Dsmn Final Paper
LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
CRITIQUE AND SUMMARY OF
CHURCH 3.0
BY NEIL COLE
SUBMITTED TO DR. JAMES WOOD
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COURSE
DSMN 620
By Cynthia Wyant
DOWNERS GROVE, IL
SEPTEMBER 23, 2012
INTRODUCTION
In this week’s review, we seek to gain an understanding of what an organic church model looks like. Cole is the author of our text, Church 3.0 and within this book, he points out how church today has not changed much since the early days and that we in our day and culture need to make some much desired changes as to how we do church. Cole tells us that how we are doing church today in the modern society just isn’t working. We have an abundance of mega churches that attract people to them, but, the truth is, they are just one in a big crowd of people. So, Cole provides us with Church 3.0, an organic, missional way to do and be the church.
What Is a Missional Church?
According to Cole, the church is “not sent on a mission by God, but rather, God is on a mission and the church is called by Him.”
The missional movement, in many ways, is a counter force to the traditional way of “doing” church. Rather than being program-focused, the missional church prides itself on being people-focused.
“Missional is a way of living, not an affiliation or activity,” explains missional leadership specialist Reggie McNeal in his new book, Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church. “To think and to live missionally means seeing all life as a way to be engaged with the mission of God in the world.”
How Are We To Live Missionally?
If we want to live missionally, then, we should both live and think in terms of relationships. God himself lives in relation to the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we ought to do the likewise. We tend to think of church as being something we do once a week, for one hour a week on Sundays, nothing more and nothing less. The reality though, is that experiencing
CRITIQUE AND SUMMARY OF
CHURCH 3.0
BY NEIL COLE
SUBMITTED TO DR. JAMES WOOD
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COURSE
DSMN 620
By Cynthia Wyant
DOWNERS GROVE, IL
SEPTEMBER 23, 2012
INTRODUCTION
In this week’s review, we seek to gain an understanding of what an organic church model looks like. Cole is the author of our text, Church 3.0 and within this book, he points out how church today has not changed much since the early days and that we in our day and culture need to make some much desired changes as to how we do church. Cole tells us that how we are doing church today in the modern society just isn’t working. We have an abundance of mega churches that attract people to them, but, the truth is, they are just one in a big crowd of people. So, Cole provides us with Church 3.0, an organic, missional way to do and be the church.
What Is a Missional Church?
According to Cole, the church is “not sent on a mission by God, but rather, God is on a mission and the church is called by Him.”
The missional movement, in many ways, is a counter force to the traditional way of “doing” church. Rather than being program-focused, the missional church prides itself on being people-focused.
“Missional is a way of living, not an affiliation or activity,” explains missional leadership specialist Reggie McNeal in his new book, Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church. “To think and to live missionally means seeing all life as a way to be engaged with the mission of God in the world.”
How Are We To Live Missionally?
If we want to live missionally, then, we should both live and think in terms of relationships. God himself lives in relation to the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we ought to do the likewise. We tend to think of church as being something we do once a week, for one hour a week on Sundays, nothing more and nothing less. The reality though, is that experiencing