Episode 198 - Your Church In Your Community – Presence Over Programs!

David Fitch from Northern Seminary in Chicago joins the guys to talk about the 7 disciplines of a church that help them meet Christ where he is already working in the community – thus with him becoming a faithful presence there... for the people. This episode is ultimately practical for the small church pastor to engage!

I don't know about you, but sometimes I struggle with the word "discipline." Maybe it's because I lack discipline. Or maybe because I've been on the receiving end (no pun intended) of quite a bit of discipline. But whatever the reason, when I hear "discipline" I usually start to look frantically for the exits.

This is... not a great quality.

The truth is, we all need disciplines in our lives and churches if we want to continue toward health and move forward. It's not always comfortable, but without discipline, we're going to be pretty helpless and hapless when difficulty strikes our lives and ministries.

On today's podcast, David Fitch returns to talk about the 7 Disciplines that Shape the Church for Mission. David is a seminary professor and Missiologist (yeah, that's a thing) but most importantly, he's a small church pastor and he speaks from that experience on this episode. No matter your denomination or church style, these 7 disciplines will challenge you to think about your church differently and press you toward mission.
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This episode is based on David's book Faithful Presence.

To catch more with David, check out our Seminary Series page at 200churches.com and also give hisfirst episode on this topic a listen as well. For a little context regarding how David understands spiritual disciplines, our conversation with Scot McKnight is very helpful. If you're looking for even more insight into this topic, check out season 2, episode 8 of the  "Theology on Mission" podcast episode on this same topic, and you can always find David writing at MissioAlliance.com.

We know you will be challenged and encouraged this week and we'll be back next week with another fresh episode!