I am missional...hear me roar

For some strange reason, as a young lad I loved to listen to my oldest sister's cassette tape of Helen Reddy's greatest hits.  My father must be so proud!  Reddy's first #1 hit in the U.S. was "I am Woman."  The song which became an icon of the feminist movement in the 1970s, opened with the line, "I am woman, hear me roar." According to a Wikipedia article (see here), Reddy wrote the song to reflect "the positive self-image she had gained from joining the women's movement."  Proud of her new found hope and pride in feminism, she let her voice ring out to the world, making it clear where she stood and what she believed.

If you could hear me now, I am doing my best impression of the first line of "I am Woman," slightly changing the words to "I am misisonal, hear me roar."  Over the last few years I have been on a journey that has been changing the way I think about and do ministry.  During this time, I could not articulate clearly what was happening and so often failed to speak up about it or communicate it to others.  I lacked the confidence in my beliefs and ideas to run them by others

As I continue to read and study missional theology and missional living, I am finding a voice for all of the thoughts and feelings I have experienced the last few years.  Having come through my "dark night of the soul" I am now ready to proclaim, I AM MISSIONAL!  HEAR ME ROAR! In my roaring, I don't want to offend others who think or live differently.  I also do not want to tell them they are wrong.  My hope is I can challenge, inspire and create dialogue so together we can move forward to more fully be who God wants us to be.

My first roar shall come straight out of a book titled, The Missional Leader by Alan J. Roxburgh and Fred Romanuk.  Early in the book, the two authors compare contemporary pastoral models of leadership to missional models of leadership. (Note - they do not argue that the pastoral model is wrong.  Instead, they claim the pastoral model was necessary in the 20th century, but due to cultural change, the missional model may be more effective in the 21st century. For more on their perspective, see my forthcoming blog on Discontinuous Change and the Missional Church).  A table comparing the two styles of leadership is found on pages 12-13 of their book.  Since I cannot do columns, I will first list the qualities of a missional leader.  You can find the similar quality of the pastoral leaders numbered below.

MISSIONAL LEADERSHIP

1. Ministry staff operate as coaches and mentors within a system that is not dependent on them to validate the importance and function of every group by being present.
2. Ordained clergy equip and release the multiple ministries of the people of God throughout the church
3. Pastor asks questions that cultivate an environment that engages the imagination, creativity, and gifts of God's people in order to discern solutions.
4. Preaching and teaching invite the people of God to engage Scripture as a living word that confronts them with questions and draws them into a distinctive world.
• Metaphor and stories
• Asks new questions
5. "Pastoring" must be part of the mix, but not the sum total.
6. Make tension OK.
7. Conflict facilitator.
8. Indwell the local and contextual; cultivate the capacity for the congregation to ask imaginative questions about its present and its next stages.
9. Cultivator of imagination and creativity.
10. Create an environment that releases and nourishes the missional imagination of all people through diverse ministries and missional teams that affect their various communities, the city, nation, and world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

PASTORAL LEADERSHIP

1. Expectation that an ordained pastor must be present at every meeting and event or else it is not validated or important.
2. Ordained ministry staff functions to give attention to and take care of people in the church be being present as they are needed (if care and attention are given by people other than ordained clergy, it may be more appropriate and effective, but is deemed "second-class."
3. Pastor provides solutions.
4.  Preaching and teaching offer answers and tell people what is right and wrong.
• Telling
• Didactic
• Reinforcing Assumptions
• Principles for living
5. "Professional" Christians
1. Celebrity (must be a "home run hitter")
6. "Peacemaker"
7. Conflict suppressor or "fixer"
8. Keep playing the whole games as though we are still the major league team and the major league players. Continue the mythology that "This staff is the New York Yankees of the Church world!"
9. "Recovery" expert ("make it like it used to be")
10. Function as the manager, maintainer or resource agent of a series of centralized ministries focused in and around the building that everyone must support. Always be seen as the champion and primary support agent for everyone's specific ministry.

I don't always track with the pastoral leadership they present, but I think the chart is helpful in highlighting some trends and differences nonetheless.  My hunch, is most church leaders are a combination of both.  My passions and gifts are leading me in the direction of missional and I pray for the chance to challenge others to do the same.