News and Views

In 1804 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, were commissioned to explore the unknown territory that had recently became part of the U.S. as part of the Louisiana Purchase, and to find the waterway from the US through the western territory to the Pacific Ocean. The assumption was that what the terrain before them was the same or similar to the terrain behind them.

So off they went with their trusted canoes. Imagine their dismay when they came up against the Rocky Mountains. Suddenly, the traditional, tried and true methods no longer applied. If they were going to face the new challenges, they needed new ways of approaching their mission.

Today’s church is at such a crossroads. Our traditional vehicles of ministry are not designed for the current reality we face. Just like Lewis and Clark would be wasting their time to modify or improve their canoes to get across the mountains, we too are unable to simply tweak or repackage ministry approaches and expect good results.

We need to let go of our canoes and find fresh, innovative ways of traveling the paths God is calling us to. This includes both discovering new vehicles and guides for making progress with God in mission together. And this is at every level of the church from local churches to campus ministries to district ministries to annual conference committees to the general church. Whether you call it missional innovation, traditioned innovation or testing, learning and adapting, much of where we need to focus our energies lies in passionately pursuing the Great Commandment and the Great Commission in new ways that take into account the new realities we are in.

Dr. Sarah Calvert from the Virginia Annual Conference has developed an outline of the book with questions to help apply its lessons to local church settings. You can download a copy here (create tiny url for:http://www.novaumc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/CanoeingtheMountains-Workbook.pdf)