Day 1 included speakers Darrin Patrick from The Journey in St. Louis, Anthony Bradley from Covenant Seminary also from St. Louis, and Dr. Ed Stetzer from the North American Mission Board.
I missed much of Patrick’s talk because I couldn’t find the church [Seattle’s roads are confusing!], but what I caught was amazing. I hope to get a recording of his teaching. I need to hook up with this guy when I get back to town. Here are some highlights from Bradley and Stetzer:
How Jacked-Up Punks Will Change the World-Bradley
- When we are thinking about missional theology, we are thinking about kingdom
- We have missed the fact that God is redeeming everything-including people-because of the fall now
- Brokenness is everywhere: urban/suburban/rural
- As God heals us, he makes us agents of healing
- When it is about the kingdom, you are more interested in bringing the kingdom to the people than you are about YOU
- Church is the people of God that God has brought up to use for kingdom purposes now; redemptive roles in all types of culture; fighting for what God intended
- Lack of focus on kingdom building has created apathy; people are saying ‘is church it?’
Breaking the Missional Code-Stetzer
- Missional: missionary used as an adjective; we as believers should function as missionaries as culture
- Acts 13 & 17: proof texts for engaging culture
- The how of ministry is frequently determined by who, when, where
- We forbid North American individuals, churches, ministries what we require of international missionaries
- Adoption: Some parts of culture are value positive
- Adaptation: Some parts of culture are value neutral but can be changed/redeemed
- Rejection: Some parts of culture are value negative
- Too many pastors pastor in their heads, not in their communities
- We are in a season where we have entered too far into culture
Yes, jet city…well actually seattle [see wikipedia].
Though we have one more value to look at to complete the initial vision for relevintage, I will be taking a hiatus this week to bring you some cool stuff.
I will be attending the Reform & Resurge church conference at Mars Hill Church starting this morning. Mars Hill is pastored by well known pastor, Mark Driscoll. He founded Mars Hill Church in Seattle in the fall of 1996, which has grown to almost 5,000 in one of America’s least churched cities and is one the nation’s 60 fastest-growing churches.
Driscoll has been named one of the twenty-five most influential pastors in America by The Church Report, one of the most influential young preachers in America by Christianity Today, Inc. (with over a million downloads of his sermons a year), and one of the twenty-five most powerful people in Seattle by Seattle magazine.
At the conference, some of the topics that to be addressed will be:
- Preaching the Christian Gospel to a secular audience
- The role of mercy ministry in cultural transformation
- Methods for engaging and decoding culture
- Practical tips for pastors
- Emerging theological errors in need of correction
Some of the speakers are:
- Dr. Tim Keller, keynote speaker, founding pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church (New York) and the author of Ministries of Mercy
- Mark Driscoll, founding pastor at Mars Hill Church (Seattle) and author of The Radical Reformission, Confessions of a Reformission Rev, and Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches
- Anthony Bradley, professor of apologetics and systematic theology at Covenant Seminary (St. Louis)
- Matt Chandler, pastor at The Village Church (Dallas)
- Eric Mason, pastor at Epiphany Fellowship in Philadelphia.
- Joshua Harris, pastor at Covenant Life Church (Washington D.C.) and author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Not Even a Hint, Boy Meets Girl, and Stop Dating the Church
- Darrin Patrick, founding pastor at The Journey Church (St. Louis)
- Dr. Ed Stetzer, founding pastor at Lake Ridge Church (Atlanta) and author of Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age, Planting Missional Churches, Perimeters of Light: Biblical Boundaries for the Emerging Church, and Breaking the Missional Code
I am really looking forward to hearing from Driscoll, Keller, and Stetzer. I have been joking with my ministry partners in St. Louis that I’ve traveled half across the country to hear from two folks in my backyard: Bradley and Patrick.
I won’t be able to give you in-depth coverage each day, but I will be giving some special highlights throughout the week. Next week, I hope to unpack, in detail, all the great conversation that will going on this week.
See you soon..
