PGF Outbox

"Postmodern. Post Denominational. But Not Post Presbyterian."

Vic Pentz of the PGF Leadership Team (and Pastor of Peachtree Presbyterian Church) delivered this sermon on September 15 to the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta.  The sermon will be the subject of a panel discussion at the Presbytery's November meeting...

The setting is Mt. Carmel. Over here is Elijah, prophet of Yahweh. Over there are the prophets of Baal. Elijah flings down the challenge, “You call on your God, I will call on my God. The God who answers by fire is God.” This showdown came in a day when the faith of Israel no longer enjoyed unquestioned allegiance from the people — just as we mainline churches today no longer enjoy a leg up in status in Western society. In Elijah’s day, Biblical faith had to prove itself on display out in the open in a demonstration of power before the world. In the same way, our world says to today’s church, “Show us something. Where’s the fire? What difference does your religion make in the real world?” 

PRAY FOR MALIBU PRESBYTERIAN

Malibu Presbyterian Church's building is now no longer, thanks to the devastation wrought by California wildfires in recent days.  Pastor Greg Hughes, standing amidst the charred remains of the once-magnificent grounds that housed his office and the church's other many ministries, talked this morning with a CNN reporter about how his congregation and the larger community are coping (www.cnn.com/video).  Please pray for Hughes, the community of Malibu Presbyterian and all of those whose lives have been touched by the devastation. 

BIG MAC OR TEN COMMANDMENTS?

The claims of today's "missional church" theologians rest on the assumption that gone are the days when the church could rest on her laurels in a care-free state of so-called "Christendom."  We live in a "post-Christian" world, say such theologians.  Just how "post-Christian" is America, anyway?  A recent survey conducted by Kelton Research in conjunction with the October 19 release of the animated film, "The Ten Commandments," found that more Americans can name the ingredients in a Big Mac than recall more than five of the Ten Commandments.  A related survey compared popular knowledge of the Ten Commandments with that of cultural trivia.  Surprise, surprise: cultural trivia won out, but by how much?  Most respondents knew the names of the four Beatles but many could not recall even one commandment...

BARBECUE CHURCH

He calls it “Barbecue Church.”  For Dante Harmon the term describes a weekly Sunday evening ritual at Maddy’s Rib & Blues Joint in Decatur, Georgia.  Harmon and his “sacred steel” band have done a very creative thing.  They have taken a style of music until very recently only heard in church- (particularly in House of God churches, where steel guitars have been used to lead worship and lend drama to sermons and testimonies)- and they have transplanted it to the unlikely setting of a barbecue rib joint. 

Faithwalking - Retreat for Missional Leaders

Registration Opens for the Next Faithwalking Retreat:  January 25-28, 2008

Faithwalking exists to equip missional leaders in the post Christian era to live transformational lives in their families, neighborhoods and workplaces.  It is a life-changing retreat for those in both the business community and in the ministry.  Join Jim Herrington and his team in Colorado for a time away to reflect, to go deeper, to see what it means to really live a transformed life, and to take that into your community and world.

MISSIONAL IN ACTION: Atlanta Churches Take On Child Sex Traffickers

This year when a young woman was trafficked from Egypt and forced to serve as a domestic in a home in Atlanta, Georgia, she fled to the one place she knew she would be safe: a church.

Conferees Share Lessons in Missional Transformation (Part 2)

As part of an ongoing series that highlights how our local congregations are seeking to live more missionally in the wake of this and last year’s conferences, here is what Stephen Hulsey (Lake Square Presbyterian Church, Central Florida Presbytery) and Doug Resler (Overlook Presbyterian Church, South Alabama Presbytery) told PGF Team Coordinator Kristina Robb-Dover...

THE MISSIONAL MEGACHURCH

Ed Stetzer has done a lot of thinking and writing about the “missional church.” Among the books he has authored or co-authored are: Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age (2003), Breaking the Missional Code (2006), Planting Missional Churches (2006), and 11 Innovations in the Local Church (2007). Stetzer has planted churches in New York, Pennsylvania, and Georgia and transitioned declining churches in Indiana and Georgia. He currently directs Lifeway Research and serves as Lifeway's “Missiologist in Residence.” In a recent conversation with Team Coordinator Kristina Robb-Dover, Stetzer applauded PGF’s mission to transform mainline congregations into missional communities following Jesus Christ. He has agreed to share an article (click on below link to access) he recently wrote for Outreach Magazine in which he commends five missional practices.

http://outreachmagazine.com/Library/features/Out100ftrMissionalMegachurch.asp

Copyright © by Outreach magazine. All rights reserved. Used by permission

Video and Audio from the 2007 PGF Conference

In case you haven't checked it out yet, the audio and video of the main talks at the 2007 PGF Conference are available on the web.  You can watch the videos on the PGF YouTube Channel and download the audio on the conference page of the PGF website.   To highlight one, here's Michael Frost's opening talk on being the missional church:

The other talks available on audio and video include those of Amon Kasambala on mission partnerships in Africa, Elias Chacour on relationships in the Middle East, Alex Gee and John Teter, John Ortberg on stewardship, Michael Frost's wrap-up and Dave Peterson's opening remarks.

High quality versions of the videos are also available for purchase on DVD, so that you could show them to a crowd if you'd like.  An order form is available on the conference page of the PGF site.