Two exciting things to announce today regarding the first TransFORM Network learning party event, coming up April 30-May 2, 2010, in Washington, D.C. (the TransFORM East Coast Gathering):

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina is joining us as a sponsor of the event. We’re grateful for their financial support, and we look forward to having them with us in D.C.

Note: TransFORM is looking for other partners to help support the network and put on regional gatherings like the D.C. event. If you, your church, organization, or business are interested in exploring partnership, please contact Steve Knight.

Eliacín Rosario-Cruz from the Mustard Seed House community in Seattle is going to be joining us as well, as one of the workshop facilitators, speaking about neo-monasticism and intentional Christian communities. Among his various projects and affiliations, Eliacín has been a part of the leadership team for TransFORM, so it’ll be great to have him there in D.C.

We hope many of you will be able to attend the TransFORM East Coast Gathering, which is a free event – please RSVP online now to let us know you’ll be coming!

There’s a new TransFORM video on the site! This one features Mark Scandrette, founder and executive director of ReIMAGINE in San Francisco. I’m tempted to say that he gives a “master class” on missional community in this 17-minute video, but I’ll let you be the judge of that.

Watch Mark Scandrette on Missional Community »

In a January 2009 blog post, church consultant Ed Brenegar wrote about “The Missional Shift”:

The most significant transition in the church is a missional one. It is simple. It is a shift from the church as a place for spectators to a place of participants. I saw this coming twenty years ago where the church I served simply wanted me to be the curator for their museum of memories. They worshiped the past, and that past wasn’t worth celebrating. As with many churches, they are backing into future  wondering how to preserve their comfort and security as believers.

The Missional impulse is outward, out the door, into the streets, homes, businesses and playgrounds of communities near and far.  It is a shift marked by greater integration of all aspects of the life of the church.  It is a shift toward a greater experience of God’s love and grace in the context of communal unity and service. It is a shared experience of personal meaning and social fulfillment.  At its heart, it is the church giving itself away.

This Missional Shift is not an organizational movement like so many. It is rather a way to represent the internal change happening in churches by God’s spirit that is expressed in action.

Brenegar goes on to prescribe three actions that “we must take for this missional impulse to take root in our individual churches”:

First, accept the responsibility to take personal initiative to live one’s life for Christ in acts of worship and service.

Second, to enter into conversation with one another that opens up our perceptions of who we are, and what God is doing through us.

Third, respond daily, with discernment and passion, to the needs of the world that God places in our path.

Brenegar concludes, “From this attitude of the servant, a missional ideal will grow and achieve its impact in our churches and our world. It cannot simply be another campaign or movement. Rather, it must be a transition that marks the transformation of our hearts.  This is the missional shift that I see growing in our world today.”

Up For Discussion: Although he admits it may be “beating a dead horse,” Mike Croghan has opened up the question about “What is ‘missional’?” on the TransFORM discussion board, and I’d encourage you to go share your thoughts on the subject.