Missional Presbytery/Missional Church
Frequently Asked Questions
Spring 2010
What is a Missional Presbytery – And How Do We Become One?
Or should we Ask “How are we becoming a Missional Presbytery?”
We are well into our fourth year as a “missional presbytery.” In gatherings and in informal conversations we have heard this question, “What is a missional presbytery?” over and over again. This Q & A is intended to help us all to think about our experience on this journey together.
What does “missional” mean anyway?
“Missional” was a term coined by the authors of the book, MissionalChurch: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America, as an alternative to “mission(s)” and to “missionary.” The word mission(s) has taken on the sense of what churches do to others while the word missionary has taken on a great deal of the colonial baggage of remaking other people in our own image rather than looking for the image of God that we all have in common. By using the word missional these authors (and many people since then) want to focus on the task for which the church is sent into the world. This task is at its heart God’s mission (missio dei) and not our program. We discover our role in God’s mission by paying attention to our Scriptures and by observing what God is doing in our midst.
So, what is the difference between “mission” and “missional?”
By mission we mean all the things we do for others: food pantries, housing assistance, after school programs, VBS, sponsoring civic and cultural events, literacy programs, etc. etc. etc. The characteristic of these mission(s) is that they are usually performed by a few people in the name of the church with the financial support of the wider congregation [or group of congregations for Presbytery-wide ministries]. Missional takes seriously that we are sent by God into the world as a living incarnation of God’s love for the world. It calls us from our safe distance from the world’s hurt to a personal engagement with the raw places in our neighbor’s lives. It invites us to enter a strange [Post-Christendom] world as missionaries by learning the language(s), studying the culture, making friends with the stranger, etc.
OK, so what does a missional congregation or presbytery look like?
No one really knows! We are still working it out – both in congregations and across presbyteries. But there are some signs. The same people who wrote the MissionalChurch book followed it up with a survey [Treasure in Clay Jars] of some congregations that demonstrate certain patterns we can call missional. As we understand it, a missional presbytery is a presbytery made up of missional congregations. This, by itself, suggests that the development of a missional presbytery will be a long and always incomplete journey. Nonetheless a missional presbytery (a collection of congregations that are becoming missional) will also demonstrate certain patterns. Among these we would expect that conversations in committee/team meetings and on the floor of Presbytery would focus on the essential missional questions:
- Whose are we?
- Where are we?
- What is God doing here?
- To whom is God sending us?
- How is God sending us to them?
How does the idea of a missional presbytery fit with our current Missional Plan?
The Missional Plan calls for the development of the following missional characteristics and patterns in our life together:
- A focus on congregations and congregational leadership. The congregation is the instrument of God’s mission in the world. The Presbytery has a role in supporting ministries where there is no congregation or in supporting congregations to do more than they can do alone. But the primary witness of the Presbytery is in and through its congregations.
- A shift from a regulatory body to a place where possibilities are named and nurtured. [See Peter Block, Community: The Structure of Belonging.]
- The encouragement of partnerships among our congregations and ecumenically. In our Post-Christendom age, other churches are not our competition. Cooperation among congregations bears witness to a broken world of Christ’s ability to reconcile everything to himself.
- A recognition that while theology can divide us, mission unites us – as congregations and as a Presbytery.
So, how are we doing?
We can see progress in several important ways:
- We have seen significant shifts in the way our committees and teams work together. By building an intentional network of spiritual discernment and sharing of information the culture of the Presbytery has changed in recent years.
- Many more congregations are engaging in partnerships across the Presbytery than before. A couple of factors have assisted in this transformation:
- The Partnership for Missional Church (PMC) has built into it a pattern of sharing and partnering of congregations in each cluster.
- The Covenant Fund has encouraged congregations to think of how they can work with (an)other congregation(s) in mission.
- Both the Strategy Team and the Missional Urban Ministry Team have fostered conversations among congregations which are facing similar situations.
- Groups of pastors and other church leaders have gathered together to discuss such themes as stewardship, a vision of the church in 2020, and adaptive leadership for the missional church.
- A cadre of coaches familiar with missional church ideas has helped several congregations to explore their sense of call in their communities.
- Several series of lunches and other gatherings have given pastors an opportunity to discuss missional ideas among themselves and with Presbytery staff.
- Many congregations are embracing the MissionalChurch concept and living into their context in new and exciting ways. On our website are many different stories about how MissionalChurch and Partnership for MissionalChurch are redefining the congregations’ habits and culture.
What is a Missional church?
A Missional church listens for God’s specific call, experiences and participates in God’s sending into the world, and is empowered by the Holy Spirit in its mission. Both its outreach and its life together as a church are a witness to Jesus Christ.
