It is always exciting to learn more about what God is doing in the rapidly multiplying movements around us. This past week I was able to join a webinar with the team from 100 Movements which includes Alan Hirsch and Eric Pfiefer.
During this webinar an effort was made to expand on the insights gained from Alan Hirsch’s original work “Forgotten Ways”. Much emphasis was put into understanding what are now being called “level 5 churches”. Here are my notes and quotes from this:
Becoming Five-
Level 1 churches- Many churches default into a position of subtraction- churches that were at one point thriving and now dying
Level Three churches- churches that because of their vision, values etc have been able to grow. The churches doing this well are benefiting from churches in level 1 churches and people are leaving churches for one that has a clear vision and values
Even to the point of expanding into multi-site, new ministries, etc the testimony we have in working with these churches is they are running into a wall. They are beginning to experience a tension. They are growing by addition and finding it increasingly difficult to multiply
Level 5 churches are churches that are able to multiply because of the consistency and clarity of their DNA and able to raise children to the place of releasing them. Most churches struggle more with a management culture than a multiplication culture.
There are transition places, level 2 churches are those stuck between level 1 and 3 models and transitions.
Level 4 transitions, which is from addition to multiplication that requires reproduction.
It is only in becoming a level 5 church that they operate in their full capacity
No community, no church, no leader is in their entirety in one of these five places in all areas of the mDNA. 6 elements of movemental (mdna). These 6 areas give us a developmental lens. Areas of weakness sabotage areas of strength.
Alan Hirsch- 6 elements of mdna- (how we have go to where we are at in this junction)
The Six elements of mDNA “Forgotten Ways language” translated to “100 Movements Language”:
1. Jesus is LORD – Identity Declaring
Rather than maintaining a generic “Jesus is Lord” confessional intent, church leaders cultivate a precise shared vocabulary that declares their identity as the radical minimum standard of following Jesus together.
2. Disciple Making – Disciple Making
Rather than aiming for attendance at programmatic offerings only, church leaders practice “becoming like Jesus” as the irreplaceable core task of the community in all components of ministry design.
3. Missional Incarnational Impulse – Incarnational Messaging
Rather than attracting new attenders to the services through advertising and invitation practices, church leaders train every believer to bring and embody the gospel to different cultures and people groups.
4. Apostolic Environments – Leader Releasing
Rather than recruiting volunteers to serve the organizational programming only, church leaders help identity and deploy the APEST capability of every believer and leader.
5. Organic Systems – Multiplication Organizing
Rather than organizing around the addition of members, groups, services and campuses with highly centralized control, church leaders structure for empowerment at the grassroots level allowing for rapid multiplication at every level.
6. Communitas – Risk Tribalizing
Rather than allowing an inward focus to reinforce a culture of safety, church leaders intentionally design risk-taking practices to cultivate cause-based community as the normal expression of community.
Getting to a full level 5 is not an easy option.
Future travellers visited 3 churches including SOMA. Establishing a paradigm. At the end of 1-year. How do we move from paradigm to practice?
Most churches are operating from a box paradigm. We know its not a happy moment we know what has gotten us to this point so far will not translate into the future.
Next stage when people get exposed to a movemental paradigm is the capacity to rapidly multiply. The paradigm is important to give us a new mental model. The next challenge taking the existing churches and recognizing that the existing churches already possess everything they need to move forward.
The challenge now is to birth movemental forms. How do we get the paradigm out of our heads and into the church. The seed of the future is in the womb of the present. It is a remembered truth. The great challenge is getting it out of our heads and into the church.
The closer you get to level 5 you will ask questions, what kind of systems and organization you need. How do you go out and how do you go deep?
Multi-dimensional and learning pathways for each. 100 Movements partnerships starts in 2017.
Learn more here…http://100movements.com/
Reflections 