Formation for Transformation

We are at an "OK God, what next?" stage in the Connections project.

It's been about two years since we looked at our "Ministry Action Plan" (Our "MAP" - a version is available.) and the detail of what we are called to be and do. And since then:

• We have grown.
• Our broad context has changed – we are now under The Imagine Project
• Our immediate context has changed – the Parish around us is in a period of transition.
• We face immediate decisions with regard to our venue.
• We have something of a “clean slate” with regard to our own activities and programs.
  

It's time to hoist a flag to the winds once again to see which way they are being blown.

An easy way to handle this situation would be to look at the "holes" in our programs and try to fill them. However that's not always the best thing to do[1]. A process that relies on doing nothing more than saying "here's something we're not doing, let's do it!" leads to a number of dangers (some of which we ourselves have been tripped up by in the past) including:

• a focus on busy-ness and "doing stuff."
  
• promoting achieving a program rather than spiritual growth as a measure of "success"
  
• creating a co-dependency between "providers" and "receivers" - some programs require some people (often the majority) to be passive recipients and so can actually stop people from becoming active.
  

Noting where there is a hole in the program isn't always bad - for instance, building a youth ministry is high on our agenda for this year because it's an obvious "hole." But the main thing that we are called to do at times like this is to understand who God is calling us to be. In other words, what sort of culture are we to build and promote, and how do we make sure that our activities are not just for their own sake but actually do something of eternal significance?

Our success doesn't automatically come from having well-run programs but only when we see stuff happening that relates to what church is all about - the spiritual growth of Christians and the finding of spiritual life by those who have not yet encountered Christ.

And so we want to move in a direction so that we are a church which feeds and founds formation (spiritual growth of Christians) and transformation (finding of spiritual life by non-Christians). So perhaps we have a catchcry here - formation for transformation.

It isn't rocket-science - it's meant to look obvious! But even obvious things can be forgotten - the history of human organisations (such as churches!) will tell us that we will always tend to slip into the pride of "good works." Our need is to continually engage with the real substance of following God - a beautiful submission where his ends are achieved by his means through us - and steer deliberately away from the temptation to cling to the success of the things that we can do and achieve by ourselves.

Our engagement with this has started. At the beginning of the year we looked at what it meant to find God in "solitary places" - including being vulnerable before God, and open to daily devotions and the power of God's Word. In recent weeks we have been looking at the spiritual blessings from Ephesians 1 and our call to depend on Christ, be submitted to him, and to be "spiritual" - to have spiritual growth - formation for transformation.

And so perhaps our "what next" can be caught up in this catchcry of formation for transformation. This is the way we are heading - and it involves:

• Prayer, prayer and more spiritual prayer. As a body we need to be praying for each other and hearing from God by his Word and Spirit.
• Sharing stories, formally and informally, of what spiritual growth - formation and transformation - look like.
• Considering our current program of services (including KLT), small groups etc. and looking at how, simply in how they are arranged and managed, that we can broadly foster further spiritual growth.
• A number of us will be exploring different resources that we can make use of - from programs and courses, through to venues and other arrangements - and reporting back.
  

Over the next few days I'm planning to write a bit more about what formation for transformation looks like. It's time to interact, converse (use the comments on the blog!), and share our heart and look to God - "OK, what's next?"

What a fantastic time to be in.

[1] This wisdom can be seen in books such as Hawkins and Parkinson's Reveal from out of Willow Creek that I'm hoping to review on my other blog soon. [Edit: This is now available]