[image and explanation: Intersection Consulting]
Every once in a while I find myself in some great conversations about this crew we call, Mission Bay Community Church. One topic that always comes up is the general feel/culture of leadership and authority here at MBCC. This has to do with everything from how we engage in worship, to how we structure ourselves to how the community interacts throughout the week.
Now without getting too deep into things that I probably don't know as much about as I would like to think I do, I can pretty confidently say that MBCC is a open source, urban manifestation of a historically protestant tradition. Say that five times fast.
One of the core elements of open source culture is how we perceive and engage in communal discernment and the place of authority in that discourse. You will notice that I really TRY not to hold a posture of "the pastor says it, so it must be true" because, one, most at MBCC would be like, "What the . . .?" and, two, it just not feel right to me. Now this is not an abdication of authority for I, and other pastoral staff, still play a role here but it is NOT to dispense wisdom. Our role is to invite and encourage people to use the authority of their heart and mind that God has given to help us all discern the mind of Christ and the will of God. And our own authority lies in how well and faithfully we fulfill that role.
As a church community we try to remain consistent in holding a posture of communal discernment and engagement throughout all we do. We each may play particular roles in our life together, but none of us holds the absolute truth in any part of our life together: theology, organizational structure, music or coffee choice . . . well, maybe coffee choices* ;-)
This is one of the reasons you see so many folks rotating through music leadership, preaching and other facets of our life. In worship you will notice that we encourage folks to engage either through our conversation time, through movement through stations and especially in our prayer time. If you've wondered why, now you know.
Of course, another aspect - some may call these "opportunities" - of this way of being is that we are always in flux. This can be frustrating for those that need a more solid and set way of being that lasts for more than a month, but try as we might, that is just not who we are. And while it might seems easier if we could just set things for a while, I firmly believe that our fluid and adaptive nature has, in the long run, created a meaningful community of faith here in San Francisco. Sure, it will not be for everyone, but a place like MBCC is only once glimpse of what it means to gather as the Body of Christ in the world today. And for that I give great thanks to God.
So . . . hope that was helpful, feel free to ask more questions if ya got em.
Have a great rest of the week and I'll see ya on Sunday!
Bruce
*Philz Coffee is liquid joy, just saying.**
** The author of this blog receives no kick-backs from the aforementioned coffee company, but only because he has not been offered as of this date.***
*** kidding.
Comments