Anglican 1000 Summit - Final (maybe) Thoughts

Anglican 1000 was (again) a remarkable experience of encouragement and insight. Gathering with over 300 leaders from all over the United States and Canada, all of whom are trying to align their hearts, minds and imaginations with God's mission, was uplifting and inspiring. Here are a few of my take aways:
1. There was a consistent call to ground our efforts in the mission of God, to yoke ourselves with Christ, to find our life and strength in Him. This call challenged me to take more seriously my own private prayers and the role of intercessors.
2. Another recurring theme was the creative tension between tradition and innovation/contextualization. It is not enough to mindlessly repeat the patterns of other times and places (whether those patterns are "the way we have always done it" or the hottest program from some successful church somewhere). We are called to plant kingdom outposts that reflect God's heart and will within the guidance of our Anglican tradition (all 2,000 years of it!).
3. Creativity, innovation and risk-taking need to become our friends. If we are going to succeed in planting 1000 churches in 5 years, we will need start many more that that. Some plants will fail to thrive. Some will fail find roots. But if we wait until we are sure that none will fail, we will fail.
4. Planters need support and guidance. But they don't necessarily need doctorates in missiology. We need to think through how to identify, deploy and train planters (often in that order). Creativity and innovation needs to be applied particularly to this area.
5. I love that we are not alone in all of this! To know that brilliant, godly women and men are all focusing their best efforts on planting churches is inspiring. I look forward to developing on-going cooperative relationships with these folks over the years.
6. I encourage you to go to Anglican 1000 next year for encouragement, inspiration, challenge, growth, celebration. It is a remarkable experience.