The other day while at my favorite “book store”..Ollies…you know what they say…”Good stuff cheap”, I picked up several books. One was Death by Suburb and another was called “The Ministry of the Missional Church” by Craig Van Gelder.

As I was reading Gelder’s book I came to a chapter dealing with Spirit-Led Ministry in context and was struck by something he had written. In a section dealing with Relating the work of God’s Spirit in the World to Congregations in Particular contexts, Gelder encourages congregations to ask two questions that he believes need to be regularly asked in relation to the contexts that the congregation find themselves in.

The first question is “What is God doing?” He says, “Discerning this work of God is foundational for effective ministry. The church is called and sent to participate in God’s mission in the world. The responsibility of the church is to discern where and how this mission is unfolding.”

The second question that Gelder encourages congregations to ask is, “What does God want to do?” He says, “God desires to bring all of life into reconciled relationship. The church must seek to understand how the intent of God, as expressed in the gospel, can work itself out in a particular context to contribute to this ministry of reconciliation.”

Those two questions have stuck in my head and I think can give Veritas a framework to move forward in mission and ministry. I will be sharing these questions in the months to come, before the launch, and after the launch as well. So I ask you…what is God doing in your context and what does God want to do?