Minatrea with Mennonite Annual Convention

Summer is the time when families get together and visit. Laughter flies as stories are told at reunions across America. With many similarities, large families of faith gather in the summer as well in what are often called Annual Conventions.

Columbus, Ohio was the site where our Mennonite friends met June 30 to July 5, 2009 to “Breathe and Be Filled.” More than 6,500 Mennonites filled Nationwide Arena July 2 for a joint adult and youth worship focusing on “Centered in the Spirit.”

During sessions, Shane Claiborne, author and founding partner of The Simple Way, a faith community in inner-city Philadelphia called on listeners to “ask what it means to be radical nonconformists to the ways of the world.”

Sojourners editor-in-chief and co-founder Jim Wallis greeted Mennonites as “a friend of the family” who has been enriched by the Anabaptist movement and Mennonites. He told those gathered, “Your best stuff is the right stuff and you need to share it.”

The Missional Church Center logo appeared on the screen when it came time for Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary to report. Milfred Minatrea talked about his teaching experience at the seminary in January 2009. After seeing the video post we did subsequent to our teaching the class Missional Church in a Post-Modern Context, the Seminary contacted us asking permission to use segments of the video in their annual report. We were delighted to have a small part in assisting this significant institution in telling its story.

If you are looking for theological education in the San Joaquin Valley, we recommend you consider Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary in Fresno, California. Its strong commitment of faithfulness to its Anabaptist roots and to contextual relevance in preparing students makes us glad to join the reunion with this of the Father’s family.

Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary

While teaching Missional Church in a Postmodern Context at Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary last week, I was privileged to interact with wonderful young developing leaders as well as current church pastoral staff members. Staying on campus allowed me to watch student families interacting in the courtyard of the apartments. Their international diversity provides a microcosm of the global church. Their passion for God’s purpose reflects His heart.

Our discussions in class were rich with varied denominational traditions bringing doctrinal differences of interpretation. A common theme was the overarching hunger that the whole world might experience the whole Gospel as truly Good News. Using Christopher J.H. Wright’s, The Mission of God together with my book Shaped by God’s Heart as texts (both available at www.missional.org), we considered how the Gospel transcends cultures, addressing spiritual and global issues that are of vital concern to many in a postmodern and post-Christian environment.

It was exciting to be with those who hungered to imagine and experience the narrative of the Gospel as Good News for the nations: the alien, the impoverished, the sick, the lonely, the lost. I was reminded again that the two great epic narratives of the Old Testament have become our narratives as followers of Jesus, the seed of Abraham, through whom God is blessing the world. In the exodus we remember our redemption from that which enslaved. In the exile, we recall our dispersion among the nations for whom He commands our intercession and blessing. He is on mission through His church.

Watch the video segment and join us in the practice of reading scripture through a missional lens. Write the insights you glean from your own missional reflections on scripture, sharing those with us via email to minatrea@missional.org. I look forward to learning with you!

Recent Updates

Thanks to those of you who were praying last week for our class at Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary in Fresno, California. I enjoyed the time on the campus with students and administrative faculty. MMBS celebrates its heritage as “anabaptist and evangelical;” a good place to be.


Today, I was surprised when a friend called to say that one of our Missional Church Center video segments had been placed on the home page of the Baptist Standard website. The segment tells the story of the Pit Stop Ministry of Mimosa Lane Church in Mesquite, Texas (Click Here to view the video). While we did not know the video had been picked up and posted there, we rejoice as God broadens the audience of those who share our passion for a missional lifestyle.


Being His missional church is the focus of the current sermon series I am preaching at Northway Church in Dallas. We are calling the series, Jesus on Northway, and are currently focusing on ourPassion. (I figure if Apple can create words like iPod, then the church can certainly express itself with ourPassion.) That passion is manifest as we worship and obey God; serve and share His Good News with others; embrace and invite them to follow Christ; and equip and empower disciples to live His mission. To be candid, we are still learners on this journey, but our community is blessed as God faithfully directs us toward His heart.

Continuing the Journey in 2009

The wonderful holiday season is officially over and the New Year has arrived. I am looking forward to meeting new friends in 2009 and to reconnecting with many with whom we have already begun a shared journey in pursuit of God’s purpose.

In order to gain insights into the book I am currently working on, I have prepared a very simple survey regarding disciple-making in the local church that will allow me to gather information from many churches rapidly. Without doubt, churches around the world struggle to be effective in making disciples. Last year I spoke with key leaders from five continents and found they share a common concern in this central task of the church. We will never experience congregations living the purposes of God until those in our churches have learned to walk as authentic disciples. This is prerequisite number one to any life whose course is set for God’s mission.

If you would be willing to invest a quarter of an hour in responding to the survey, please drop me a line at minatrea@missional.org and let me know. The on-line instrument will go out later this week. In advance, let me say “thank you” for joining with me in this important information gathering process. And please pray that I may effectively hear God as I wait before Him with pen in hand (actually keyboard at ready).

Next week I will be at Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary in San Jose, California teaching an intensive course, The Church in God’s Mission. I am looking forward to interaction with students and congregational leaders during the classroom sessions. So that you can be better informed as you journey with us in prayer, we will post a video update from San Jose so you can learn about the students and our class experience.

In dialogue with acting President Dr. Lynn Jost, I have become aware of concerns expressed by some leaders regarding the term “missional.” In the ever changing dialogue and interaction regarding the church’s relevance in society, new terms may be perceived as dismissal of that which has been, in favor of that which is new. Pray that we can allay misunderstandings regarding the missional posture, that it may be perceived as a totally Biblical application of truth in contexts where the church finds itself, valuing the faith legacy of the past while seeking God’s direction for today.