127. From Sunday-centric to Mission-centric, with Jon Ritner, author of Positively Irritating

Jon Ritner is the author of Positively Irritating: Embracing a Post-Christian World to Form a More Faithful and Innovative Church.  In this episode, we discuss what it means to be the church in a post-Christendom world.  How can the church be the kind of church that a Post-Christendom world actually needs—and the kind of church that God is calling the church to be?THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Jon Ritner is the author of Positively Irritating: Embracing a Post-Christian World to Form a More Faithful and Innovative Church and has served as lead at Ecclesia Hollywood for the last seven.After serving as an executive pastor of a megachurch, Jon Ritner eventually made his way to a microchurch network in Brussels, Belgium.  Later, Jon Ritner and his wife moved to Hollywood to help churches adapt and innovate in an increasingly post-Christendom world.The early church existed in a pluralistic pre-Christian culture.Jon Ritner uses the metaphor of an oyster to help us understand that challenges, when approached with a posture of learning and embrace, can lead to beauty.Thanks to Covid, we have just spent the last two years in a liminal space.The mission of God is not just the conversion of every individual soul.  It’s the redemption and restoration of all of creation.Jon Ritner argues that ministry should happen throughout the week in all the places where God’s people are.  Then they can come together to celebrate on Sundays.For many people today, going to church is almost a cross-cultural experience.Jon Ritner explains that many churches unconsciously create an insider-outsider divide when they announce that if someone wants to find belonging they have to come to the church.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:Jon Ritner:E-mail: [email protected]:  www.jonritner.comBooks mentioned:Missional Church, edited by Darrell GuderPositively Irritating, by Jon RitnerThe Master Plan of Evangelism, by Robert E. ColemanChurch Leadership InstituteRelated Episodes:Ep 2: What is the Mission of God?, with Markus WatsonEp 12: God is a Woman in Labor, with Christiana RiceEp 24: Joining God’s Mission Through Neighborhood Exegesis, with Marcos MujicaEp 43: Introduction to “Beyond Thingification: Helping Your Church Engage in God’s Mission”Ep 67: How the Church Lost its Missionary IdentityEp 99: A Church That Shines, with Tara Beth LeachSend me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.