Joanne Lindstrom

Joanne is the Director of Experiential Education and Field Studies at McCormick... what I've known as a Field Ed. Director. Here are some of my notes from my conversation with her.

Scripture says that "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." Word shapes and forms our culture. We have to keep our faith language and culture alive, and not be shaped by the business model of our culture.

She's very familiar with the Church in Ghana. She told me that the churches there are in the business of planting other churches. That's their mode of, and passion for, evangelism. For example, a church of 1,000 members might have 7-10 "daughter churches" of 100-200 members each, and the 200 member churches each might have one or two "daughter churches." In other words, instead of expecting people to come build up one congregation, they go to where the people are and begin a community of faith there! That reminded me of how Central Pres. ended up located where we are now. The congregation was downtown, but began a Sunday School mission in a small chapel at our current location. As that mission grew and grew, the congregation decided to move to the site. We went to where the people were. What can we learn from that attitude as we move into new ways of being the Church?

Joanne then asked a fascinating question: "Are we interested in 'growing' or 'swelling'?" In other words, do congregations just want to get bigger (i.e., have more members), or do we want to figure out what it means to grow in faithfulness and discipleship?