The Conversations That Changed Jon Cobler and His Church
Transformative Stories From Exponential Learning Communities
Lindy Lowry
Over the last several years, church
leaders around the nation have journeyed together, in an attempt to hear
and understand what God is saying to them about the next years of their
lives and ministries. Specifically, what they will focus on–building
their church or building the Kingdom? Guided by missional thought leader
Alan Hirsch, this inaugural group, eventually called Future Travelers,
met several times to learn together and wrestle with the implications of
this question.
As a result of this journey, each of
these churches has initiated transformative changes and practices. We
talked to Jon Cobler, senior pastor of Church of the Living Water in
Olympia, Washington, about the transformative impact Living Water has
seen as a result of his involvement in Exponential Learning Communities.
Below, Cobler shares his experiences in Future Travelers—one of two
Exponential Learning Communities this fall—and why this yearlong
gathering has proved to be such a milestone for him and Church of
the Living Water.
Jon,
looking back, what are the most noticeable ways you have changed
personally as a result of your Future Travelers journey with like-minded
leaders?
Future Travelers gave me an opportunity to get outside of my routine and dream about what the Church could be. The
biggest change in me was an expansion of my vision and hope for what
our church community could accomplish in our city and around the world. I came back inspired and equipped with new tools to lead my team into a deeper engagement with mission and the Kingdom.
We heard from the leaders who are
turning ideas into action. Every leader I encountered at a host church
was candid about their passion for mission, the challenges they had or
were currently facing and the work that God was doing. It was
inspirational to hear from leaders who were doing the work and were
willing to share the highs and lows of their journey toward more
effective mission. In addition, the team of leaders that Alan Hirsch
has assembled is really special. Alan, Bill Couchenour , Rob Wegner and
Kim Hammond were incredibly prophetic, insightful and genuine. Alan and
his team are truly student-teachers. They have much to impart yet took
the time to listen and learn from those in our cohort along the way.
What are the most noticeable ways your church has changed?
Since Future Travelers, we’ve
identified where some of our ecclesiology has not lacked a strong enough
connection to our Christology. We have adjusted our language and the
content in our discipleship experiences to reflect a “missionally
pentecostal” understanding and lifestyle. We are pressing into the power
of Pentecost–the potential of every person living on mission and
the platform of a large church community.
What would you identify as 3-5 of the most important takeaways you brought home from your Learning Communities experience?
- A large church and a Christ-centered community on mission are not mutually exclusive.
- There is a movement across the country of established churches who are willing to take great risks to extend the Kingdom.
- Apostolic genius is the brilliance of the Church in motion and can be fostered today, even in hostile environments.
What conversations or conversational
threads at Future Travelers have been put into action at Church of the
Living Water and as a result have seen the most transformational impact?
The Gospel language conversation at Soma Communities in Tacoma, Washington, was amazing. We’ve taken the tools from Soma and used them in several groups with great results. The culturally relevant and biblically solid foundation these tools provide for people who want to live out the gospel has been fantastic.
The Gospel language conversation at Soma Communities in Tacoma, Washington, was amazing. We’ve taken the tools from Soma and used them in several groups with great results. The culturally relevant and biblically solid foundation these tools provide for people who want to live out the gospel has been fantastic.
At a higher level, the conversation
about gospel rhythms at RiverTree Christian Church was very helpful. It
helped us identify an “itch” we had been trying to scratch. We
were looking for the vocabulary that went beyond values or mission
statements and drilled down into the way people lived out the mission of
God from day to day. These leaders’ insights gave me what I
needed to come home and continue the conversation with my team. Since
then, we’ve prayerfully developed our own framework to help us grow our
impact within our city.
Jon, how have you seen what you’ve learned and implemented played out in the transformation of people’s lives?
One of my favorite stories is about
two men who recently came to faith in Jesus. I met them during my time
with Future Travelers at my home church, Living Water Foursquare.
I invited them to join me and go through the Gospel Primer–one
of the tools I learned about at Soma. Using it to teach them about
living on mission has transformed these two guys from relatively
self-centered individuals into missionaries to their neighborhoods
and business. They are faithful to come to church and bring people with
them, but they are passionate about taking the gospel into their
workplace and rhythms of daily life. They saw that Jesus was at work
outside the walls of the church building and have passionately joined
His mission!
Exponential Learning Communities cohorts are forming for fall 2014/spring 2015–both Future Travelers and DiscipleShift. Register to be part of an Exponential Learning Community or find more information here.
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