Many of you have no doubt heard me mention the Missional Transition Team by now. And many of you may be wondering, “What exactly is the Missional Transition Team?”
First, a little background, and then I’ll tell you what they do. The Missional Transition Team (MTT) originally started out as the Pastoral Transition Team (PTT), made up mostly of people who had been on the Pastor Nominating Committee that hired me. The PTT and I started meeting over the phone before I moved to San Diego to spend time in scripture and in reading and discussing The Missional Leader by Alan Roxburgh.
The PTT met from July-December, 2007. It was a great team! They were incredibly helpful to me in my transition and in helping me begin to understand Northminster’s history and culture. By the end of 2007, I said to the PTT, “Y’know, I feel like I’ve pretty much transitioned into the church, but this team is doing such great work! Why don’t we keep meeting, but change our name to ‘Missional Transition Team’?” The team loved the idea, so we presented the idea to Session and were officially dubbed the Missional Transtion Team.
Over the years, the membership of the MTT has changed. Some are still on the team from the early days; other members are newer. This gradual turnover of members has been great because it means that we’ve always got new ideas coming! One of the best things about the MTT’s membership is that six out of our nine elders on Session are currently active on the MTT!
So, what exactly does the MTT do? You can think of it in a few different ways. In one way, the MTT is simply a brainstorming team. A lot of times we come together without an agenda. After spending about 20-30 minutes in Scripture and prayer, we say to each other, “So… What’s coming up at church that we should talk about?” Other times we have a clear agenda. For instance, “Vacation Bible School is coming up. Let’s brainstorm some ways we can connect with those kids’ families.”
You can also think of the MTT as a think-tank. Since most of the elders are on MTT, we’re able to think through the implications of certain ideas before a motion is brought to Session. Then, we can answer any questions for the rest of Session with good, well thought out information.
But most of all, this is what the Missional Transition Team does: It is constantly asking, “What is God up to in our church? What is God up to in our community? What is God up to in the world? And how can we join God in what God is doing?”
If you’re interested in being part of the MTT, let me know! Call the church office at 858-490-3995, or e-mail me at mwatson@northminstersandiego.com.
