(e)mergent Voyageurs

Previous Post – Books For Sale & Blog Hiatus

After more than two years of writing here at (e)mergent Vouageurs, I have decided to retire the blog for good. I cannot overstate how significant this blog has been to me, both personally and in ministry. There are many people who I now consider dear friends who I might otherwise not have met. I have had the chance to speak, both virtually and in the flesh, to people all over the world, learning from them as much (and probably more) than they from me. It has been really good.

However, this does not mean I am leaving the blogosphere. In fact, after this short blogging break I have been on, I will start blogging right away at my new site, A Living Alternative (with a far easier to remember URL, www.missional.blog.com). With the last few months of stress and uncertainty (which is by no means completely resolved), I have felt a need to make a clean start, embracing a new perspective and approach for life and ministry. In keeping with this, I thought a new site would help with this new beginning.

I should also say that this shift of blogs is not an attempt to distance myself from the emerging church. I hope my site will still engage the conversation as much (if not more) than ever. However, as a good friend recently encouraged me, the personal is the universal. What I mean is that at the same time as I hope to explore faith and missionality including and beyond that emerging church, I also want to write more intentionally from my own context and experience. To this end, I thought a blog with a less explicit focus would be a better approach.

So, I want to thank everyone who has faithfully read and commented here at (e)mergent Voyageurs. I truly hope you will continue to share the journey with me over at A Living Alternative. I would love it if you would add my new blog to your blogroll and help get the word out. Remember, the blog can be found at www.missional.blog.com.

Pax et Bonum!
Jamie Arpin-Ricci

Previous Post – Missional Casualties To Come

A few people missed my announcement in my last post, so I thought I would briefly sum up. For an indefinite period of time I will be discontinuing my blog. The stresses of our current situation are leaving me little time and energy to do much, other than work. I love writing and I greatly enjoy the community I have discovered through the blogosphere and hope to return soon. Please pray that God will guide us in the right direction.

Before I go, I wanted to let you know of an opportunity. As we are seeking to lower our expenses in this tight time, we are also working to simplify our lives. One benefit of such times is that it inspires us to lighten our load. As a result, I went through my personal library, sorting books for the bookstore. However, because of our pressing needs, I have also pulled out many that I want to bring to a used book dealer for some money (every little bit counts).

Before I do that, I realized that several of the books might be of interest to some of you. Now I am not going to put any value to the books, so let me know if any interest you and what you think they are worth. I will charge actual postal costs for shipping them (usually about $3 for an average paperback mailed in Canada). The PayPal option on the sidebar will make it easier. First come first serve.

Please do not request through the comment section, but email be at:

jamiearpinricci AT gmail DOT com

Thanks all!

Jesus Mean And Wild: The Unexpected Love Of An Untamable God
by Mark Galli (HC – mint)

The Next Generation Leader: 5 Essentials for Those Who Will Shape The Future
by Andy Stanley (PB – mint)

The Desire Of The Nations: Rediscovering The Roots Of Political Theology
by Oliver O’Donovan (PB – mild wear)

If Jesus Were Mayor: Transformation and the Local Church
by Bob Moffitt (PB – mint)

If Grace Is True: Why God Will Save Every Person
by James Mulholland & Philip Gulley (PB – mild wear)

Praying Like Jesus: The Lord’s Prayer in a Culture of Prosperity
by James Mullholland (HC – near mint)

Jesus And The Father: Modern Evangelicals Reinvent the Doctrine of the Trinity
by Kevin Giles (PB – mild wear)
Developing Your Prophetic Gifting
by Graham Cooke (PB – mint)

The Last Eyewitness: The Final Week (The Voice)
by Chris Seay & David Capes (HC – mild wear)

Christology and the New Testament: Jesus and His Earliest Followers
by Christopher Tuckett (PB – mild wear)

Preaching Re-Imagined: The Role of the Sermon in Communities of Faith
by Doug Pagitt (HC – mint)

BodyPrayer: The Posture of Intimacy with God
by Doug Pagitt & Kathryn Prill (HC – near mint)

Being Church Where We Live: A Vision for the Body of Christ
by Ron McKenzie (PB – mint)

Velvet elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith
by Rob Bell (PB – near mint)

Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul
by Erwin McManus (PB – mint)

Where Do We Go From Here?: A Guidebook for the Cell Group Church
by Ralph W. Neighbour, Jr. (PB – some wear)

The Medium and the Light: Reflections on Religion
by Marshall McLuhan (PB – mint)

The Human Being: Jesus and the Enigma of the Son of Man
by Walter Wink (PB – mint)

Cracking the Gnostic Code: The Powers in Gnosticism
by Walter Wink (PB – mint)

Searching For God Knows What
by Donald Miller (PB – mild wear)

Jesus Rediscovered
by Malcolm Muggeridge (PB – some wear)

Compassion & Solidarity: The Church for Others
by Gregory Baum (PB – near mint)

Images of Jesus: How Jesus is Perceived and Portrayed in Non-European Cultures
by Anton Wessels (PB – some wear)

Butterfly In Brazil: How Your Life Can Make A Difference
by Glenn Packiam (PB – near mint)

Out Of The Question, Into The Mystery: Getting Lost In The Godlife Relationship
by Leonard Sweet (HC – mint)

