Thread by @MattDrapps

We haven't even scratched the surface of 3dM, The Order of Mission and Mike Breen's influence on the UK and USA. #churchofengland

There's a section in Bringing Me Back to Me specifically about The Order. Ready? Let's go.

"The Order of Mission was a powerful group of committed Christians who vow themselves “in the presence of the Senior Guardian and members of the Order” to a life of “simplicity, purity and accountability”

and meet throughout the year at conferences and away days. Members are encouraged to take time out three times a day to pray."

Oh haha its a much smaller section than I remember, but I specifically included it, as they are a shady org worth shining a light on. Wait there, I have other docs

Who are they?

"The Order of Mission (TOM) is a dispersed global community of missional leaders bound by covenant in proclaiming the Kingdom of God in the world."

.arlyb.org.uk/community/the-…

They have a watcher who keeps an eye on them from The Church of England, and it's, Bishop Visitor: Rt Revd Ric Thorpe, Bishop of Islington

Ric Thorpe signed the homophobic "The Church of England’s Doctrine of Marriage" during the LLF process.

thinkinganglicans.org.uk/llf-a-paper-on…

They have 86 Associate members (65 in the UK), 271 members (128 in the UK), and
 211 temporary members (27 in the UK).

They run out of the Kairos Network Church, which is in the Diocese of Leeds.

kairoschurch.net

A series of critical posts emerged about Mike Breen, TOM, 3DM and The Kairos Network, in the form of blog posts. Eyebrows were certainly being raised in 2015. This blog post is chock-a-block full of citations and references.

bobhighlands.com/3dm---mike-bre…

In 2013/14, I was an intern at 3DM, and I actually still have a keyring they gave me tied onto my rucksack. I also have a mug somewhere. Trust me when I say, I understood and dug into and trusted their material implicitly at the time (NOT TOM, but 3dM).

It was I who wrote LIFESHAPES: THE MUSICAL

What are LifeShapes, I hear you ask. Well, actually, it certainly seems as though they were initially developed as tools for workplace use, and adapted rather than invented by Mike Breen, however he was incredibly good at branding them into Church Building/Missional tools

The blog post I linked to describes them as: LIFESHAPES created by Mike Breen "a set of practical tools for missionary living grounded in biblical insights that enables Order members to live the TOM way."

What is 3DM?

'3DM or ‘Three Dimension Movement’ was created by Mike Breen as a way to spread The Order of Mission teachings to various denominations and churches. It also served as the “resourcing arm” or “business arm of TOM.”'

Conferencing, publishing, and set up with funds from *redacted redacted redacted* charity which may or may not have been legal. That's a question for accountants.

3DM teachings were designed to replace the ordinary DNA of a Church or organisation with its own dna including use of specific language, including 'Kingdom and Covenant', 'Huddles', 'Take it round the circle', 'leadership square', 'What is God saying? What can I do about it?'

It strikes me deeply that Mike Breen joined the church at the centre of the Nine O'clock Service debacle, and yet only a few years later developed shepherding/mentoring tools which follow similar patterns of insider/outsider, ultimate leader, close/far, control.

Here is Mike Breen's bio from Exponential church, where he moved to in the USA. At the time he was Senior Guardian of TOM, though this is now a Danish preacher called Keld Dahlmann.

exponential.org/person/mike-br…

Back to the Vows.

The TOM rules of life are available here as a PDF. Note how they are intrinsically tied into the LIFESHAPES.
missionorder.org/s/201901_rule_…

TOM, and the missional movement of Communities was always about expansion. Members of these communities were encouraged to find "People of Peace" and positions of influence, so they could bring the concepts of Kingdom and Covenant to the ordinary world.

This talk by now MP Miriam Cates, in which she discusses seeking Positions of Influence in the local council and school, is an example of living out the DNA of 3dM/Missional Communities in the real world.

3dM and TOM are, no doubt, what we can call 7 Mountains infouencers who believe the whole world should be converted to their kind of Christianity, and would be better if they were. They seem to influence media, society, government, business, etc.

Dominionism Theology! That's the word. My good friebd @sunny_in_MN wrote about Mike Breen and 3dM here: shanleigh.medium.com/under-the-cont…

@sunny_in_MN There are churches, such as the North Heights Lutheran Church which famously fell in and out with 3dM.

bewareofthewolves.blogspot.com/2014/05/mike-b…

@sunny_in_MN Another potted history of 3dM,The Order of Mission and Mike Bteen here:

andyrowell.net/andy_rowell/20…

@sunny_in_MN A more recent 3dM update:

bobhighlands.com/3dm-whatever-m…

@sunny_in_MN Okay, but I will never forget being stood near Paul Maconochie in the queue for a BBQ in 2014 while he whispered about some scandal involbing Mike Breen a few years ago now. Note: 'the founder of 3DM, Mike Breen, transitioned completely out of 3DM in 2014.'

@sunny_in_MN All this to say, over the last week, a fresh scandal and accusations have emerged relating to Mike Breen, which I'll post below in full:

@sunny_in_MN "Dear Friends,

As many of you are aware, the founder of 3DM, Mike Breen, transitioned completely out of 3DM in 2014. While he has retained the name 3DM for his own for-profit publishing company, 3DM Publishing, he has not been involved in our 3DMovements non-profit ministry

@sunny_in_MN in any leadership capacity for the last nine years. However, as members of the 3DMovements Board, we are deeply saddened to hear from the Board of APEX Church, in Dayton, Ohio, that Mike Breen carried on an extended sexual affair with a vulnerable member of their church

@sunny_in_MN which he has been leading. Mike has confessed to the allegations of sexual misconduct and resigned from his leadership position at APEX. The APEX Board hired an independent agency to investigate and evaluate the facts of this case.

@sunny_in_MN In addition to the sexual misconduct, they found evidence that Mike also abused his power through bullying and intimidation, along with a reluctance, and sometimes a refusal, to seek reconciliation.

@sunny_in_MN We deplore these actions and grieve the destructive effect they have had on those entrusted to Mike's leadership. This immoral behavior and abuse of power are not compatible with the values of 3DMovements.

@sunny_in_MN Thank you for joining us in prayer for those who have been victimized, for the members of the Breen family, for the leaders and members of APEX Church, and for Mike himself. By God's grace we believe the most fruitful days of 3DMovements are still to come.

@sunny_in_MN If you have any questions about this matter, feel free to contact a member of our 3DMovements Board."

@sunny_in_MN My thoughts are with the survivors of this case, and we do not know any further detail at this stage.

@sunny_in_MN Color me shocked and surprised, the leader and developer of an Accountability based, circles of influence, humans bad God good, dominionism Theology network has been bullying people and having a presumably abusive affair.

@sunny_in_MN I am confident more will emerge about 3dM, The Order of Mission, Dominionism organisations and the Kairos Network of Evangelical Churches embedded within the Church of England over the next few years. Keep a close eye.

@sunny_in_MN @threadreaderapp Please unroll