Put simply, the church finds itself in a post-Christendom era, and it had better do some serious reflection or face increasing decline and eventual irrelevance.
Alan HirschInterestingly, it's as though the gospel story of Jesus is the archetypal heroic journey, the embodiment of the very adventure that all people in every epoch have desired.
Alan HirschCurrently, young Christians reach adulthood bored with church experience, and with little or no sense of their calling as missionaries.
Alan HirschIn missional churches, the baby birds have been pushed out of the nest and are learning to fly for themselves.
Alan HirschIn short, apostolic movement involves a radical community of disciples, centered on the lordship of Jesus, empowered by the Spirit, built squarely on a fivefold ministry, organized around mission where everyone (not just professionals) is considered an empowered agent, and tends to be decentralized in organizational structure.
Alan HirschMost churches don't have the resources for these tricks and inducements but are still bound to the imagination that church happens on a Sunday in a building.
Alan HirschIn order to develop a pioneering missional spirit, a capacity for genuine ecclesial innovation, let along engender daring discipleship, we are going to need the capacity to take a courageous stand when and where necessary.
Alan HirschThose of us with too much invested in the way things are will never embrace the revolutionary cause required for wholesale change.
Alan HirschOur preferences for stability and security blind us to the opportunities for adventure when they present themselves.
Alan HirschWhen there is no possibility of retreat, we will find the innovation that only the liminal situation can bring. In short, we find the faith of leap.
Alan Hirsch