Innovative Corps

a Biblical thought...
She did what she could when she could—she pre-anointed my body for burial. And you can be sure that wherever in the whole world the Message is preached, what she just did is going to be talked about admiringly. (Mark 14:9)

a Book thought...
The Church is free to live its life for others because it is not torn in many directions; it obeys only God. (p22 Needham)

a Dave thought...
Mission, not marketing, is what the church growth founders had in mind – incarnational, not institutional. They didn’t get it wrong, but some of us did, myself included. We should be aggressively planting innovative corps (not corpses) that infiltrate, identify with diverse populations and are transformative in scope. (joenoland.blogspot.com)

I was privileged to catch up with Joe when he visited Melbourne in November and I continue to love what he writes, as a retired commissioner he certainly is still trying to forward the mission of the Salvos.
I have no doubt we need to be innovators not imitators and God has done his best work through us when we listen to Him and act on what He is saying to us. Unless we are planting or serving in corps that are missional and original we might as well join the church down the road.
The last 20 years we started Wagner church growth initiatives, then we moved to Hybells, Warren and now others. Some have tried imitating Hillsong, others Planetshakers myself included. But there is no doubt God did his best work through the Salvos in our first 40 years when we just listened to Him and served our local community. It takes spending time with God and, courageous leadership but unless we stop living off second hand visions maybe the archives is the best place for us.

Just a thought.