Open source software makes the basic program instructions available for anyone to see and edit. An "open source church," likewise, is one in which the basic functions of mission and ministry are open to anyone. Members feel free to pursue their callings from God that are consistent with what God has called the congregation to be and do. But what does "open source church" look like?
In Open Source Church: Making Room for the Wisdom of All, ...
Open source software makes the basic program instructions available for anyone to see and edit. An "open source church," likewise, is one in which the basic functions of mission and ministry are open to anyone. Members feel free to pursue their callings from God that are consistent with what God has called the congregation to be and do. But what does "open source church" look like?
In Open Source Church: Making Room for the Wisdom of All, Landon Whitsitt argues that Wikipedia, the encyclopedia that anyone can see and edit, might be the most instructive model available to help congregations develop leaders and structures that can meet the challenges presented by our changing world. Its success depends, he demonstrates, not on the views of select experts but on the collective wisdom of crowds.
Then, turning to the work of James Surowiecki in The Wisdom of Crowds, he explores the idea that the body of Christ itself—-when it is intentionally diverse, encourages independence of thought, values decentralization, and effectively captures and aggregates the group’s collective wisdom-—is an open source church.
Together, these phenomena show us what an "open source church" looks like. It is the body of Christ at its best.
Whitsett offers a model for changing church structures that could work. He translates the principles of open source technology to imagine a new framework for fluid and faithful mission. If you are searching for more responsive, agile, and inclusive-of-all-generations ways to organize church life, read this book.
Michael Jinkins
God calls us together because of who God is. God is not a dry, detached singular being, but a holy community. We are made in God's image. So we are designed to be together. The church needs to hear, believe, and live this reality in every facet of its life. Together we are smarter, better, even more faithful, than any one of us can possibly be individually. Any attempt to limit the openness, the variety and innovation of the whole in the name of the few (or the one) inevitably undercuts the life
Landon Whitsitt is pastor at First Presbyterian in Liberty, Missouri and the Vice-Moderator of the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA). He can be found online as the co-host of God Complex Radio (godcomplexradio.com), and writes The Metanoia Project blog (landonwhitsitt.com).
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In Open Source Church: Making Room for the Wisdom of All, ...