Since I am currently in transition between ministries, I will discuss these four implications in the missional context of the church that I am presently engaged with, the Vintage Church of Los Angeles.
First of all, our church emphasizes spiritual transformation as a vital and foundational aspect of its mission. The church leadership strives to keep the important balance between "what we do in mission" and "how we live out our mission" (p. 12). The pastoral team is indeed leading by example in terms of hospitality, openness, obedience to God, and humbleness.
Considering that our faith community is located in the West Los Angeles, a known cultural enclave for young professionals, art people, and entrepreneurs, it becomes imperative to address the issue of "wealth and prosperity", because greed can easily become a threat to the Kingdom values. In its teaching, the church intensely stresses the importance of becoming a biblical steward of money, instead of being consumed by materialism.
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14) can easily become a most harmful element in mission and in the church. One thing that can prevent this misuse from happening is accountability within the leadership team. I was glad to find that the church teaches accountability and provide structural support for it within its ministry teams. However, the 'centered-set' model adopted by our church, creates a challenge in providing for accountability of people who are further away from the center. The second challenge is how to establish a functional structure without rigidness that would prevent new people from getting involved and developed in mature disciples and