Session #2 by Rock Daddy

In terms of Van Gelder's typology of churches, I would say that my church is rooted in the Ministry centers model, however, they are trying to change to a Seekers Center model. This is evident by the fact that we just hired a new Associate pastor who has been a part of the Saddleback Church and is trying to bring some of that philosophy to our church. Our church is building a new building right next to a new community so, I also see our Senior Pastor trying to reach out to that community in several ways.

I agree with Shenk's thesis that the church in Christendom is not missional, in that the church fails to reach out to those around them. I think that as a church if we were to have a missionary come and present their presentation about where they are going (outside the US), what they will be doing (helping a third world country) and how they need our help (financial and prayers) we are quick to support them any way we can. However, if a congregational member comes before the Administrative Board and requests money so that they can make tapes of their piano playing so they can leave them as gifts when they go into retirement homes and play, there is debate and discussion about whether or not this is really worth while. This blindness to our own plight is not just in the church, it is rampant throughout the US. How many people, not necessarily Christians donate to world agencies to help with hunger or other issues, yet walk or drive by the homeless person on the side of the road and mumble something less encouraging about them?

Kaiser's proposal that secularism is not a permanent worldview in our culture can be explained using the pendulum theory. This theory states that views or beliefs are on a pendulum and that just as a pendulum swings from one side to the other so will the beliefs or ideas. So, just as we saw the church being prominent in society at one point and then it went away from it, we see that society is beginning to swing back toward it again. This can be said of secularism. As prominent as it is now, it will eventually swing the other way. The downside to this theory is that society is constantly shifting and changing and as much as we would want it to equalize out and stay in the middle it won't.

We participate in God's mission in our current culture by creating bridges of continuity between the gospel and the current culture. We must over come the urge to stay aloof from nonbelievers and actually get down on their level in order to bring them the Good News. But, this has to be more than just telling them about it or beating them up about things they do or don't do. It must be demonstrated in our actions so as to prove that we are sincere about it.
The worldview of the gospel is that it is inherently contextual. Meaning that it, truly did happen and that there is a meaning behind it.
Conversion relates to PM deconversion in that as PM's look at the world and therefore conversion, they realize that their negative reaction to it is caused by their basic values, which were created out of modernism. So, by deconverting, they are in essence merely stripping away the facade or excess in order to get down to the foundation.

The mission of the church to the systemic powers human and spiritual is to teach and to create action. The church is to make know the wisdom of God and cause people to act based on it.

The symbols I encounter in my culture are cars, cellphones and clothes to name a few. The underlying meaning that all of those have is power or wealth. I currently have no desire for the latest car or cellphone or electronic gadget. And I am just as happy wearing my jeans with frays on the pockets as to having to have a new pair. People now a days place so much emphasis on material things that it really makes me wonder where it will all end.
In my local church I see the symbols of the Cross in our sanctuary, the religious pictures that hang on our walls and our name. My church has a very simple yet powerful cross at the front of the sanctuary. The pictures that adorn our walls are all pointing to God and the different aspects of him. And finally, our name says who we are. As I mentioned earlier we are moving into a new church later on this year, and are looking at changing our name. The reasons are because we feel we have the opportunity to bring more nonbelievers or non church goers into our church if we simply removed the denomination from our sign. That is not to say that we are leaving our denomination, Church of God, but rather not placing preconceived connotations into peoples minds. This is a touchy subject for some and in fact we are having a Congregational meeting this Sunday to discuss it and then we will vote as a Congregation the following week. I will be interested to see how things turn out.
In the gospel, I see the symbols of Jesus, the cross and in John 21:11 the number 153. Jesus of course represents life, death, power, glory, resurrection and many more things. I truly see him as the Perfect Liaison between myself and God, which is the only way I will ever be able to face him. The cross is a symbol that for me stands for Jesus and all that he did. When I was in college a girl I was dating gave me a cross necklace. It happened to be a Catholic cross, in that it has the figure of Jesus on the cross. And though I was raised Church of Christ I saw it for what it meant. I still have that cross and always wear it. The last symbol I want to comment on, comes from when I was attending my Old Testament class with Dr. Gary Staats. During our class near the end of the week we were visited by a Rabbi from Colorado who shared with our class the meaning of that number. He told us that the sea represents the people groups or groups of people scattered to the nations. The net the disciples cast is the Torah and that the 153 fish they catch are the sons of the living God, which are the Gentiles that would hear the original text in it original language. Well it just so happens that my class got to hear the Bible in Hebrew that entire week. It really made us feel honored even more so.