Marginal Mission Network

Mobilizing the Church to the margins,
Building the Church from the margins

[Dara Massicot @MassDara]

For those in town making choices on security assistance to Ukraine, if you need more reasons, then I have a warning to share with you about the Kremlin. I feel that I have a duty to warn. /1

[Marginal Mission Network @EuropeCatalyst]

To receive the gift of Creation & then to hasten directly to practical ways of exploiting that gift for maximum production w/out regard to long term impacts is at best ingratitude and at worse blasphemy (claiming for oneself the attributes and rights of God). Wendell Berry 1986

[Jim Baker @JimBakerAtEFCA]

"He has demonstrated power... scattered those whose pride wells up from the sheer arrogance of their hearts …brought down the mighty from their thrones … lifted up those of lowly position …filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty." Mary, mother of Jesus

[Marginal Mission Network @EuropeCatalyst]

Nearly every pastor and churchgoer says someone with a disability would feel welcomed at their church, but there is a huge gap between those beliefs and what special needs families experience. — @SandraPeoples https://t.co/nLmbmUKxVz via @LifewayResearch

[Marginal Mission Network @EuropeCatalyst]

What’s the difference between a) the “good life” and b) “a collection of good moments, hours, days…” Will maximizing b) actually lead to a)?

[Marginal Mission Network @EuropeCatalyst]

If we learn about God through our bodies, we will learn MORE about God when we listen to what is known in the wide varieties of types and forms of human bodies. #DisabilityInclusion

[Joni and Friends @JoniandFriends]

Many churches want to serve people with disabilities and special needs but are simply unsure of where to begin. Follow our new church training video series for steps any church can take toward providing meaningful support to people of all abilities.
https://t.co/xKnYONSdQl

[Marginal Mission Network @EuropeCatalyst]

“The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends. It is a sin to despise one’s neighbor, but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy.”
That’s God saying that, y’all!

[Marginal Mission Network @EuropeCatalyst]

What does it say when congregations "support missions" to take the gospel "to the nations," yet their own makeup doesn’t reflect their own communities (in race, economics, language, or level of "ability")? #EverybodyIn

[Marginal Mission Network @EuropeCatalyst]

Yes! We “mobilize the church to the margins” *precisely* to “grow and inspire the church from the margins.” This apparently is no longer a “marginal” perspective.
https://t.co/csxDhBCNkl

[Jim Baker @JimBakerAtEFCA]

“The language of lament may prove to be one of the bittersweet lessons Christians learn from this crisis. It can help believers unlearn a spirituality of the center and learn a spirituality of the margins.”
That’s what “marginal mission” has always held. https://t.co/Umr2xIiqjW

[Ryan Wolfe @ryanewolfe]

Churches need to figure out now how to provide free professional #MentalHealth care. They cannot afford to wait until people are in #crisis to figure it out.

If I were working in the local church right now I'd be in contact with @KeyMinistry @drgrcevich https://t.co/FJEJEjRnZD

[Marginal Mission Network @EuropeCatalyst]

Stop and think: What does it mean that the entire Christian community is mandated to show no partiality in the body? Is it not that ALL PEOPLE, from all backgrounds and all walks of life, should be invited and included into its essential functions? How are we doing?

[Gregory Mansfield @GHMansfield]

Customer in pharmacy:”What’s wrong with you?”
Me:”Nothing. I’m disabled and use a wheelchair.”
Customer:”I see that. What’s wrong with you?”
Me:”Nothing is wrong with me.”

Disability is not “wrong.”
Disabled people do not have something “wrong” with them.

[Marginal Mission Network @EuropeCatalyst]

"Closing the door to the gifts and presence of the marginalized Other, even for the sake of clear identity and a certain kind of growth, may cause a congregation to miss a greater blessing." - Stephanie Spellers in "Radical Welcome"

[Marginal Mission Network @EuropeCatalyst]

The goal of a "theology of access"? "All of God’s people will experience a sense of belonging as margins cease to exist." Jenni Weiss Block in "Copious Hosting"

[Marginal Mission Network @EuropeCatalyst]

"The identity and mission of the church are explicitly tied to who is present and who is absent." ... "Quite simply, people with disabilities have been, and are still, in large measure, excluded and marginalized within the Christian tradition." Jenni Weiss Block

[Marginal Mission Network @EuropeCatalyst]

@jackmjenkins

[Marginal Mission Network @EuropeCatalyst]

Food for thought from Greg Boyd: “The mind cannot accept or even accurately understand any teaching that the heart is not willing to obey.”

[Ability Ministry @AbilityMinistry]

Be there... isolation is such a major issue and there are always ways to make difference