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Training a Missional Core Team

I just posted Ed Stetzer’s training for Missional Small Communities, but what gets you to that point? A Core Team needs to grow together and closer to God. Here are the Stages of Growth that Austin City Life, planted by Jonathan Dodson, followed

  1. Meals & Mission: time spent cultivating community over shared meals, missional conversation, and being on mission together socially and evangelistically.
  2. Vision & Mission: time spent in community discussions around vision and values, while continuing to practice mission.
  3. Commitment Night: an evening in which I gave a charge, we prayed for our city, had first communion over a meal, and celebrated God’s work in our Core Team.
  4. Bible Study & Mission: spent time teaching through Luke-Acts, identifying the themes and challenges of gospel, community, mission.
  5. Strategy & Missional Community: time spent in more strategic conversation and planning to be a church in the city and for the city through what came to be called City Groups (aka Missional Communities).
  6. Low Profile Public Gatherings: our first public gatherings which included preaching and primarily built up the existing Core Team
  7. High Profile Public Gatherings: our first attractional, public gatherings in a city centre location
  8. City Groups Multiply: existing City Groups multiply through mission and leadership development

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 at 11:42 am and is filed under Church Planting, Faith, Missional, The Church. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Training a Missional Core Team”

  1. Jordan Winar Says:
    August 28th, 2009 at 7:27 pm

    How do you integrate with other gospel believing people in the community – use other church leaders in the area or ones you brought there?. Do you follow Hugh Halter at all I am reading his book Tangible Kingdom on missional community.

  2. Chris Says:
    August 30th, 2009 at 4:47 am

    As you start to share your vision, I think you see who is excited by it and wants to be a part of the new church. While you don’t want to “steal” people from other churches, you also don’t want to discourage believers who may be involved in other churches from joining you. That enthusiasm and, hopefully, Christian maturity will greatly help out.

    I think I’ve heard of that book, but haven’t read it. Is it good? I”ll have to borrow. I’ve got a couple books on community waiting to be read, including The Connecting Church & God’s New Community. Course, I got a lot of grad school books to read as well.