Theological Journal 0 April 3: Movements

“In 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 Hirsch #TheForgottenWays #MovementTime

Movement expert Steve Addison describes the marks of a movement this way:

-white-hot faith                                                                                                                                   -commitment to the cause                                                                                                               -contagious relationships                                                                                                                         -rapid mobilization                                                                                                                      -adaptive methods

Hirsch’s description of apostolic movements reflects these marks:

-white hot faith/radical community of disciples                                                           -commitment to the cause/centered on the lordship of Jesus                                                       -contagious relationships/empowered by the Spirit                                                                 -rapid mobilization/built squarely on fivefold ministry                                                       -adaptive methods/ organized around mission where everyone (not just professionals) is considered an empowered agent, and tends to be decentralized in organizational structure 

Most churches, even if they began life as a movement have yielded to the sociological inertia which attends duration through time and become instead of

-white hot faith, a regularized faith                                                                                                        -commitment to the cause, a routinized process                                                                  -contagious relationships, a program-itized profile                                                                       -rapid mobilization, to a pastor-centered, building-focused, attractional mindset      -adaptive methods, to dependence on stabilizing, maintenance methods

I’ll spend a few posts looking at some of this in more detail.