What is The One Church Experiment?
Project Isaiah 43 grew out of the observation that the church model of today needs to change. That led the synod staff to ask the question, “To what new thing is God calling the church?” The synod formed the hypothesis that God is calling us to a new form of ministry in which groups of congregations collaborate around a shared vision, embracing the priesthood of all believers, and supporting the mission to which we are all called as disciples – to love God and one another.
Now that we have formed this hypothesis, it is time to experiment! Yes, that means change. Yes, that means trial and, likely, error. Yes, that means we can try again.
In the book, Lutheranism: The Theological Movement and Its Confessional Writings, Eric W. Gritsch and Robert Jenson write:
“Medieval thinking said that God created an organization, the church; the Lutheran Reformation said that God gathers people and that this gathering, the church, creates an organization in order to carry out its mission.
(they later add) …the Lutherans were more radical. For them, if the organization of the church is our free historical responsibility, then there can be no permanently mandated pattern of organization, only a permanently mandated mission for which to organize.”
In other words, mission remains while the shape of the church may change. It may just be time for you to try something different – to experiment with the shape of the church, knowing that we are continually called to love God and one another in new forms. That’s The One Church Experiment!
Now that we have formed this hypothesis, it is time to experiment! Yes, that means change. Yes, that means trial and, likely, error. Yes, that means we can try again.
In the book, Lutheranism: The Theological Movement and Its Confessional Writings, Eric W. Gritsch and Robert Jenson write:
“Medieval thinking said that God created an organization, the church; the Lutheran Reformation said that God gathers people and that this gathering, the church, creates an organization in order to carry out its mission.
(they later add) …the Lutherans were more radical. For them, if the organization of the church is our free historical responsibility, then there can be no permanently mandated pattern of organization, only a permanently mandated mission for which to organize.”
In other words, mission remains while the shape of the church may change. It may just be time for you to try something different – to experiment with the shape of the church, knowing that we are continually called to love God and one another in new forms. That’s The One Church Experiment!
Inputs for Your Experiment
If you feel called to The One Church Experiment, then gather the inputs below and start your own experiment in ministry!
Step One:
Step Two:
Step Three:
If you are looking for resources from Project Isaiah 43, please visit this page: Project Isaiah 43
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