Comments from Participants

the Tangible Kingdom Discussion

Below are the ideas or helpful information that participants took back to their ministry context and put into play as a result of their time at this training event.

• Thanks for the opportunity to be a part of this seminar.  I enjoy being challenged and stretched to think in new ways and in new terms.  Hugh gave me a lot of great things to think about.  I'm glad I came. I liked his challenge that to belong to the church "you must die."  We need to stop creating/allowing "consumer Christians" and start equipping transformed transformers (disciples of Jesus) ready to die to self and give.  We need to destruct systems that create consumers and replace them with relationships that truly equip believers and take sojourners to becoming genuine disciples. There are more… but this stands out and is something I've already shared several times in conversation with leaders in my ministry.
• I got a ton out of this. Affirmation that numbers (attendance) don't mean everything- we're looking for transformation. I've gotten some good resources to look over to pray over what God did in my heart that day and keep looking for forward movement/strategy, etc. Thanks for bringing this good stuff to us. I was reaffirmed in my position as a bi-vocational minister. I really respected Hugh's insight into evangelism. I was encouraged to become a better friend to my community of believers and unbelievers.
• Hugh had many good, practical insights. Like, using a pilot group to get started when one is working with an existing church. Like, the five simple questions one can use with any passage of Scripture to generate discussion that has the ability to be deep and relevant to Sojourners.
• The presentation challenged my thinking about what it means to be church and to be in the world. I'm still processing the impact it may have on my life and ministry. It inspired me to read the book, and I've nearly finished it already. Also, good interaction with the others from our church.
• Hugh's experience tied right in to where we are as church leaders. We appreciated that rather than telling us to scrap everything and start over, he actually had developed a process for churches like us, who are starting with a traditional structure and adapting it to become more kingdom-focused.
• The simple practical models of the relationship between missional people and sojourners was invaluable. I think we've been spending far to much energy and resources on entertaining those we've caught on Sundays and far to little on reaching and impacting the world outside the church walls.
• Taking a close look at how our ministry leaders spend their time to communicate what is important to the ministry.
• A few ideas to take back to small groups to keep us sojourner-focused in our everyday contexts/environments.
• In the sermon this past Sunday I used Hugh's 3 illustrations of how he was intentionally missional to his neighbors, parents at hockey games, and to those at Starbucks. This Sunday I plan to use his diagram of the percentage of people who attended church in the 50's & how it has been reducing each decade & unless we become missional, how it will continue to decrease.
• In my ministry context at the Well we have been moving from a "Attractional Model" to a "Shared Leadership Model" for some time, it's nice to have some language and insights to help us better understand the need for that transition. Also, we'll be reorganizing small groups this year to incorporate Communion, Incarnational Community, and Benevolent Actions.
• The idea of apprenticeship and taking someone along with you to teach them how to be leaders. Also idea of No strings attached when you create friendships with other people and not having an agenda.
• That we need to spend way less time & money on our existing programs (inc. Sun am), and way more on creating contact opportunities with non-believers in our area.
• We can encourage frustrated leaders that there are ways to "pilot" a missional, incarnational approach in existing ministry settings.
• Just be a friend and listen to their story and be aware of an open door to share Christ with them.
• Excellent conversation regarding Sodalic and Modalic sets of gifting and perspectives. Very helpful descriptions.
• Thought provoking for church planting in our community--some ideas were not applicable yet can be squirmed around for adaptation
• Being able to step out in faith - with out having a financial plan to back everything up.
• It is not about you. Building relationships. One day be able to share Jesus.
• Challenged on ministry focus, as well as application. Gained insight thru missional flow context 5 questions bible study would be an immediate benefit material dove-tailed wonderfully with ministry focus we are engaged in, while it was challenging and some of the context didn't transfer, the concepts do and added another “arrow" to our "quiver".
• The model presented was similar to the model that I'm using for our coming church plant.
  
• How to be more on mission for people in our community.