Living Local: Joining God

Assumptions

• Things are changing and we need to reimagine how to be a church in this new world
• God is already ahead of us, up to something in our neighborhoods and communities, and we should join God there
• A lay-led, grassroots effort to discover God’s mission for us in our neighborhoods and communities is better than a top-down vision
• Our neighbor is anyone we encounter in our daily life – where we live, where we work, where we play, and where we pray
• God’s mission for us is different in each of our contexts – location and time
• Our re-imagination of how we are called to be church in our specific context potentially includes new ways of using our resources – time, talents, money, structures, and clergy – but not necessarily
• We learn best through experiences and action learning
• Sharing in communities broadens and deepens our learning
• Anything worth doing is worthy of practice and development over time
• We don’t know what the end game looks like, but we look forward to transformation of individuals, congregations, neighborhoods and communities

Practices

• Observing – Walking the Neighborhood
• Listening – To Each Other – Interviewing Members of the Congregation
• Listening – To Each Other – Interviewing Neighbors
• Listening – To Each Other – Dwelling in the Word
• Listening – To God – Dwelling in the Word
• Listening – To God – Dwelling in the World
• Discerning
• Experimenting