What If... » The Church at Spring Hill

Where It All Came From (or a Works Cited List)

William Guice — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:33:08 +0000

Alan Berube, Audrey Singer, Jill H. Wilson, and William H. Frey. 2006. Finding Exurbia: America’s Fast-Growing Communities at the Metropolitan Fringe. In Living Cities Census Series. Washington D.C.: The Brookings Institue. Alexander, T. Desmond, and Brian S. Rosner. 2000. New dictionary of biblical theology. Leicester, England Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press ; InterVarsity Press. Augustine. [...]

Missional Communities, Part 5

William Guice — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:42:08 +0000

As part of evaluating the strangers and barbarians in their midst, the missional community looks for opportunities to get to know them better. A great way to extend this “get to know you” phase beyond the surface or beyond what can be gleaned over coffee or even a meal is to follow the model of [...]

Missional Communities, Part 4

William Guice — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:09:27 +0000

After reviewing the precedent literature in the areas of American exurbs, biblical hospitality and missional communities, I believe that there are transferable principles that can aid in the formation of missional communities in exurban America. There as well pitfalls and dangers that need to be examined also as leaders move toward implementation of these gleaned [...]

Missional Communities, Part 3

William Guice — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:37:37 +0000

Missional communities are committed to having the interests of others first. They see themselves as the body of Christ; they empower people to daily mission. They look to join God in what he is doing where they live and finally they exist to know God and be known by Him and others. Matt Smay and [...]

Missional Communities, Part 2

William Guice — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:56:21 +0000

The Apache Indians of the American West practiced way of life that yielded an open system of community leadership that was decentralized. This made them hard to conquer as every person in the tribe understood the way of life and carried with them the ability to make decisions and act out of a communal ethic [...]

What if Starbucks Marketed Like a Church?

William Guice — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:35:17 +0000

OM_. This was funny, sad, smart and disturbing all at once. Thanks Matt Stone for sharing this. For all of you have asked me what our church is like. We’re for sure not perfect but we’re trying hard to be the opposite of this.

Missional Communities, Part 1

William Guice — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:08:16 +0000

More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not [...]

Hospitality, Part 5

William Guice — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 16:05:15 +0000

Hospitality itself is an action that is made up of people and place. Christine Pohl writes that in the act we combine physical space, social relationships and particular meanings and values (Pohl 2006) . These spaces have boundaries that must be crossed as people are connected and these interactions take surrender on both the part [...]

Hospitality, Part 4

William Guice — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 13:16:21 +0000

As the church and empires grew in European circles, which had the largest affect on American society, hospitality began to fade. The practiced reverted to a Greco-Roman model of virtue that was used for individuals to be present in courts and work themselves up the status ladder. Hospitality was seen by the affluent as a [...]

Hospitality, Part 3

William Guice — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:50:11 +0000

Within just a few centuries John Chrysostom spoke highly and often about the need for Christians to be hospitable. His limits on hospitality were said to have been nearly boundless (Pohl 2006). Chrysostom often reminded the wealthy among the church of God’s outlook on the self-indulgent. Using Luke 16:14-31 as the text the audience is drawn in as the rich man in the story. Chrysostom would later give the famous image of the almsgiver as a harbor for people who are in need. “A harbor receives all who have encountered shipwreck, and frees them from danger…So you likewise, when you see on earth the man who has encountered the shipwreck of poverty, do not judge him, do not seek an account of his life, but free him from his misfortune.” (Husbands and Greenman 2008)