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This is the continuation of a paper that was written for my Supervised Theological Field Education paper in 2006, called “My Operational Theology and Model for Theological Reflection”.

I’m happy to answer any questions if you’re happy to ask them…

Questions abounded about how I, a pastor with a history of little tolerance for the church and a disdain for the politics of the institution, could minister with any integrity. The introduction to the depth of the spiritual disciplines came at just the right time. Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline was a ‘life changer’ in the best possible way, but also a source of discouragement. In the language of my young people, I “sucked” at practicing many of the exercises described by Foster. I then stumbled upon the work of David Hansen, a pastor who admitted to struggling with the concept of quiet times, stillness and prayer. His book The Art of Pastoring: Ministry Without All the Answers was a breath of fresh air and encouraged me to find my own expression of the disciplines.

A combination of my history, ministry experience, church experience and reading convinced me that if anything were to change church-wise, then there would need to be a concerted effort to disengage with our precious structures of church and re-engage with the Creator God. In doing so, we would be forced to examine our context in a fresh way and express our theology in a way that was relevant. Our mission would be shaped by this new theological conversation and then, and only then, should we worry about the form and structure our church should take. My time at FORGE built on this theory and to my surprise it was even written about by the founders.

Thus, my operational theology became as follows:

GOD (Theology) -> MISSION (Missiology) -> CHURCH (Ecclesiology)

The goal, as I see it , is for God’s people to connect with him in deep, nourishing ways and to live lives that reflect that connection. Mission is simply living that life in the midst of the wider community, serving them and loving them in the way Jesus modeled. In doing so, God’s people form serving, worshipping communities that might look like the institutional church, but might not. I don’t think God minds too much, as long as we gather and as long as we love. My ministry over the last six years has been shaped by this model and I find it exciting to see the lights “coming on” in those around me as we explore together.

Continued tomorrow…