By now you can tell that I'm only touching on aspects of each chapter and giving my own thoughts that are prompted by the authors. I hardly ever read anything in which I am in total agreement or understanding. As you use this resource, I believe it is easily adapted and expanded so as not to be a static set of recommendations that will make you a successful missional leader. These are more like "guidelines".
In this chapter the others talk about what a supportive team ministry would look like. One aspect they touch on is in a title of a paragraph on page 91. They quote Steinke again where he says that healthy congregations "Focus on their strengths." I believe this to be essential to developing a missional congregation.
Missional churches are highly contextual. They see themselves as planted in their mission field. The missional church is sent to the neighborhood in which they live. I'm reminded here of The Message and Peterson's translation of John 1, that the Word became one of us and "moved into our neighborhood." That's what God has done in our churches. Many of us have forgotten this. But this is what a church discovers when it becomes missional in character.
By saying that a missional church is higly contextual means to me that the leadership and ministry gifts that are needed for the work are also present. God has gifted the church with all it needs to do the ministry that is before it at present. The Church lacks nothing other than "eyes to see and ears to hear".
Saying this means that God's gifts are the strengths present and they are what you use to move forward. Some of those gifts may appear as weakness (humility?) but must not be demeaned. Instead God has arranged the gifts in such a fashion that all are needed. When Steinke comments that a healthy congregation focuses on its strengths, it doesn't mean it can do everything. But it does mean that God has gifted the church with special skills and abilities and people. This is the foundation upon which you build. Don't be looking for those who aren't there. Like the boy with the loaves and fishes, appearance isn't everything. Put what you have in God's hands and see God work.
In response to the natural church development folks, I would say that their emphasis on finding out what you don't do well and concentrate on that is thorough modern approach to ministry. We need to be hitting on "all cylinders" to be effective. Well, God may have only gifted the church for a specific task in a specific time and place. To spend our energy trying to pull up the areas that we aren't good at seems an unfaithful act to me. I think the parable of the talents is helpful here. Invest what you've got. That's how things grow. Remember each individual church is not the whole church and in most places doesn't need to be.
I think that supportive teams are teams that can encourage the gifts present with one another. Otherwise you're always wishing for something you don't have. That's the "wish dream" that Bonhoeffer says we need to let die.
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