Kaleo Vision and Philosophy of Ministry

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Jul 21, 2009 in Church, Church Planting, Ministry Design | 1 comment

At the end of last year I posted a document on Kaleo’s Philosophy of Ministry created by Tim Cain as he worked to plant a new church site as part of Kaleo. As an updated now there is an added section on Vision to the document. This is the shortened version of a longer document but at 58 pages it has some weight to it. Included in the Vision portion of the document:

• Vision Statement
• Core Theological Convictions
• What Gospel Community Looks Like
• What a Community formed for Mission Looks Like
• What is Mission
• ..and much more such as the role of the Holy Spirit, prayer, God’s glory, etc.

The Philosophy of Ministry section discusses how we practically live out the above vision. Practically how do we gather, how do we gospel one-another, how we fight to treasure Christ, worship and much more.

DOWNLOAD: Kaleo Vision and Philosophy of Ministry

The Necessity of Mission for Small Groups

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Jul 20, 2009 in Church | 4 comments

Kaleo Church is still learning what it means to be a community of believers gathering throughout the week in homes across the county. We call these groups Missional Communities. Why? Our desire is that we would be gospel-centered communities on mission. As we’ve got a few years into this church plant there are a couple observations:

To Clarify…A Missional Community is not PRIMARILY:
1. A Small Group
2. A Bible Study
3. A Support Group
4. A Social Activist Group
5. A Weekly Meeting

1. Small Groups as Bible Studies are the easiest to form but the most dangerous.
Why are they dangerous? In our early days we did much more class or Bible study gatherings. What we found is that theology “in theory” often leads to knowledge without wisdom. Thinking through the problem of evil and suffering in abstraction is quite different than sitting next to a young couple that lost their baby. Groups should use theology to re-orient people back to God/Truth but in such a way that it is focused on heart transformation and right thinking. Sometimes we call this teaching “theology on mission” since the aim of the theology is directed to specific worldview conversion.

2. Small Groups that deal with Support of one-another inevitably become exclusive and accommodating.
While not as easy as a Bible study, a support group can become the default when people are not on mission. Recently a church decided to move to a neighborhood small group model. Several of the ‘established’ small groups resisted. They provided an apologetic saying that their group had 30-years of deep relationship building that wouldn’t allow others to jump into this deepness they sought. 30 years of not being on mission will lead to exclusiveness and without mission the group will never get beyond itself.

3. Missional groups without a Community Centered on the Gospel can not last.
A missional group will quickly run into circumstances that require it to drink from the grace-renewal well of the gospel. Groups that gather around good causes and can-do attitude will eventually peter out as people become absorbed into something else or lack the motivation to continue.

Mission is a necessity for small groups to avoid #1 & #2 because mission requires gospel-supporting of one another that causes us to stand on the promises and truths in God’s word. Our hope is that our understanding of God’s word is intensified, our support through gospeling of one another is continual and the result is mission that causes us to seek the Kingdom of God first in all we do.

What is Gospel Intentionality within a Church Community?

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Jun 18, 2009 in Church, Culture | 1 comment

Today I received an email from a pastor on Gospel Intentionality. In this email he requested help for his church family to gain a better understanding of what gospel intentionality looks like. What exactly is gospel intentionality?

Steve Timmis posted a series of Tweets on this: Living ordinary life with gospel intentionality means …

… buying from local shops.
… frequenting a local coffee shop or pub.
… playing for a local sports team.
… always tipping generously in local restaurants.
… being the kind of neighbor everyone wants to have as a neighbor.
… volunteering at a local charity shop along with a couple of others from church.
… doing ordinary things in community.
… opening your home to, and sharing your food with others.
… walking the same route to work at the same time or catching the same train each day.
… we do EVERYTHING for the sake of the gospel!

These ideas are fleshed out more in the book Total Church. “Total church” is their way of capturing the idea that church is not one activity in our lives. Church isn’t a meeting you attend or a building your enter. It’s our identity, our community, our family. It’s the context for the totality of the Christian life.

In a post on this gospel intentionality at Edwards blog, Jonathan Dodson comments: “We need not only to do these things, but also understand how they are an expression of the gospel‚Ķor they will devolve into meaningless practices or legalistic works.”

