I have been reading through a paper by Eric Swanson entitled 10 Paradigm Shifts Towards Community Transformation. He shares what he believes "takes us [the church] from model of thinking that we must discard to a new model that we must embrace."
- From building walls to building bridges.
- From measuring attendance to measuring impact.
- From encouraging saints to attend the service to equipping the saints for works of service
- From "serve us" to service
- From duplication of human services and ministries to partnering wiht existing services and ministries.
- From fellowship to functional unity
- From condemning the city to blessing the city and praying for it.
- From being a minister in a congregation to being a minister in a parish.
- From anecdote and speculation to valid information
- From teacher to learner.
Over the next few months it is my intent to take one of these paradigm shifts per week and unpack it in light of what is happening here in Bellflower. Stay tuned.
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