this is the thirteenth of a series celebrating twenty years at cms
see 1. gold | 2. emerging church | 3. blah | 4. new forms | 5. worship tricks | 6. mission shaped church and fresh expressions | 7. pioneer ministry | 8. church planting | 9. red tape | 10. doing the imaginative work | 11. post colonial mission | 12. for goodness sake
this is the final reflection. 13 makes a baker's dozen after all!
once the pioneer training started, a few years in i was amazed at how wonderful it seemed - it felt like something precious was going on. religious communities sometimes talk about a charism or gift that is at the heart of what they are about. i went on a retreat in 2015 and wrote in my journal what i thought the facets of the charism we were seeing at cms with pioneers might be. i called it true north - true north being a metaphor for god's mission which is the big orienting factor, joining in with the healing of all things. and then i came up with 9 facets of that gift. several years on i think they still name something good. i don't think i have ever posted that on the blog. so it seems a fitting way to end this series of reflections.
there are actually two versions of it.
the latest one is in pioneer practice (use discount code in january of HAPPYNEWYEAR btw to get it for £10) which is somewhat distilled. you can download it here - true north v2
and the original is simply those 9 facets written out with a short explanation - you can download them exactly as they were first written here - true north v1
i would love any feedback on that - do leave comments or how you see it. if i were to rewrite now i would add something on the gift of community and diversity i think which we are feeling our way towards. there is a talk of me elaborating on it in germany in 2017 if you want to know more.
so there you go. that is my baker's dozen celebrating twenty years at cms. now time to look forward...
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