Scott Boren & missional communities

benlreed —  October 14, 2011 — 5 Comments

Scott Boren (Twitter, Facebook, blog) has written an incredible book…one you should read. In fact, you can read it for free…just keep reading to see how!

Scott wrote MissioRelate as a way of prodding small group systems to move towards life-changing, relational experiences that draw people into missional group life.

The word ‘missional’ seems to be abuzz acros the landscape of the American church. It’s ‘hip’ to be ‘missional’ right now. What I love about Scott’s work is that he plainly lays out the foundations of what it takes for small groups to be truly missional, both theologically and practically. This book just might change the way you think about small groups…in a very good way.

Check out this interview I did with Scott (sorry…for some reason, my video froze. I’ll figure out the whole recording thing soon enough!).

Here are the questions Scott answers:

1. You talk a lot about rhythms in your book…why are rhythms so important to group life?

2. You’re pretty critical of current small groups systems. What churches are doing it ‘right’ now?

3. How do you see the typical American mindset influencing church life these days?

5. Give us a couple of practical steps that a small group could take to really draw people in to missional group life.

Scott mentions a few resources in the video. You can see those HERE.

I’m giving away 2 copies of Scott’s book! To enter, just do one of the following:

1. Tweet a link back to this post. You can use this if you’d like: Check out a great new book on missional small groups from @mscottboren: http://ow.ly/6Xery

2. Facebook a link back to this post. You can use this if you’d like: Check out a great new book on missional small groups from Scott Boren: http://ow.ly/6Xery  // (make sure you tag me so I can enter you into the drawing)

3. Leave a comment telling us whether you think that ‘missional small groups’ are a good idea or not.

In your comment, please be sure to leave your email address so I can contact the winners!

I’ll complete the drawing on Saturday evening, October 15th, at 8:00 pm.

But even if you don’t win, you can pick up a copy of the book HERE.

 

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benlreed

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Christ follower, husband, father, writer, pastor of small groups at Long Hollow Baptist Church. Communications director for the Small Group Network.
  • http://mrben.jedimoose.org/ mrben

    I’ve been in a church that has done various things with small groups over the years. One of the interesting things I read recently was from a Church of England report which advised that a cell group structure has never influenced a community to be more missional, it has only been a good structure for those already actively involved in mission. 

    Some of the work coming from Mike Breen at 3DM is now suggesting that missional activity should be done by a larger “mid-sized community” (or ‘missional community’) which is more like 30-50 people, all of whom are still involved in small groups, but those groups focus on discipleship and pastoral care rather than necessarily being missional. I think there is a lot to this approach. 

    Ultimately I think the question lies not in our small or mid-sized or other groups, but whether or not as individuals we get on board with the mission of the church. 

    (My email is mrben -at- jedimoose -dot- org )

  • Adam Parker

    Wow, great interview Ben! Thanks for sharing these resources.

    We are in a process of making our groups more missional, we have a missional impulse as a church but it’s mostly been more event driven and not life driven.  So we think they are a great way to get that missional drive into their lives and not just events we do once a month.

    adameparker@gmail:disqus .com

    Thanks again Ben!

  • Paul Clark

    Thank you very much for sharing the interview and book.  It is an important conversation to have, especially for the North American church. A way to recover the ancient church’s practice of community.  pauldclark@comcast.net

  • http://twitter.com/danbrubacher Dan Brubacher

    Thanks for the interview, Ben. I was privileged to hear Scott do a one-day seminar on missional group life a few years ago before he had released either “MissioRelate” or “Missional Small Groups” where he shared much of his content. Very good stuff.

    I certainly believe that our groups need to have a missional component, but I think that our purpose needs to be a bit broader and more holistic.  I prefer to think of this as one aspect of an overall commitment to discipleship in groups.

    I tweeted a link. I can be emailed at dan [at] westpark.on.ca.

  • http://blog.roguestateofheart.com Ned Keene

    Ben – I am reading Missional Small Groups now with some coaches and talking each month about what we’re discovering or wrestling with. It’s a needed area of development with our small groups. Thanks for raising the issue.