Questionning Mel Lawrenz on Cohesion and Momentum in a Church

In his book, Whole Church, Mel Lawrenz distinguishes between cohesion in a church and the momentum of a church. I had an opportunity today to ask him about this.

George: What do you see as the key differences between a congregation that is embraced by cohesion and one embraced by momentum?

Mel:

In Whole Church there are 350 practical ideas for promoting both cohesion and momentum in a church. We need both. Cohesion happens when we have a continual cycle of shared experiences (worship, service, celebrations, imaginative initiatives). Momentum is when a church is moving out, and moving on, changing all the time, not in a jarring way, but in the incremental process we call growth.

George: Makes sense. Let's go back to the thoughts surrounding conflict and suggest that cohesion is the lack of unhealthy conflict. Momentum is the resolve to move forward in mission.

Posted via web from George Bullard's Posterous