? Are we missing something from your experience of missional community planting? I'm looking for help here in crafting this. And if anyone outside Life on the Vine is interested, drop me an e-mail via the church website. We'll refine these commitments and let you know when the first gathering will be. (June of 08)
The Rule of St Fiacre Missional Order of Pastor-Servants: Sent Out to Cultivate Christian Communities as Gardens Midst the Cities, Neighborhoods, Towns and Villages of N. America
Committed to Plant Christian Communities as Gardens, not Grocery Stores, committing to long periods (at least 5 years) of habitation, gestation in and among a chosen neighborhood, geographical place of living.
Committed to a lifestyle of simplicity, frugality and bi-ministerial/bi-vocationalism to survive financially for the long term, yet be wise and prudent so as not to find oneself in hock or otherwise financially enslaved later on in life.
Committed to put down roots, take up jobs, and live in this neighborhood, to love, live and walk with lost people in the rhythms of everyday life, to cultivate relationships and a way of life that displays a witness to Christ, that incarnates His presence as a Body in and among this neighborhood of people. To be bearers of the gospel of salvation in Word and deed, never with coercion, only as invitation into the life of God thru Christ our Lord.
Committed to ministering the gospel to those in pain, in desperation, depression, darkness and poverty. This can take shape in numerous simple ways.
Committed to foster resistance to a.) consumerist structures which exploit the oppressed, promote unhealthy eating and living, b.) materialist behavior that promotes owning things over relationship, security over generosity and c.,) secular practices which subordinate and/or decenter God in Christ to another self help transaction, another thing we do in an overall consumerist materialist lifestyle, and d.) all other practices which distance ourselves from the relationships with neighbors, the poor, and those whose labor we benefit from everyday.
Committed to, whether commissioned as ordained pastor or minister, take up life together and ministry as an everyday vocation as part of everyday life.
Committed to get to know the community contextually, to know its needs, to minister to its hurts, to fight/resist its social sins, to incarnate Christ amidst the everyday rhythms and life of your community.
Committed to seeing secular vocation, the making a living, the amount of money one makes, and career as secondary to call of God on your life for His Mission.
Committed to regular practices of spiritual formation that center one's life in Christ and in His Mission. This includes a proposed Rule of St Fiacre, a regular time of meeting in triads (groups of three) for Scripture reading, prayer, corporate silence, mutual submission of one's emotions to God, mutual confession of sin, repentance and reconciliation, working out one's struggles, pains and joys as part of God's work in you for His Mission and finally a mutual benediction being sent into the Mission. And likewise this includes being committed to a regular time of communal worship of God that includes silence, confession, submission to Christ's Mission, affirmation of Our Story, the reading and hearing of the Word, the Lord's Table, corporate prayer, thanksgiving and prayer, the benedictory blessing and sending forth into Mission.
Committed to banding together with no less than 8 other St Fiacre Ministers to go where God calls to inhabit space for the presence of Christ in Mission.
Committed to a living a life of hospitality, opening up our homes and lives for those who are hurting, alone, depressed, and without the gospel.
Committed to meeting together once a year every summer at designated place to foster encouragement, mutual support, and prayer. Committed to having a regular practice of connection via the telephone whereby we stay connected to two other St Fiacre members once a week for an hour, whereby we read the Scripture, share stories, encourage and pray together.
There will be a time of incubation, setting apart, discernment, further preparation, testing, and commitment before the church as prepatory for being sent out to plant these missional communities.
Posted by David Fitch | 7:01 PM
COMMENTS:
David,
I think it's wonderful.
A couple of thoughts from someone who has lived in intentional community for most of my adult life:
The commitment to this kind of life must be a commitment to the other members, not to the ideal of missional community. We can only give what we have. The relationships must come first, not the mission...or perhaps it's better to say, "The relationships are the mission." I have found that this is where people have the hardest time. It's easy to commit to an ideal. It's hard to commit, really commit, for the long haul commit, to people. People are broken. They need healing, understanding, and correction. As the team (family) can walk out their love for one another, they'll be able to spread that genuine reality to the lost around them. I can't stress this enough. There will be no greater challenge than this.
The relationships of the team must give lie to the values and priorities of the world around them. John Driver says, “The very best contribution which the people of God can make to society is that of lives and works which already participate in the 'age to come' and which point towards the quality of relationships which characterize the kingdom of God.” Kingdom Citizens, p. 74. This has to be the priority because this is the essence of the gospel message. We must “prefigure and embody the reconciliation and healing of the world (Richard Hays, The Moral Vision of the New Testament p. 32).”
Unfortunately, we tend to see things through individualistic and achievement lenses. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but the need to accomplish is so great and the task of really loving is so hard that it bears repeating. I understand you want to raise the bar high by requiring the five year minimum commitment, but that puts it into a kind of project framework, rather than a “this is going to be our life” framework. These team members are going to get sick, have children, rebel, need to deal with dying parents, go through 'change of life' stuff, struggle with their unrealized goals, fight loneliness, etc.. They're going to need a family that will stick with them through all this. They're going to need to live out the Kingdom values with their brothers and sisters, come hell or high water.
