A Missional Community is a gathering of ordinary people who are infected by the gospel and identify themselves as being SENT by God to embody His redemptive message to the world in which they live. Missional Communities are indigenous, local, and organic fellowships, designed to reproduce.
Here we see 3 gospel-infected-disciples coming together to form a Missional Community. They will encourage one another, eat together, read the scriptures, share stories of mission, and collectively BLESS the community they inhabit.
They will also continue to live out a missional "rhythm" or lifestyle in various contexts, unique to each individual. This gives the Missional Community the capacity to reach into multiple social, economical, and geographical spheres. All participants encourage creative imagination in one another, as each discerns where and how God is already at work in their context and how they might join Him.
As these gospel-infected-disciples are sent out, their lives intertwine with those who have not yet awakened to the Kingdom. Through proximity and "shared life", contact space is created where the virus can be absorbed (often times completely unconsciously). It is only after a period of time and consistent exposure, that symptoms of the infection begin to surface. Interestingly enough, those that catch the virus are often times the most unlikely candidates.
As the gospel infection spreads, these "new carriers" of the virus, begin to awaken that there is something different about them. They recognize that they are beginning to share the same symptoms of the incognito disciple. This realization creates relational chemistry and authentic community is formed, where more conscious discipleship and formation can occur. Once the infection takes hold of a few people in this location, the initial disciple leaves his or her original Missional Community and invites their new apprentices to form a new Missional Community; together they will encourage one another, eat together, read the scriptures, share stories of mission, and collectively BLESS the community they inhabit. This illustrates PANDEMIC Missional Movement:
While every newly formed Missional Community will look and feel differently as they are culturally informed by their host contexts, all will bear the same mark; each will be a gathering of ordinary people who are infected by the gospel and identify themselves as being SENT by God to embody His redemptive message to the world in which they live.
by Clarke T. Cayton