New things to learn

I am about to finish re-reading a great book by Reggie McNeal titled The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church published by Jossey-Bass. It had been a couple of years since I first read it and just felt it was time to read it again. The author challenges much of what we think about the church, what its mission should be, and the leadership that is required to effectively lead the church in the twenty-first century.

One of the challenges I continually give to bivocational ministers is to never stop learning. McNeal supports this in his book by writing:

Church leaders must go to "school" all the time. Their course of study will depend on the challenges they face. I have already identified some key areas. A beginning list includes post-modernism, generational cultures, visioning, communication, organizational behavior and development, leadership development, team building, apologetics, and futuring, just to get started.

These may not be what we normally think of when we think of training for ministers, but these are the skills that are needed in today's church and today's society. Notice that McNeal states that these are not exclusive, he writes that these will just get you started. They assume that the minister already has sound theological beliefs and some Bible knowledge. He also suggests that the strategies for learning will include more than just classroom or workshop training. He encourages ministers to

1. Go where it's happening - Bookstores, movies, coffee shops, etc.
2. Get outside the box - Don't limit your learning to what other churches are doing.
3. Create a learning community versus trying to learn everything yourself.
4. Develop a chief learning officer in your congregation to be on the lookout for learning opportunities.
5. Get a learning coach who can help you keep on track.

This book is a great read for the minister who wants to help lead his or her church to become more missional. You probably won't agree with everything McNeal writes (I didn't), but he will force you to think, and he will give you some great insight into how churches can more effectively reach their communities for Christ.