Sorry for the long post, but this is where I live. I hope it's helpful.
Blessings,
Adam
6:15 AM
David, excellent thoughts. I will email you to discuss the missional order further, but on another note, I was curious about the Rohr book. I am not familiar with the book, but I was a bit surprised by the missional church planting discussion in chapter two that you mention. Does he speak about missional living and/or missional church planting in other places int he book? Thanks.
7:48 AM
I have greatly loved Rohr's writing, however saddened by his very modernistic stance toward the miraculous. But that book is also unfamiliar to me..
Exciting to see this direction for you David. ANd the timing and execution are intriguing.. with ALLELON gathering next week around a similar initiative. This seems to be something the Lord is doing.. to be precise, a response of the Spirit to certain conditions and needs of our time. May this path be rich and blessed for you, with all the fruitfulness of heaven.
9:17 AM
I followed the link from Len's blog...so I guess it's right that I should follow Len's comment! ;)
All of these things you have listed are included in the vision I have been working through over the past 20 months...and I am also going to the Allelon gathering next week...I have bookmarked your listing and would be interested to see how things go for you--especially where my situation is after next week!
I echo Len's observation that this is evidence of the move of the Spirit in many different places and circumstances. Gives me chills...
Be blessed....
1:23 PM
Great thoughts, and very much in line with what we've been thinking about recently. Your points about putting down roots in the community, and practising hospitality are very important.
My only real question is with the point about seeing career as secondary. I feel very much that my secular vocation is part of the call of God on my life. As Dorothy Sayers said, the first calling of a Christian carpenter is to make good tables.
12:15 AM
David, thanks so much for posting. I'm strongly drawn to connecting with some sort of missional order myself, and am also (like several other comment-ers) attending Allelon's gathering next week in Seabeck, WA. I appreciate what you are trying to do through Life on the Vine, and it gives me some ideas/inspiration for some possibilities as I attempt to pastor a traditional congregation and encourage missional transformation.
I recalled a passage from an article by Alan Roxburgh, after reading Adam's comment about giving priority to relationships over an ideal of community (which also sounds a lot like Bonhoeffer). Anyway, here is an excerpt from Roxburgh, in which he relates a conversation with leaders from the Northumbria Community in the U.K.:
"In their [Northumbria's] experience an Order is best formed out of a more descriptive Rule than a set of written prescriptions defining what should be done and when. They told us that in their experience and study a Rule emerges after a number of years working of together in the practice of forming an Order. The Rule is discovered on the way. In the early years the Order has to be loose until you find among yourselves the raison d'être - this is what emerges on the way. If we begin with a set of Practices then the risk of the Order becoming another program of activities to which people tick off their ‘to-do’ list. This would be another form of what is already killing so many Christian leaders. If this is a journey into God and into the world then something else is needed. This points in a far more relational direction built around values that are being worked out on the way."
What are others' thoughts about how a "rule of life" emerges for a missional order? Does it give shape to the life from the get-go, or is it "discovered on the way"?
Thanks again, David, for your courage and leadership in this area.
11:34 AM
Thank-you for all your contributions .. very much appreciated ... Adam good and important words!Len ... thanks for your words.. and I refer everyone to your blog post where you edited my commitments here (much needed)and gave some links to other orders. I wish I could be with you all at Allelon ... maybe next time!
Trevor ... perhaps i should rewrite the commitment on secular vocation ..for I ceertainly did not mean it iun a dualistic sense. Instead, what I find so often, is that people view their career (I think career is the important word in that commitment)as the determinant of where they live, when they are to move (because of a promotion or increase in pay or opportunity) instead of seeing mission as primary and which career serves as location and place.I'll rewrite this to somehow make this clearer.
Blessings as we journey together ... are there any other insights or changes, clarifications needed? This is a work in progress.
4:39 PM
Great post, Phil. In fact, one of Bonhoeffer's quotes is, “He who loves community, destroys community; he who loves the brethren, builds community.” A danger that lurks behind the desire for mission is that mission can become the end rather than a means. Dag Hammarskjod said, “It is more noble to give yourself completely to one individual than to labor diligently for the salvation of the masses.” Community must be a reality among the members or we don't really have much to say. Again another quote, “Peoplehood is a part of the good news as well as an essential instrument in mission (John Driver).”
Our “rule of life”, which we call our membership covenant, developed after we experienced a revival and began to make progressive commitments to Christ, His People, and His work. The reality of the experience of walking in fresh obedience to God eventually led us to articulate the principles we were experiencing. Of course, those who join now have the benefit of these “rules”, but we take time to mentor them into these principles as they live out their commitment as a candidate (novice).
4:41 PM
I noticed that St. Fiacre is also the patron saint of "haemorrhoids." Yes indeed. Would that be more appropriate because church-planting is a pain down there or because people are?
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintf13.htm
8:41 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home