I’m in Orlando, FL, for Exponential 08, the National New Churches Conference, with Jason Webb and some others from the greater Milwaukee area.
Today, we sat through (endured?) a panel entitled “Attractional AND Incarnational Church Planting” in the pre-conference tracks. It was a panel discussion with Alan Hirsch (author of The Forgotten Ways and, with Michael Frost, The Shaping of Things to Come), Darrin Patrick (VP of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network – from Mars Hill Seattle), Greg Hawkins (Executive Pastor at Willow Creek and architect of the recent Reveal study), and Neil Cole (author of Organic Church), moderated by Sally Morgenthaler (author of Worship Evangelism).
It wasn’t the most organized panel discussion, but there were some great nuggets in the midst of the discussion. Here are a few points, quotations, etc. to report on.
- there was a sense of disagreement about what exactly the definition of attractional and incarnational really means, but at the very least there was a sense of agreement that there can be overlap; perhaps it was best summed up by the following …
- Alan Hirsch put a fine turn on things by saying: “Even a missional [or incarnational] church ought to be attractive.”
- Greg Hawkins said that one of the most important things gained from the Reveal study was that success has become much harder to define for Willow Creek; it can’t be just about counting heads in services or programs; now they are aiming at “making disciples of Jesus Christ in a ferocious way”
- this tied in with the idea that a lot of the conflict between incarnational and attractional church models relates to a misunderstanding of maturity: it’s not just knowledge but comes from radical obedience in action
- at one point, a Nigerian pastor stood up and offered a firm slap in the face to American Christianity, saying that leaders need to be living this out in order to for things to move forward – “fire begets fire,” he said, and “we [leaders] need to be at the forefront of personal evangelism”
- Darrin Patrick urged us to ask the question “where is the brokenness of our city?” and then connect our church into that, whether in explicit or subversive ways
- Here are a few more pithy Alan Hirsch statements:
- “You cannot consume your way to discipleship.”
- Discipleship “is a process of becoming more and more like Jesus.”
- “The best critique of the bad is the practice of the better.”
That’s all for today. Another dispatch on the way tomorrow sometime.
In the meantime, you could enjoy Alan Hirsch’s blog The Forgotten Ways.
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Matthew Erickson 
It was a long day hey? hope today has more interaction.
See you there Matt.
It was a long day hey? hope today has more interaction.
See you there Matt.
Matt, I read through all of your Exponetial posts… but I chose to respond on this one, so I could be close to Alan Hirsch! (you know he and I often talk about what blogs are key to the missional shaping of things to come!)
Great posts, that provoke good thoughts.
One question I have yet to fully get through is how “Missional” is different from what good churches were doing all along…
It is basically incarnational ministry which is what sonlife and many others were harping about in the 80’s… I get that the majority of the church did not listen…
But… My youth group in HS was Missional… and very attractional at the same time… The attractional piece was a service… but there was a ministry team of students who were being trained to get in the community, be on sports teams, get involved, all the while seeking to be Jesus in those locations.
Matt, I read through all of your Exponetial posts… but I chose to respond on this one, so I could be close to Alan Hirsch! (you know he and I often talk about what blogs are key to the missional shaping of things to come!)
Great posts, that provoke good thoughts.
One question I have yet to fully get through is how “Missional” is different from what good churches were doing all along…
It is basically incarnational ministry which is what sonlife and many others were harping about in the 80’s… I get that the majority of the church did not listen…
But… My youth group in HS was Missional… and very attractional at the same time… The attractional piece was a service… but there was a ministry team of students who were being trained to get in the community, be on sports teams, get involved, all the while seeking to be Jesus in those locations.
Brandon, thanks for your comments. I’m glad you can be close to Alan Hirsch through me.
I actually agree with you about the tension within our choice of words. Incarnational and Attractional really are not mutually exclusive.
I think it was Neil Cole who said that truly incarnational ministry should be attractive. We spent a bit of time talking about the attractiveness of Jesus and how crowds gathered around him.
I know that at Brooklife we are trying to do both at the same time. Our Sunday service is, in many ways, attractional, while our house groups are intended to be very incarnational in terms of living life together with a tangible impact in one’s neighborhoods and community.
Thanks!
Brandon, thanks for your comments. I’m glad you can be close to Alan Hirsch through me.
I actually agree with you about the tension within our choice of words. Incarnational and Attractional really are not mutually exclusive.
I think it was Neil Cole who said that truly incarnational ministry should be attractive. We spent a bit of time talking about the attractiveness of Jesus and how crowds gathered around him.
I know that at Brooklife we are trying to do both at the same time. Our Sunday service is, in many ways, attractional, while our house groups are intended to be very incarnational in terms of living life together with a tangible impact in one’s neighborhoods and community.
Thanks!