(e)mergent Voyageurs

When I decided to participate in this "What Is Missional?" Syncroblog, I was initially nervous. After all, I am not a theologian or a particularly accomplished "practitioner". However, I am passionately committed to follow Christ, along with my community, to become the peculiar people He has called us to be. After all, the stakes are high. I am not exploring this out of curiosity or intellectual interest, but because I see in my inner city neighbourhood (and moreso in my own life) the desperate need for saving transformation. And so I will try to wrestle it our here.

Perhaps one of the biggest reasons that the term "missional" get so over-used, misused and abused is that it cannot be understood apart from the "mission" that is at its root (both etymologically and conceptually). At the heart of God's mission is the Gospel. While "What is the Gospel?" could be a Syncroblog in and of itself, I have always started with this very basic premise...


Missional Synchroblog What Is Missional? Missional Community Gospel Jesus

When I consider St. Francis, I am continually amazed at the incredible impact he has had (and still has) on the lives of people, both Christian and otherwise. Though we can point to his excesses (like his refusal to have any of his followers even touch money or extreme self-impoverishment after the supposed example of Jesus), we must stop to consider why he is widely embraced and is the subject of more books and biographies than any other saint in history (a point made more interesting we recognize that he is also one of the least educated of saints).




St. Francis Franciscan Missional Sermon On The Mount Jesus

In my last post, I shared about some of the books I have reading. A few moments ago I finished "New Monasticism: What It Has To Say To Today's Church" by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. When it arrived I was surprised at how thin it was, at only 147 pages. However, this book did not disappoint. It is one of the more inspiring and helpful books I have read in some time. Let me give you an overview.



Missional Books New+Monasticism Jonathan+Wilson-Hartgrove Book+Review

The following is from the end of the chapter on community in David Augsburder's book "Dissident Discipleship". I challenge you to spend some time in prayerful consideration of these questions:

How can I learn a spirituality that nurtures human wholeness unless I commit myself to do all I can and contribute all I can to building a community where we together are seeking ways to practice imitation of Christ? Or will I have to be content with a spirituality of desirable but finally optional vitures?

Community Missional Church Quote

Over the last few weeks I have been spending a great deal of time pondering the future of our minsitry. As we move towards the church plant, we are realizing that it is just one part of the great shift in our little missional community. I have talked a great deal about the values and ideals that we embrace, but it often lack concrete examples to flesh it out.

For the past 6 years, we have been a small group of YWAM missionaries living and serving in Winnipeg's inner city. For the past four of those years, we have all lived together in a duplex my wife & I bought- a former gang house that was restored by Lazarus Housing and sold to us by our friend and neighbour, the late Harry Lehotsky. While we were primarily program-centered for the first few years, we differentiated many YWAM centres with a strong theology of place alongside our theology of going.



Missional Missional+Community Church+Planting New+Monasticism St+Francis Anabaptist Mennonite Church

When I started this new blog, I chose the name "A Living Alternative" with a very specific intention. When asked why he did not rebuke the sinfulness of the people around him, St. Francis of Assis responded:


In an era where Christians are largely known for the sin they oppose, this wisdom could not be more timely. Francis calls us to face the compromises of our culture by becoming living alternatives with how we live. As sin is defined, not by what it is, but by what it fails to be (thus it's meaning "to miss the mark"), so to our approach to facing the systemic sin in our world should be battled by becoming that which is fails to be. For example, in the face of rampant individualism, we must embrace radical community, not simply condemn it as wrong.

Along this line, I am starting this meme to challenge your creativity:


Missional, Meme

Last week I asked for some questions from you, the readers of this blog. Thankfully, in the 11th hour two people posted some great questions, which I have been thinking about over the last day or so. The first set of questions come from my friend Duncan (whose blog is a daily must for me):

I'd really like to ask you about what books you read in your life that you found most helpful to bring you to the point of where you are at?

Who has influenced you most?

What's your hopes for Winnipeg, Canada and the church for the next decade?

The next ones come from another blogger I follow faithfully, Mary:

What is your favorite passage of Scripture and why?

Is there a passage of Scripture with which you are currently wrestling?

On this line, Grace tagged me in this meme (started by Brother Maynard), asking what my favourite book of the Bible is and why:

To read my answers, visit my new blog:




Missional, Meme, Books, Church

It has been weighing heavily on my heart, of late, as to whether I am cut out for the ministry I am in. Or rather, I have wondered if, within my calling to this context (of which I feel confident), am I doing that which best suits the strengths and giftings God has given me. At the heart of it is the more frightening question: If I am not doing what I should be, what price am I paying for it? What price is the community paying?

This week our little community is spending some time looking at our individual and communal giftings, strengths and weaknesses. Among other things, we are utilitizing the MBTI and Strengths Finder, both of which I have great confidence in. The first is a temperament/personality indicator which I have used personally and in community for more than 10 years with great success, helping people get a general understanding of the dynamics of who they are. The second is a more recent test developed with Gallup to help discover the five core strengths of an individual with resources on how best to apply the knowledge. Together, they can be a very affirming and inspiring combination.

To read more of this post, visit:

St. Francis pursued a life of genuine discipleship. And yet, his example stands in stark contrast for what we so often call discipleship today. Francis embraced a spiritual formation that called him into a community. Community is a popular topic these days, especially as individualism continues to prove itself empty.

Francis, however, was drawn to a very particular kind of community, one of shared participation in the life, suffering and resurrection of Christ. This requires that we realign our lives around entirely new values, often counter to our culture or even our own "self-interest", for it draws us to a community of service to Christ, especially Christ in the other. It means that we do not live our lives for ourselves, but for Christ and for our neighbour. Let me repeat that and truly consider the implications: We do not live our lives for ourselves, but live entirely for Christ and for our neighbour.

So what does this look like? Visit my new site for these important points:

Hey there!

For some strange reason, some of you are still visiting here, my now retired blog.  Perhaps you found it via a search engine, a link or are signed up for the feed.  In fact, we I am still getting more hits here after so many months! So here's the scoop:


Please update your blogrolls, bookmarks, feeds and links.  See at the new site!

Peace,
Jamie Arpin-Ricci