Missional poet...

Pernell Goodyear posts about storytelling and mission... a great post...

Effective story telling [communication] is a must. I fear this is an area that I not only struggle with, feel inadequate at, and get nervous about, but it is also an area which I often do not spend enough time and energy on.

• Sometimes I get distracted by all the requests from other parts of the church world to get to know them and tell the story of what's happening here with us in Hamilton.
• Sometimes I get so caught up in the stories of those around the country and around the world, that my time and energy is spent keeping up with what's going on [particularly in other emerging communities].
• Sometimes, however, it's just easier for me to spew what I already know, rather than figuring out how to contextually tell the story of God and us.

So, as far as I can tell, some of the main things I am learning when it comes to being a missional poet is the need to practice the following: research, conversation, experimentation, spiritual practices.

I love the idea of being a 'Missional Poet' and might even want to expand it to being a 'Missional Bard'... a teller of stories, a keeper of rhythm and rhyme, a connection to the ancients, a setter of truths into saga's and meaning into episodes, a synthesis between now and then, between this world and the other, between hopes and dreams, a guardian of wisdom, a link to the heartbeat of the earth, a reader of the heavens... mmmm yes I can see that... the poet and the prophet!  Thanks for the inspiration Pernell!

Technorati Tags: Blogging: Emerging Church: Mission

Comments

[Pernell]

Hey Mark - I responded to your comment on my blog, but I also wanted to tell you that I like that last paragraph alot. I added it as a quote to my post.

"Missional Bard" has a ring to it, doesn't it?

[theoldbill]

Poet image is interesting - my background is Irish and I do a lot of work with Somalis - in both cultures [which, btw, have a surprising number of similarities] the poet has had a central role. The truth of the poet, of course, is quite different than the truth of the scientist [positivistic data] or even of the teacher [didactic] . . . plus it gives one an excuse for just being wierd