This post is a personal confession.  I have been in hiding.  I know God called me to minister boldly as a part of the church universal but I have been hiding behind my non-profit and under my “Executive Director” title.  I have been hanging out in the margins with people who let me be...

In 2009 I wrote a post titled, “Empowering a Movement – A Search for Missional Structures”, about the oldest and in my opinion best expression of a truly misisonal church.  In the original post I shared insights from the writings of Elizabeth O’Connor, who was a long-time leader at...

If you have followed this blog for any period of time, you know that I started a non-profit called Embrace Richmond. The mission of Embrace is to strengthen under-resourced communities by empowering community based leaders and engaging people of faith in works of service.  In other words, we...

For the past year I have been reading anything I can find on creating missional structures that release peoples creativity into the community in a way that strengthens and builds up communities.  I discovered a post titled “Chance Favors a Connected Mind…& Leadership Network” by...

Alan Roxburgh in his blog titled “Join the Wild Goose Chase” gives some wonderful insights into missional leadership formation.  He critiques several methods but the one I think most speaks to our current approach is this one “Throw them in the Deep End and see who survives: ...

Albert Mohler writing about the life of Cecil Sherman?  I was too curious not to check it out.  As a graduate of Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, a seminary formed out of the Cooperative Baptist split from the Southern Baptist Convention which Cecil Sherman was an instrumental part...

Have you ever felt your life was out of balance?  Have you ever had a season when you were simply to busy to rest and reflect upon your life but later came to realize that by resting and reflecting, your life actually got easier and made more sense?  I have just recently come through a...

In my experience ministry is messy.  Can it really be simple, straight-forward and focused?  Our leadership team has been going through a strategic planning process and one of our leaders suggested we read the book “Simple Church” by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger.  The just of the book...

Every chance I get, I retreat to our small cabin in the woods perched atop a steep ridge overlooking Fish Pond Creek near Prospect, Virginia.  Last week the snow and ice on top the ridge was nearly gone but the snow along the creek bed remained.  As I walked along the creek, I saw clear...

Servant Leaders, Servant Structures Elizabeth O’Connor http://wp.theoblogical.org/?page_id=3782 Insights from Chapter 1 I have been seeking to discern how to build organizational structures that foster creativity and unleash the missional imagination of people seeking to follow Christ in...

If you are interested in what God is doing through the Missional Church, I highly recommend, The Tangible Kingdom by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay.  Below are a few of my favorite quotes: “We have preached and listened to the preachers who tell us a story we’d all love to find ourselves in,...

I am entering into one of the most exciting seasons of my life.  God has allowed me to see and do so much over the past six years but I feel certain that it has all been preparation for what is yet to come. In September, Embrace Richmond transferred the Furniture Bank element of our...