Session 5 was the Arts Mash-Up.  Awesome presentations from all 3 churches!

• Every new term that comes out tells us we’re doing church wrong. So “Missional schmissional and Attractional Schmactional!”
• 40% of people are attracted to and will come to the “box,” and that number is shrinking.  Tim says that the number holds true for Granger and its community.
• Granger did not exist 25 years ago, and now it runs over 5000.  But has it made a dent on the statistical number of unchurched in the area.
• Granger does not have all the answers, but here is what we know at Granger right now:

o   We must begin reaching the 60% of people that are unchurched in the area

o   We must reach more of the 40% that will go to church

o   We must help the 40% reach their 60%

• In the past we wanted to get the community into the church, in the future,, we want to get the church into the community
• In the past church was defined by the weekend service, in the future, church is defined by where you are
• In the past, it was primarily centralized, top down structure, in the future, it is a decentralized, organic structure for quick growth
• In the past, there was no designated giving, in the future,, there are lots of ways to give to your passion
• In the past, people have come to the building to do their ministry, in the future,, ministry isn’t confined to a building. It happens everywhere you are.
• In the past, buildings  served the church, the community is invited to join, in the future, buildings serve the community, the congregation also meets there.

The community at large should no longer look at the church as a last resort, but the first place to go for hope and help!

• People who say they have no religious affiliation has doubled in the last 10 years.

• Missional people + Multiplying churches = Missional movement

Creating a culture for missional movement

• Ordain every Christ-follower. Live the priesthood of believers.
• Lead with a “yes”. Allow others to live out their dream.
• Make heroes of everyday people.  Tell people’s story. When people see everyday people doing something it inspires them and releases them to do what God has birthed in them.

This was used as the opening video for The AND Conference.

We’re plagued by the curses of the vs. They are all around us – including in how we think we have to do church.

Before we were plagued by the “curses of the vs.” but now, we’re opening up a can of the Power of The AND. The thought process that church doesn’t have to be missional OR attractional – it’s the power of AND instead of OR.

Attractional 101

• External Focus
• Cultural Relevance
• Priesthood of believers (every member a minister – focus on service)
• Church as an institution

Missional 101

• Educates and sends members out to where the people live
• People do not come to the church, the church goes to the people
• Church as a movement

The tone over the last many years has been one of being either or; being opposed to one another.

Transactional model of mission

• Pay another organization to send out missionaries
• May even have some of our people tag along for short term work
• Based and focused on the organization

In the book of Acts, we see missions done through the local church, not an external organization.  Missional is the responsibility of the church itself.

• We need to move from cultural relevance to cultural embedment.
• Do we have to see church as institution and church as movement as being against each other.  The can exist together in a healthy relationship.
• God’s Spirit empowers and gives life to both expressions of the church.

Here are some highlights from the first session with Alan:

• The church is becoming more isolated from most people today in the US.
• Most churches in an attractional setting are extracting people from their cultural group, which also removes their influence from Christ in their cultural setting.
• Within 3-5 years of coming to Christ, most people are socialized out of their context and into the context of the church, which removes them from their sphere of influence.
• 40% of the US would be interested in the Contemporary Church Growth Model.
• That means 60% of people are alienated from the Contemporary Church Growth Model.
• The problem? 95% of churches are trying to become like the Contemporary Church.
• Even if every church could pull it off (by becoming a growing church in the CCGM) we would only be reaching out to 40% of the population.
• What is church for the 60%?  What is going to reach them?  More of the same is not the answer.
• The problems of the church cannot be resolved by the same kind of thinking that created those problems.  You cannot do the same thing over and over and expect different results.  That is the definition of organizational insanity.
• We are living in a de-churched cultural society. Most churches do not know what to do with that. They are unsure of what they need to do different.
• Church comes out of mission. Not the other way around.
• We need to plant the gospel and let church come out of that