Flawed Modern Missionary Methods

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Flawed Modern Missionary Methods Summary: This article is my view of why some of the way we do things in missions today is just wrong.

Topics are:
1) Missionaries are distanced from church people.
2) We expect missionaries to put on a song and dance show for the church people, but the churches never let them actually do what is their ministry.
3) We are locked into a Madison Avenue mentality that says, only with spending a lot of money can you do anything serious.
4) We have distorted and destroyed biblical spirituality.
5) We are experts at missions, all the while never “producing” or “reproducing” ourselves.

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Emerging Church and the Bible

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This is a description of “the Emerging Church and Young Seekers” from christianity.about.com

Solomon’s Porch, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a good example. Founding pastor Doug Pagitt saw thousands of college students in the area and knew they had dropped out of traditional church services. Pagitt offered them something different.

Instead of preaching from a pulpit, Pagitt sits on a stool and engages the participants in dialogue. Instead of rows of pews facing forward, Solomon’s Porch has sofas, arranged in a circle. And instead of organ music and 500 year-old hymns, this church has guitars and contemporary music.

Other churches in the movement hold young texters’ attention by projecting fleeting visuals to illustrate messages, accompanied by fast-paced discussion. Some include activities such as signing one’s name on a cross or walking a labyrinth. Worship may engage the senses with incense, candles, and bells.

While some of these new ways of doing church services are a departure from evangelical Christianity, others resemble ancient symbols and rituals of Roman Catholicism.

The writer of this article correctly observes that mixed within the desire to reach these young people is the incorporation of false religions and dubious elements that would probably not be valid for true Christianity.

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