Summoned To Lead
by Leonard Sweet (HC – mint)

Faithquakes
by Leonard Sweet (PB – near mint)

SOLD – The Sacred Way: Spiritual Practices For Everyday Life
by Tony Jones (PB – mint) – SOLD

SOLD – The Ragamuffin Gospel
by Brennan Manning (PB – mild wear) – SOLD

SOLD – Post-Modern Pilgrims: First Century Passion for the 21st Century World
by Leonard Sweet (HC – near mint) – SOLD

SOLD – Intelligent Church: A Journey Towards Christ-Centered Community
by Steve Chalke (PB – mint) – SOLD

SOLD – Spiritual Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals & Groups on the Twelve Spiritual Disciplines
by Richard Foster & Emilie Griffin (PB- some wear) – SOLD

SOLD – The Emerging Christian Way: Thoughts, Stories & Wisdom for a Faith of Transformation
by Marcus Borg & others (PB – near mint) – SOLD

SOLD – Christ and Culture
by H. Richard Niebuhr (PB – some wear) – SOLD

SOLD – David’s Truth: In Israel’s Imagination & Memory
by Walter Brueggmann (PB – mild wear) – SOLD

SOLD – Using God’s Resources Wisely: Isaiah & Urban Possibility
by Walter Brueggmann (PB – mint) – SOLD

SOLD – Out of The Silent Planet: Book 1
by C.S. Lewis (PB – worn) – SOLD

SOLD – That Hideous Strength: Book 3
by C.S. Lewis (PB – worn) – SOLD

SOLD – Everything That Rises Must Converge
by Flannery O’Connor (PB – near mint) – SOLD

SOLD – How Movies Helped Save My Soul: Finding Spiritual Fingerprints in Culturally Significant Films
by Gareth Higgins (PB – mint) – SOLD

SOLD – The Transformation of Culture: Christian Social Ethics After H. Richard Niebuhr
by Charles Scriven (PB – mild wear) – SOLD

SOLD – The Sacred Journey
by Frederick Buechner (HC – wear to dust jacket) – SOLD

SOLD – Why Not Women?: A Biblical Study of Women in Missions, Ministry and the Church
by Loren Cunningham (PB -mint) – SOLD

SOLD – Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic
by John De Graff & others (PB – near mint) – SOLD

SOLD -This Beautiful Mess: Practicing the Presence of the Kingdom of God
by Rick McKinley (PB – mint) – SOLD

SOLD – A Theology Of Liberation: 15th Anniversary
by Gustavo Gutierrez (PB – mint) – SOLD

SOLD -The Deity Formerly Known As God
by Jared Stevens (PB – mint) – SOLD

Recently I have been exploring the shift of the church in the West to more missional mindsets and practices.  It is really encouraging, especially in the Canadian context, to see this pattern reveal itself in the Body of Christ.  However, I have also begun to see (and feel) what some of the long term consequences of this shift will look like.

As a missionary with the (so called) “parachurch” organization Youth With A Mission (YWAM) for nearly 15 years, I have been able to serve in (what I an confident is) my vocation through the generous financial and prayer support of family, friends and churches.  However, in the last few years, we have seen a dramatic drop in our support, which we are now realizing is nearing a $10,000 annual drop.  We’ve been able to make some of this up through renting (though our tenents are missionaries, so we give them a significant break) and my writing (which is not consistent enough to be sustainable).  This has happened as the personal cost of being in ministry has went up.

I started doing some digging and found that one major factor for the drop has been that churches (and people in those churches) are giving more towards their own missional endeavours, thus not giving as much to outside missionaries, organizations and projects.  As many people believe that parachurch organizations exsist only because the church isn’t doing all it is called to do, the result is that few feel they have any responsibility for the well being of those groups or individuals.  And so missionaries everywhere are seeing this decline.

Please don’t get me wrong.  I am not saying people are selfishly or callously cutting us loose.  I am excited to see churches and Christians owning their missional role in the Body of Christ.  While I might argue that we need to find a way for these too often alienated groups (local vs. para) to work together for a mutually beneficial solution, this does not seem to be happening at this stage.  Again, I do not say this critically, but the power is with the local church and, unless they decide otherwise, this problem is not something to get many people’s attention.

On a personal note, the result of this shift has led my wife & I the closest we have ever been to leaving the mission.  We entered into our calling with the assumption (perhaps naive) that the systems and relational supports that launched us into our ministry would always be there.  As adoption is likely to be the only way we will ever have children, and as the cost is so high, we face the possibility that our dream of a family will also be casualty.  So I find myself 30 years old with a high school diploma, few marketable skills, increasing debt and a ministry community who depends on our leadership.  I am tired, confused and, for the first time, genuinely scared.  We are not blaming anyone.  If anyone gets the blame, it is ourselves.

I truly believe that a coming trend that the emerging/missional church will need to respond to is how to honour and care for those people who have been faithful in older systems of missional service that, perhaps, are not longer sustainable given the new shift.  I know it is a real problem already for ourselves and for others in similar situations.

Which leads me to a small announcement: given the overwhelming stress we are under at this time, I am trying to find ways to take the burden off, and as a result will be taking a break from blogging here for an indeterminate period of time.  I hope I will be back soon, but I can’t say for sure.  Your continued prayer is needed.