I was privileged to participate in a conference led by Milfred Minatrea with other Directors of Missions in Tennessee which gave insight and encouragement regarding the missional church. Minatrea, who is the Missisonal Church Director for the General Convention of Texas, listed nine essential practices of the missional church:

1. Have a high threshold for membership.  It is harder to join many clubs than it is to join a Baptist church.  The idea of being a member without a vital relationship to the body is foreign to the New Testament.
   
2. Be real, not real religious.  Spirituality is more than religious practices. Missional churches are communities of authentic disciples.
   
3. Teach to obey rather than to know.  We are not talking about transfer of Biblical knowledge, but rather obedience to the revelation we have.
   
4. Rewrite worship every week. It is designed to exalt God and not entertain people. It needs to be engaging, participatory.
   
5. Live Apostolically.  The essential of a missional church is to believe that every disciple is on mission, is sent out following an authentic relationship with Jesus.
   
6. Expect to change the world. Because Christ is radically changing the disciples, their influence locally and globally impacts the world. 
   
7. Order actions according to purpose.  The church must act intentionally.  Actions are based on the purposes that grow out of a clear purpose.
   
8. Measure growth by the capacity to release, not retain.  The goal of the church is not just to get bigger, but to equip people to be authentic disciples on mission -- function not size is the measure.
   
9. Place Kingdom concerns first. We enter the Kingdom individually, but then become a part of a larger body that is cooperative, not competitive.

        My desire is that more of our churches truly be missional, authentic is discipleship and commitment and being on mission beyond their own church building and church body to reach our community with the good news of Jesus that makes all the difference.

        Several new church plants are in process of beginning in our area.  We need to be praying for these church starts.  As these “beginnings” are formalized and you hear about them, let’s pray for God’s leadership in each of these.  We need more churches in our county.  We need to plant new churches because the population is shifting around in the county, new churches grow faster than older churches, too many churches are in the declining or survival mode that practically renders them ineffective in reaching new segments of people in the community.  Healthy churches give birth to new churches!!

        There have been several churches that have asked me to come share the work of our association.  I am thrilled to do so and look forward to many other opportunities to do so.  A powerpoint presentation, a sermon, a display or other approaches can respond to your requests. 

        Since we met in January, Becky Witt, Administrator of Finance and Language, has celebrated her twentieth anniversary on our association staff. She is a faithful, loyal, hard-working, trustworthy and committed coworker for whom I am thankful.

                                                                        David Al Myers