I’m sitting right now next to Len Hjalmarson for our 7th installment of the our doctorate program at ACTS/Trinity Western. Dr. Roland Kuhl is about to launch us through some study on the History of Spirituality. Our cohort has gathered again from across Canada, from diverse ethnic, national and contextual backgrounds, to learn from each other.
Today in our class together we are considering what Christian spirituality looks like from a missional and/or an incarnational perspective. To many in the church, that sounds like a study unrelated to the practical functioning of a church or to the practical living of the everyday life. How do words like "spirituality" and "missional" and "incarnational" have anything to do with my faith or my going to church? Well, that’s the point. These words have an incredible impact on the shape of our entire expression of faith as individuals and as a community. Whether we use this vocabulary isn’t my concern… it’s whether we reflect in our faith and in our church communities the identity embedded in these terms. After all, the failure to be spiritually formed is to reject the work of God’s Spirit to shape us. The failure to be missional is to reject God’s purpose for the church. The failure to be incarnational is to reject our identity as the church.
Should be a provoking week!
Anne! Let’s connect! I really look forward to that! I’ll email you. I’m praying for your family!
Hey Ken! Does that mean you are in the lower mainland this week? And for how long? This is just an idea, but if you have a bit of free time at some point,I would love to get together with you and just chat. Send me an e-mail if you get the chance. Hope it’s a great week for you!
Anne