LCMS Rev. David Born is encouraging congregational BMs.
People wonder why I dwell on past errors in the Synodical Conference. "The child is the father of the man," as one poet said. The early days predict what will happen in the future. When we go back a few decades, the present debacle is easier to understand.
I have to apologize for being unaware of the Becoming Missional (BM) fad developing out of Fuller Seminary. Here is a quotation from an LCMS site:
LCMS World Mission began working with a dozen LCMS districts in a pilot project for revitalization in 2005. It begins with a process called “Motivation for Mission” that’s designed to shift a congregation’s spiritual paradigm. After completing the course, congregations must decide whether to become missional or continue "business as usual." Participating districts in the 2005 pilot identified 255 declining congregations that were invited to take part in the Bible study and its follow-up component, “GroupsAblaze,” a small-group process for building an outreach-focused congregation. Learnings from this initiative will become the basis for a Mission Revitalization Institute, conducted by the Center for U.S. Missions in Irvine, Calif.
From Donald McGavran we learned that "God wants His church to grow," but the bearded saint never mentioned being faithful to God's Word.
The new incarnation of the Church Growth Movement is Becoming Missional. The LCMS is mouthing the same words with a new twist, as Rev. David Born declares:
God desires all Christians to be missional, and in most cases, people have just forgotten what their first love was and why they existed as a congregation to begin with. The role of LCMS World Mission revitalization ministry is to help declining congregations “get back to where they were in the beginning” of their ministries. As dying congregations once more begin to thrive, their success stories will encourage others in similar situations to seek help, too.
The original Church Growth Movement was horrible enough, with its call for congregations to join a local Planned Parenthood chapter. The Becoming Missional fad will be far more activist, as becomes an apostate seminary. When the BMs arrive in local congregations, left-wing activism like ELCA's will follow. The ELCA uses the term mission to describe its role in redeeming society.
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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Response to New Poll by WELS Lay Student":
The comment by WELS lay student is just another example of those "yeah, but" apologies for the CGM. Lutheran doctrine truly has degenerated.
