Can an established church make the missional church transition?

Can an established church make the missional church transition? This is a good question.

In The Forgotten Ways, Alan Hirsch says that the missional church “is a community of God’s people that defines itself, and organizes its life around, the real purpose of being an agent of God’s mission to the world. In other words, the church’s true and authentic organizing principle is mission.” (p. 82)

So can an established church define itself and organize its life around mission (the outward impulse and activities that are directed towards the redemption of the world)? To some extent, yes. However, there are huge limitations.

Churches that have large building debts are reluctant to direct resources outside.
We have inoculated our people against radical discipleship and trained them that the church exists to provide them with religious goods and services, rather than teaching them that discipleship is about serving and reaching out to others.
The established structure and organizing principle in most churches is worship and Bible class, most definitely not mission.

An established church can have significant missional expressions, and churches that make this transition may see significant rise in baptisms and impact upon the community. But some who are challenged in this may decided to simply leave and go someplace else where they can sit in a pew and not be challenged.

This points toward the tremendous need for church planting, for only in a fresh start can the church be truly reorganized around mission.

Do you think that established churches can make the missional church transition? What are the limits?

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Comment by James Nored on April 24, 2011 at 9:53pm: Allen, I don't want to discourage you in this, by any means. I encourage established churches to work on making this transition, and I love helping churches do this. If I can help your church, let me know.

It is true that not everyone can church plant. And we should not abandon the established churches. I have personally led a missional church transition at two churches, and give seminars around the country in established churches. It can be and is exciting to have these missional expressions. I know at Liberty and at High Pointe, there have been hundreds of people baptized and thousands of people fed and clothed and much more because of this.

I'm simply pointing out the difficulty that most established churches have in truly organizing around mission. This is a radical restructuring that takes time, patience, extremely good leadership, a commitment to following the Spirit's promptings, and a lot of other factors. I don't want to depress you, bro! A lot of good can happen. Watch some of our videos--they are very inspiring,

Comment by Allen Coker on April 24, 2011 at 4:38pm: I respect you, James, and love what you are promoting. I've also read Hirsch with serious notes and underlines throughout the book. I am serving as a minister in an established church. I am seeking to lead in a missional direction, and allow the Spirit to lead us in this transition.

I also love church planting and think we need a renewed zeal for it - one I think that is taking place.

I like the idea of identifying the limits. However, what we need now is some work on how to help established churches make that transition. I don't think you mean it this way, but the tone of this entry is disheartening to ministers in established churches who have a heart for mission and a heart for the people they currently serve. It seems like the answer being presented (I know you don't mean it this way) is to bail on established churches and get to planting. However, it seems to me that most ministers can't do that. First, some don't have that gifting or calling. Second, the process for preparing church planters seems so complicated and selective that it cannot work for most. I understand why this is the case. I realize the need for healthy plants and gospel-centered ones and healthy leaders to lead them. I totally agree. But, the process seems to too in-organic to become a real movement. I may be very ill-informed in this area. So, I apologize in advance if I've gotten my facts wrong.

Sometimes I think we tend to deconstruct established churches without offering any real answers when we are talking mission. Let's identify limits. Let's also offer some meaty advice to how mission-minded leaders can lead their established churches to re-organize around mission.

BTW, I'm as guilty as the next guy, so I'm preaching to myself.

Comment by Bill Bowman on April 22, 2011 at 8:35pm: In my opinion the established church is not as likely to become a missional church. It does happen, but it is rare. One such church was featured a year ago in the Christian Chronicle. The Remmel, Arkansas country church. Established 70 years ago. Now grew recently from 40 to 200 people.

The SteppingStone church here in northwest McKinney goes on what they believe is true that once a church has been established, it loses its missional fervor and starts new churches as the people are converted.

Comment by James Nored on April 22, 2011 at 7:37pm: Darin, I agree that churches can do what you describe. I've been a part of this transformation at two churches, and I've worked with other churches on this.

But being missional is more than doing community service. It is a fundamental reorientation around mission. This is what is virtually impossible, or at least improbable, in established churches.

Yes, church plants can fall into this. It takes a strong leader to keep this focus. But if this is how the church begins, it is more likely to stay on this path.

Comment by Darin Hamm on April 22, 2011 at 5:41pm: Don't you think that a plant can have some of the same issues? If people come expecting the type of church you described they may be just as unlikely to join the mission. I agree to a degree and definitly with your assesment of issues but I do think it is doable for an existing church. Can you add mission to what you are doing without totally throwing out everything else? One advantage that we have is that we were started with community impact ministry in mind and being the hands and feet of Jesus to the community but I am working with churches that are getting better about being on mission. They may never be what someone calls missional but if they are loving their neighbor should that be okay?

Comment by Eric Asante Obeng on April 22, 2011 at 11:45am: thanks a lot for the word you always keep us strong .peace and Grace to all who here us .

Comment by Bob Young on April 22, 2011 at 10:25am: I like your three bullets (maybe four with the next two sentences).

I wonder how many different limitations or limiting factors one could identify--these would represent teaching and development obstacles to overcome.

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