Church Culture In North America

Improved Essays
4. The church understands itself as different from the world because of its participation in the life, death, and resurrection of its Lord.
5. The church seeks to discern God’s specific missional vocation for the entire community and for all of its members.
6. A missional community is indicated by how Christians behave toward one another.
7. It is a community that practices reconciliation
8. People within the community hold themselves accountable to one another in love.
The Holy Spirit presence in the emerging church is a critical factor to spiritual formation and building discipleship, and according to Bolger, “we want the people to follow the Holy Spirit, not us.” (Bolger, 208). The church mission involves and revolves the people to whom seek guidance and salvation. Frost and Hirsch notes, the church is losing its ability to engage groups of people thinking actively listening to their hopes and fears. And the missional church requires an active process of engagement within the Christian community and includes the following ideas: (Hirsch, 24) 1. “Focus on the journey of faith and the experience of God.” 2. “Desire for less structure and move direct involvement by participants.” 3. “Sense of flexibility in order and a distinctly non-hierarchal culture.” 4. “Recognition that the experience of the church is about the sustaining of discipleship.” According to Flemming, “The current church culture in North America is on life support.
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It is living off the work, money and energy of previous generations from a precious world order. Since the mid-seventies, God has been at work in North America in a unique way; this does not mean he was not at work prior to the seventies, for God is constantly at work in his church accomplishing his purposes."(Flemming). What leadership questions are necessary to bring about a missional revelation and contextual understanding? According to Flemming, “The experience of the early church in the book of Acts might serve as a crucial paradigm for the process of contextualization.” (Flemming, 25). In essence, the process of contextualization was a necessary component within first century missionary church. The book of Acts provides many interesting events that revolved and involved early Christian experiences within the church. Flemming notes, “Acts is a cultural product in that participate in the particular first-century cultural literary world that Luke shares with his readers.” (Flemming, 26). According to Stetzer, “The church must set a high priority to build new leaders who will function as different kinds of leaders…Yet at the same time, new leaders need adequate recognition, accountability structures, and appropriate training so that they will work with the kingdom and not against it…In other words, are they able to lead communities by consensus, persuasion, and without hierarchy?” (Stetzer). The church is powerful community in which cultural manifestations can be best understood. …show more content…
Stetzer & Putman states, “If the church is to become an indigenous expression of its context, then contextualization comes into play…when it comes to contextualization, reality suggest that the eternal, universal truth of God’s Word is understood and appropriated by people through as grid or framework…vital to note that though we understand and appropriate the truth as conditioned by culture, the truth itself should never be compromised…over time, these traditions can become the barriers that we must remove if the gospel is to be incarnated among, other cultural groups.” (Stetzer & Putman, 93). A new way of Thinking in church and community In North America we have new leaders emerging who that understands how to reach

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