God is calling us to learn our way into a faithful, effective future – recovering our biblical identity and living as part of God’s mission. God calls us to be a Missional church.
What is Partnership for MissionalChurch ?
The Presbytery of Philadelphia, in partnership with the Synod of the Trinity and Church Innovations, is offering an opportunity for congregations of the Presbytery of Philadelphia to participate in a 3-year process of learning, coaching and exploring to assist congregations in the creation of a vigorous and faithful missional identity. This learning will largely take place within a cluster of congregations facing similar situations. The focus of the process will be to help congregations become missional churches.
How does Partnership for MissionalChurch fit with the Presbytery of Philadelphia as a Missional Presbytery?
Simply, a Missional Presbytery is about walking with the congregations as they live out their missional vocation. Partnership for MissionalChurchis a process of discerning a congregation’s missional call and vocation. We can only be a missional presbytery with assistance from Missional Congregations.
Who is Church Innovations?
Church Innovations is a non-profit organization devoted to renewing the Church’s focus on God’s mission in the world. Rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and wholly committed to following God’s leading for every congregation, they provide research and consulting tools, products and processes that increase our churches’ capacities to experience God’s renewal and transformation.
Their work crosses denominational and geographical lines and is grounded in two decades of research. Over the years they have worked with more than 1,000 congregations, 75 national and mid-governing bodies, and two dozen denominations in seven countries and across all 50 United States.
What if we are already a MissionalChurch?
The Partnership for MissionalChurch is a process of discerning God’s call for your congregation. Congregations who have worked into a Missional context may not need to go through the process of discerning God’s call but some may want to take the time to focus again or for the first time on where God is calling them in this time and place.
Isn’t this just another form of the Congregation Mission Study or Self Study or Vision Study?
Some congregations have stated that they have already gone through a self study or a mission study or some sort of discernment process and this is just another one of “those things”. This is different from self or mission studies. The difference is this is a process that focuses on listening to each other, to the neighborhood and to God. This is also different in that the process is done with other congregations. Studies have shown that when congregations work in clusters they are more likely to be successful and effective. It is built into the process that when you are finished it will not be another “plan” that gets put on the shelf.
We are not a declining Church. Why should we do this?
A few years ago Presbyterian Today did a study on the fastest declining church in the denomination. One would think it was the small urban or rural church situated in a declining neighborhood or a community that was loosing population. It wasn’t. The congregations who were declining at a steeper rate than all others were the 300 to 400 member congregations in suburban and stable communities. Many times the congregational leadership did not recognize that they were declining. Partnership for MissionalChurch process is not for just declining churches but for all congregations who want to discern where God is calling them in this time and place to be in mission and ministry.
How is this different?
The difference can be the focus of the congregation. Many (not all) mainline congregations are focused on maintenance of membership, structures and programs. For some the focus is on financial survival.
A Missional church is about discerning God’s call and joining God in ministry. A Missional church’s focus is on doing God’s mission and ministry and not on doing their mission and ministry. The focus and attitude is on being disciples and going out into the world to do ministry.
Why clusters?
Experience and studies have shown that when congregations work together they learn as much or more from each other as they do from staff or consultants. Experience has also shown that when congregations work in clusters they have a higher rate of success in the process.
Clusters also help congregations to develop partnerships with other congregations and the presbytery. There is a sense of accountability to and support from the cluster.
Will we be clustered with churches in our in our region or by size or type?
The Cluster B will be all congregations who join the cluster. There will be congregations from all over the Presbytery. You will not be grouped by regions or size or type of church.
Can small churches be part of the Partnership for MissionalChurch?
Definitely!!!!The process can be adapted to fit the small church context.
How do we sign up?
First you do need to have a session action that commitments the congregation to the three year process. The session contacts Jeanne Radak and they make a $100 deposit to hold their space in the cluster. The deposit is non-refundable but is credited toward the first year fees.
Is there an Orientation Meeting and who attends?
Yes, there will be an orientation meeting scheduled as we get closer to the beginning of the cluster. The Steering Team and pastor will be expected to attend this meeting.
Where do we get more information?
We have a lot of information about the MissionalChurch on our webpage – Also Bill and Jeanne are available to come speak to your session or group. Please contact for available dates. Additional dates for Information meetings will be
Are there helpful websites?
Presbytery of Philadelphia Website—
Church Innovations—
Center For Parish Development—
The MissionalChurch ...Simple video—YouTube.com
What is the MissionalChurch?: Alan Roxburgh and Pat Keifert—
The Gospel and Our Culture Network—
What if we have other questions?
If you have other questions please email Jeanne Radak () or Bill Reinhold () with your questions. Additional documents and publications will be available soon concerning the Partnership for MissionalChurch.
May 2010
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