I am with some new friends at the Great Commission Network in St. Louis today. This is a group of (primarily) mainline denominational leaders who are seeking to help their churches engage their communities for Christ.

The group is organized by Paul Borden, who also leads an organization called "Growing Healthy Churches." (Growing Healthy Churches has a fascinating story, being formerly known as American Baptist Churches of the West. You can find out more by clicking here.)

They state that their vision:

The purpose of the Great Commission Network is to provide a peer learning environment for people leading groups of congregations (judicatories and associations) to embrace systemic transformation, in order to embrace whole heartedly the Great Commission. GCN is a place to help such people stimulate and formulate ideas for systemic change, while encouraging those members who seek to implement new and radical plans for change.

We had a great morning talking about how the gospel transforms lives and churches. Lots of good dialogue, etc., around Comeback Churches, missional churches, and other topics.