This is the ‘stuff’ we go through at Kaleo. Recently, in our missional community we have had two families begin the process of searching for a home. Both were considering a location farther away from the community where they could get more home for the money. In our gospel intentional way we asked them what were the motivations behind this. If we are called to be a community on mission with the gospel at the center of everything we do, wouldn’t our decision of where we live profoundly be impacted by this? If we are gospel intentional we make decisions with what is best in mind for our witness, our faith and God’s glory. What motivates us to move outside the city to buy a bigger home? Comfort? Investment? Safety? If the answer isn’t calling than ultimately this decision is not being made with the gospel at the core. The good news of who God is tells us our comfort, value and protection reside in Him not in our home. We ultimately need to get down to the heart issues of what motivates people in all our decisions, because if we are not walking in line with the gospel we are worshiping something other than God.

These two families have begun to re-consider what they want to prioritize. They recognize that if they moved 20 minutes away it would impact their ability to be gospel intentional. Certainly, if God was calling them to move and their motivation was the gospel at the center, we would embrace this and help them move but our missional community doesn’t see this as the case. These people have been willing to submit this decision and heed the counsel of the community because of the gospel intentionality they desire. (Note: This is not gospel ‘intensity’ these conversations are not heavy-handed or us trying to make decisions for them.) All of us seek to expose our lives to each other and the community around us so that when any decision or circumstance is brought up we examine it through the idea of God’s calling on our life to live as a redemptive people who are servants of our great King. To the world this may sound crazy but to us it is a beautiful mess of sinners celebrating a life under the reign of a God who loves us and has adopted us as His.

We are calling our community to process this in how they dress, where they live, what activities they participate in and how we interact. It is all of life. For us this is Gospel Intentionality.

Practical Missional Ecclesiology Workshop

Posted by D. Goodmanson on May 18, 2009 in Church, Church Planting, Ministry Design, Triperspectivalism | 3 comments

At the Acts 29 Bootcamp in San Diego I led a workshop on how Kaleo Church desires to build church structures, systems and leadership centered on the gospel in community on mission to the world. Prior to listening to this workshop please listen to Jeff Vanderstelt’s Influence Through Mission & Vision, also suggested is Brian Howard’s Influence Through Community.

Here is the outline of what was covered:
I. Practical Missional Ecclesiology Systems & Structures
II. (31:09) Tim Cain Case Study: Planting in El Cajon
II. (64:01) Q&A with Drew Goodmanson, Tim Cain & David Fairchild

Download the PDF of the Practical Missional Ecclesiology Workshop.

See the other Acts 29 San Diego Bootcamp Sessions.

San Diego A29 Bootcamp Sessions

Posted by D. Goodmanson on May 13, 2009 in Church, Church Planting, Leadership, Teaching | 1 comment

The main session videos from the San Diego A29 Bootcamp, Influence: Multiplying Leaders on Mission for the Gospel are up!

Session 1: “Influence Through Leadership” – Mark Driscoll (Sound did not work properly, no video.)
Session 2: “Influence Through Brokeness” – David Fairchild
Session 3: “Influence Through Mission & Vision” – Jeff Vanderstelt
Session 4: “Influence Through Community” – Brian Howard
Session 5: “Influence Through the Word & Worship” – Matt Chandler
Session 6: “Influence Through Persevering” – Darrin Patrick

You’ll notice it is MANDATORY to wear a dark preferably black shirt when presenting at an Acts 29 bootcamp.

Two breakout sessions were recorded and will be uploaded next. The rest of the breakouts were not recorded.

Gospel-Centered Church

Posted by D. Goodmanson on May 12, 2009 in Church, Church Planting, Ministry Design, Teaching | 0 comments

David Fairchild was invited to Speak at Cornerstone Church where Francis Chan pastors. He presented two sessions:

The Gospel Part 1: What’s the big deal about the Gospel? What is it and why should it be central to our community life? David Fairchild breaks down the Gospel and why it’s so important to how we live in response.

Community & Mission Part 2: So what’s the big deal with community and mission? Why is community central to God’s design for His missional purposes? David Fairchild breaks down what community and mission are and how they interrelate to one another. This discussion works off of the conviction that Gospel-Community-Mission is a three legged stool. Only together can we understand what God intended from the beginning for His redemptive plan.

Interested in more Gospel, Community & Mission? View the videos from the Total Church Conference.