Thanks to Bill Kinnon's scathing review of a new book (ouch!), I found this quote on John Armstrong's blog.
The recently retired US President of the Navigators, Alan Andrews, recently said this:
In my opinion the time has come to do church
differently. I am convinced that we must shift our focus from highly
programmed ministry to developing Missional/Transformational
Communities that are formed as a seamless organic whole. These types of
communities are rare and difficult to visualize because we have moved
so forcefully to programmatic ministry in the last half of the previous
century. … Now the climate in America has begun to shift. Much of the
culture is beginning to look for integrity and wholeness. Many people
are coming from broken backgrounds with deep wounds in their souls.
They long for something that provides real relationships, something
that provides integration for their lives, and something that fills the
longings of their soul. In short, though they are not aware of it, they
seek the whole Gospel for their whole lives.
I just
love that quote, especially because it comes from a seasoned Christians
who has worked with an evangelistic organization for some time. Just a
quote to provoke, more than anything else. Churches and church leaders
have to start thinking less like managers of organizations and more
like instigators of missionary movements.