Cluster Initiative

Types of Social Spaces

We want to be more intentionally “missional” at Greenfield. While this may mean different things for different people, by “missional” we mean an incarnational way of living where each of us reorient our lives around living into God’s mission in the world. We believe God has invited us to participate in His mission of redemption in and for the world.

One of the ways we at Greenfield are exploring how to facilitate being more missional in our neighbourhoods in meaningful ways is by developing “mid-size missional communities”, or “clusters.” These clusters, of around 18-50+ people, may be geographic or affinity based and are defined by the three dimensions of Christian community: “Up” (love God), “In” (love one another), and “Out” (love neighbours).

There are many churches throughout the world that have embraced the notion of “missional communities” as an effective and organic way to structure their lives together for being more missional as the people of God.

The genius of the mid-size missional cluster is based on the example of the early church, where they live life together and met regularly as mid-sized groups in their houses (archaeological records show a typical first century Roman house could easily accommodate 18-50 people). Beyond the biblical example, the effectiveness of mid-sized groups for mission is also supported by what we know about how people interact in groups. A mid-sized group is ideally suited to afford a level of intimacy and community while still being open, inclusive, and missionally focused. Clusters are small enough to have a common vision and big enough to do something about it.

Cluster Features

If you are interested in learning more and brainstorming about these “Clusters”, you can watch the video presentation linked below. This is a recording of the presentation done earlier this year. It answers some of the why, what, and how of this cluster initiative.

In addition, we will be having Leadership Training Course for potential cluster leaders in the spring. This course will overlap with a spring Adult Education course on neighbourhood engagement that is open to everyone (entitled “Into the Neighbourhood”).

 

Further Reading

There is a growing body of literature on mid-size missional communities. Some good resources include the following:

  • Bob Hopkins & Mike Breen, Clusters: Creative Mid-Sized Missional Communities (2007)
  • Mike Breen & Alex Absalom, Launching Missional Communities: A Field Guide (2010)
  • Reggie McNeal, Missional Communities (2011)
  • Jonathan Dodson & Brad Watson, Called Together: A Guide to Forming Missional Communities (2014)

There are also some good web sites that talk about being missional as well as mid-size missional communities:

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask someone on the leadership team, whether a ministry council or staff member.