*Editorial Note: It has been my deep privilege and honor to edit our first long-form series alongside Carol Cool, our Editorial Coordinator, who has recently transitioned off our team. Carol, we bless you as you step into the peace of this next season of life. May you experience the friendship of God in a felt sense in this coming season.
Thank you!
~Chris Kamalski, Editorial Director
A Review of Our First Long-Form Series
The Cambridge Dictionary defines disruption as “the action of preventing something, especially a system, process, or event, from continuing as usual or as expected.” Doesn’t this definition hit the nail square on its head in describing, well, pretty much every aspect of life in the Church over the past few years?
Our conviction is growing that communities of Jesus followers worldwide are undergoing a similar seismic shift in their praxis, values, and sense of formational approach to the challenges of our day.
We find ourselves asking crucial questions of formation, justice, and mission, including:
- Where is the Spirit of God on the move – in surprising, unexpected, and prophetic ways? (A question of missional praxis with God)
- How are the people of God being transformed to respond to the presence of God in this cultural moment? (A question of communal formation in Christ)
- What is the Church’s response to the deep and often chaotic disruption of the past few years? (A question of holistic justice in step with the Spirit)
We invited our writers to speak about this disruption in the life of the Church through the lens of culture, formation, the global church, theology, and witness – historically, the central framework through which we have written. Do these lenses still help us see with clarity? If not, how must they be adjusted for the Church to see the Kingdom in our midst once more?
Here’s what transpired over the past 3 months:
A Few Numbers to Geek Out On for a Minute
- 34,171 words were published over the course of this series. This is the equivalent of a ~137 page book!
- 14 writers (7 women, 7 men) contributed long-form pieces to this series. Missio deeply values this voice of mutuality.
- 22 posts (including 6 two-part articles) over a course of 3 months were ultimately devoted to the subject of ‘Disruption in the Life of the Church.‘
Obviously, more could be said, but for an initial attempt, I think we said plenty (for now)!
As we pray and plan towards this crucial hinge point in Missio Alliance’s own story, it was amazing to see the integration of formation, justice, and mission naturally coming forth in our writers’ own chosen areas of focus, unprompted from our direction. Many, if not most, of these pieces already integrate formation, justice, and mission, let alone speak deeply from a place of well-considered theology, church history, missional witness, or cultural analysis, as has been true of Missio’s voice in its first decade of existence.
Here is our attempt to categorize these pieces in some form. We invite you to select several to return to, or reflect further on:
Formation
- Formation for a New Generation | Rich Villodas
- We’re All Pioneers Now: Skills for the Unchartered Landscape of the 21st-Century Church | Mandy Smith
- Redemptive Disruptions: How They Shape Our Stories and Reshape Our Theology | Carolyn Custis James
- A Disruptive Incarnation: Reflecting on the Cost of Immanuel Drawing Near | Lisa Rodriguez-Watson
Justice
- The Myth of the 93%: Fathers and Mothers Are Not a Competitive Hierarchy in the Home | Miranda Zapor Cruz
- Want to Dismantle Racism? Disrupt Your Discipleship | Michelle Sanchez
- Is Loving One’s Enemies in a World of Trauma Another Form of Oppression? (Loving Our Enemies, Part 1) | Juliet Liu
- Loving One’s Enemy as an Act of Liberation (Loving Our Enemies, Part 2) | Juliet Liu
- Wait for Each Other: Disrupting the Status Quo for the Sake of Solidarity (Pt. 1) | Dennis Edwards
- Wait for Each Other: Receiving One Another As Siblings in Christ (Pt. 2) | Dennis Edwards
- A Clear Vision for the Future: Re-Examining The Anabaptist Vision for Today (Pt. 1) | Gino Curcuruto
- A Clear Vision for the Future: The Corrective Lens of Black Theology (Pt. 2) | Gino Curcuruto
Mission
- Sticking With It When the Church Is in Decline | Ian McFadden
- Disrupted Giving: An Uncomfortable Opportunity (Part 1: The Origins of Giving) | Kris Beckert
- Disrupted Giving: An Uncomfortable Opportunity (Part 2: The Future of Giving) | Kris Beckert
- Truth-Telling: A Just Movement Toward Human Flourishing (More Than Words, Pt. 1) | Sahr Mbriwa
- Truth-Telling: An Integrated Engagement With Our Differentiated Self (More Than Words, Pt. 2) | Sahr Mbriwa
- Seminaries in the Crucible: What is Being Forged? (Disruption in Theological Education, Pt. 1) | Kyuboem Lee
- Seminaries in the Crucible: What Will Emerge? (Disruption in Theological Education, Pt. 2) | Kyuboem Lee
Missio Alliance Comment Policy
The Missio Alliance Writing Collectives exist as a ministry of writing to resource theological practitioners for mission. From our Leading Voices to our regular Writing Team and those invited to publish with us as Community Voices, we are creating a space for thoughtful engagement of critical issues and questions facing the North American Church in God’s mission. This sort of thoughtful engagement is something that we seek to engender not only in our publishing, but in conversations that unfold as a result in the comment section of our articles.
Unfortunately, because of the relational distance introduced by online communication, “thoughtful engagement” and “comment sections” seldom go hand in hand. At the same time, censorship of comments by those who disagree with points made by authors, whose anger or limited perspective taints their words, or who simply feel the need to express their own opinion on a topic without any meaningful engagement with the article or comment in question can mask an important window into the true state of Christian discourse. As such, Missio Alliance sets forth the following suggestions for those who wish to engage in conversation around our writing:
1. Seek to understand the author’s intent.
If you disagree with something the an author said, consider framing your response as, “I hear you as saying _________. Am I understanding you correctly? If so, here’s why I disagree. _____________.
2. Seek to make your own voice heard.
We deeply desire and value the voice and perspective of our readers. However you may react to an article we publish or a fellow commenter, we encourage you to set forth that reaction is the most constructive way possible. Use your voice and perspective to move conversation forward rather than shut it down.
3. Share your story.
One of our favorite tenants is that “an enemy is someone whose story we haven’t heard.” Very often disagreements and rants are the result of people talking past rather than to one another. Everyone’s perspective is intimately bound up with their own stories – their contexts and experiences. We encourage you to couch your comments in whatever aspect of your own story might help others understand where you are coming from.
In view of those suggestions for shaping conversation on our site and in an effort to curate a hospitable space of open conversation, Missio Alliance may delete comments and/or ban users who show no regard for constructive engagement, especially those whose comments are easily construed as trolling, threatening, or abusive.