pat loughery

Part of the learning model in the Doctor of Ministry program at Bakke Graduate University has us writing daily journals for each in-class day. These journals describe what we saw, how we interpreted it and what we’ll do with it.

FRIDAY 6/13

Today we debriefed the past two weeks and said our goodbyes.

When we were asked to share what major themes we are taking away from our time, I had three in mind. The first theme was simplicity. I’ve felt God’s directing voice recently in this area. I want to live more simply, to divorce myself from my consumerist ways. As I’m exploring how I can craft my own Rule of Life as an individual as well as blueprinting what a new church community’s Rule might look like, simplicity is a key. In this course, I’ve thought of simplicity in my own spiritual walk and my understanding of leadership and of organizational structures.

The second item I thought of was multiplying networks. I wrote earlier this week that I awoke early with this thought in mind, and that was the day that Neil Tibbott spoke about multiplying ministries and networks. At this point I don’t know how this might look, but I’m not thinking of simply a network of house churches; I think what I’m considering is something broader than that. The concept of multiplication is easier for me to describe than what I think I might mean by networks. That may include relationships, churches, affinity groups, web communities, and many other concepts.

The third on the list was stewardship. I’m thinking of stewardship not just in the context of leadership, but also of small communities of faith using the resources that they have, not the ones that they wish they had, for Kingdom purposes.

Those three fit together for me, and as I continue to reflect on them individually and together, I expect much more depth to come.

I appreciate that the BGU staff asked for honest suggestions and feedback. I gave some, agreed with much of what was said by others. I suppose that I’ll have many more thoughts next week after things trickle into my mind and soul. I did say that I wanted to make sure that I understood what it meant to exegete the city, to do appreciative inquiry, and to do reflective leadership. Lowell helpfully revisited these topics.

After we were released, I drove to a Panera store near home to have lunch and wi-fi. I sifted through my class notes and the giant three-ring binder containing many of our lecture notes. I transcribed my notes and the handout for exegeting communities and made it into a blog entry. I made another entry on the topic of life transitions, both so that I could revisit the topic for myself at least as much as for sharing with my friends who read the blog.

The course has been helpful for me. It was especially helpful as a directory of people and resources that I can continue to tap into as I understand more about where God is leading me. I didn’t feel as though any individual lecture topic gave me all that I needed to know, but I also know it’s not designed to do that. I did get exposed to a variety of people and resources and concepts, all of which will be helpful to me at one level or another.

I plan to spend the afternoon doing some mind mapping on a few new topics: my dissertation topic, Celtic Christianity, church planting movements, and networks.