Reclaiming the Mission of the Church
“What Agora Is” was the theme for this year’s Board Retreat. Jim Sorum, the outgoing chair, led the discussion and asked board members to share their vision of Agora. The discussion produced some interesting concepts:
Agora is a “bridge” for church members to cross over into the community and for the community to come in. Agora is a “welcome center” where visitors can gather information about where they can experience the caring fellowship of the family of God. The incoming chair, Craig Norenberg, likened Agora to a “tapestry” - messy on the back side but beautiful on the front side.
This last concept received further amplification. Ralph Winter called it the warp and woof of missions - the pervasive strands that weave together Christian outreach, service and missionary obedience. The warp is the stationary thread attached to the loom, giving direction and stability to the entire weaving. This represents the congregational structures of the institutional church. The woof is the thread attached to the shuttle that weaves in and out of the surrounding warp, giving substance and pattern to the work. This is like the widely varied structures of the mobile missionary movement. Together they have facilitated the practical pursuit of Christian Missions ever since New Testament times. Craig sees this tapestry being created through Agora.
At the retreat, the board also discussed at length Agora’s Mission Awareness Training. They want to deepen the training to excite and energize our congregations.
“Reclaiming the Mission of the Church” will be the theme for this year’s Mission Awareness Training. Agora is committed to deepen its mission of assisting congregations to grow and flourish.
The members of Agora’s board and team are engaged in an effort to develop effective approaches to help congregational leaders in their ministries. The training sessions will guide trainees back into the Apostolic age of the Church (Acts of the Apostles) when the Church spread like wild fire. The followers of Christ back then knew well enough that they were called out to live under the Lordship of Christ in anticipation of God’s Kingdom which is to include all peoples. To them the Church was a missional people, not a set of functions, values or programs.
Agora’s Mission Awareness Training will equip congregation members to be passionate about “each one bring one.” It will teach them that mission is a spontaneous responsibility of each church member rather than the work of one person hired to do evangelism. Today we have plenty of opportunities to do mission work, and we need not cross oceans to find people hungry for Jesus. We can find them right here around our churches and in our neighborhoods.
Growing Church Seminar: Creating and Sustaining Congregations with Diversity
The Church today and the Church tomorrow are
dependent on how much congregations reflect the diversity of the communities. Dr. Craig Van Gelder, Professor for Congregational Missions at Luther Seminary, will be sharing his experience and research in order to equip seminar participants for growing and flourishing their churches.
The seminar will invite participants to explore God’s desire to create and sustain congregations as communities of diversity in our globalized world. The major topic for study and discussion will be the hospitality of God as the Spirit’s starting point in creating unity in the midst of diversity. The seminar will then seek to apply this as a framework for congregations living in the midst of social, cultural and ethnic diversity.
The seminar will include small group discussion, mission experiences, and a question and answer session. A continental breakfast and a lunch will be provided.
Location: Calvary Lutheran Church, 7520 Golden Valley Road, Golden Valley.
Cost : $30.00 per person or $120.00 for a congregational team of five or more.
The seminar is co-sponsored by Agora and the Mission Table of the Minneapolis Area Synod. We look forward to seeing you at the seminar.For registration information, call the Agora office at 952-888-5197.