Overview …
Partnership for Missional Church (PMC) is a journey of spiritual discernment that empowers churches worldwide to respond to God’s mission. PMC takes local congregations on a three year journey of discovering God’s specific call to them for moving beyond doing mission to being missional in attitude, vision and action. PMC is based on two decades of consulting experience, research and scholarship. A comprehensive overview of PMC is available in Patrick Keifert’s book, We Are Here Now.
For more information, please contact Len Dale, ldale@css-elca.org, phone 913.948.9701 or 866.915.3548 (toll-free) or Alan Walter aw@alanwalter.com, phone 913.486.8745.
What people are saying about the process …
Excerpt from “Where We Started and Where We are Headed”
Dean McGinnis — Trinity Lutheran Church, Topeka, Kan.As we wind down the official training and learning process of PMC, I reflect back to when we started and where we are headed. These past three years has brought us many challenges as we navigate toward the future as we learn where God is leading us. My adventure began with PMC on the listening team interviewing members of Trinity; about a year ago I rejoined the PMC team. There have been some changes in leadership and turbulence along the way. We have had about two dozen members involved in various parts of the PMC process. Moving closer toward the horizon God is intentionally leading us and we are not sure where he is taking us. As we celebrate our 140th anniversary, I do know we will triumph as we become more focused and engaging with the PMC process.
Complete Story: Where We Started
Excerpt from “Experiencing Partnership for Missional Church Process”
Randall Ridenhour — Peace Lutheran Church, Washington, Mo.We soon discovered that the process was going to be a journey that would change the culture of our congregation. Although we were unclear of how this would occur we were determined to let God lead us into His preferred and promised future.
The program has had a profound effect on our congregation. The initial discernment with the congregation allowed us to reflect on our past and then put those problems behind us. We were set free to come together as a group with a unified, yet undefined, purpose.
As we journeyed deeper into the program we began to understand how to be church in the community. We came to realize that it wasn’t about increasing the size of our congregation but how we could be church in our everyday lives. We developed intentional habits that allowed us to open our hearts and minds to listen to God and let him lead us into His preferred and promised future. One of the most important habits we developed was the Dwelling in the Word. This allowed us to let God into our conversations, instead of trying to proceed on our own agenda.
Complete Story: Experiencing Partnership for Missional Church Process
Excerpt from “Bringing generations together – Bearing much fruit”
Rev. Eric Bodenstab — St. Martin Lutheran Church, Kansas City, Kan.How many times does a farmer check his fields?
The farmers I know spend a lot of time just looking – at their fields, at their neighbors’ fields, at the markets, at their equipment.
How many times does a Christian check for the Spirit?
Being a disciple of Christ means taking time to check for the Spirit. We know we’re supposed to be looking, especially since we can’t see the Spirit or those moved by the Spirit, but we can tell where they’ve been. (Check John 3:8 if you need proof.) So how often do we actually check?
Maybe the Spirit is moving someone in your congregation. Maybe the Spirit is moving someone in your community. Would you know? Are you looking?
Complete Story: Bringing generations together – Bearing much fruit
Excerpt from “Part of the Team”
Andrew Ford — St. Mark Lutheran Church, Clayton, Mo.As listening leaders we were asked to select 24 members of our congregation to interview about their feelings on the church. We were to select some very active members, some not so active members and some members that are influential in the church. We had to ask them each the exact same questions and record their answers verbatim with no editing by us or anyone else. Since I was not a real outgoing person at that time I was very apprehensive about meeting these people as I had only been a member of the church for a short while. For that matter, the listening leader team had eight members and most were new members. We did a blind draw from the membership roster to select the members to interview. With most of us being nervous we set out in teams of two for the interviews. After the first interview most of us were at ease enough, and had enjoyed the interaction so much, that many of the rest of the interviews were carried out individually. It took several weeks but we did manage to complete the interviewing process and get all of the data entered onto the PMC website as requested.
Complete Story: Part of the Team
What’s happening in PMC churches? …
“Free English Class”
Peace Lutheran — Washington, Mo.
The members at Peace discovered there were many more Hispanics in their community than anyone had thought. Not a single person within the congregation was Hispanic or spoke Spanish or had a clue about how to do Hispanic outreach. But they found partners and gifts and resources in their community. Peace Lutheran Church is now the first building in town displaying a public sign in Spanish.
Community Garden Project
Gloria Dei Lutheran — Kansas City, Mo.
This is a Partners in Missional Church experiment. The MET team sponsors the garden through the church. Anyone in the KC area—mostly Northlanders can use it. Gardeners are about one half church members and one half from the community at large. There are 26 plots with one large field that four of our members are growing produce for the community. Many gardeners are planting a row for the hungry. Gardeners are thrilled to have a community garden in the area. Many are bringing their kids with them to garden.
Resources …
Download PowerPoint Presentation: Introduction to PMC in Central States Synod
Download abbreviated PPT Presentation: Intro to PMC (shorter version) — Rev. 0812
Missional Church … Simple: For a 2-minute explanation of what a “missional church” is, watch the following video.
Download: PMC Booklet for Local Churches
Visit web site: Church Innovations – Partnership for Missional Church
