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Mission Shaped Church

Mission Shaped Church. Theology for a …. And for all Fresh Expressions of Church 2008. Some of the working group. Ch 5 : Key theological ideas - menu. Church is shaped by who God is [community in mission] Church is the fruit and sign of God’s mission.

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Mission Shaped Church

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  1. Mission Shaped Church Theology for a … And for all Fresh Expressions of Church 2008 Some of the working group

  2. Ch 5 : Key theological ideas - menu • Church is shaped by who God is [community in mission] • Church is the fruit and sign of God’s mission. • Its DNA is “missionary community”. p 84-86 • Christ and culture : • His Birth, Cross and Resurrection underpin both creation of Fresh Expressions of Church and being counter-cultural p 86-90 • Inculturation is serious engagement • between the seeds of both the gospel and the church, with the soil of a culture. p 90-91. • Church has definitive marks • It is also designed to reproduce p 93 – 96 • One Holy Catholic and Apostolic pp 96-99 NB These ideas outcrop throughout MSC in practical stories, methodology and analogy

  3. Theological principle ONE • Church must be rooted in who God is • The Trinity are community-in-mission • East Communio thinking meets West missio Dei • The Trinity exhibit the priority of being • So … • which comes first, mission or community? • community > public worship Mission comes from the Father, through the Son in the power of the Spirit MSC p85 MSC pp 84-86

  4. Theological principle ONE cont… Church shaped by Trinity as community-in-mission Relations between Church and Mission. • Church: the fruit of God’s mission; only ½ true • It’s also the bearer of the Gospel: Sower and fruit • Church is not agent– that is the Holy Spirit • but it is a sign of God’s mission • And a foretaste of the Kingdom by the Spirit It is not the Church of God that has a Mission in world, but that the God of Mission that has a Church in the world MSC p85 MSC pp 84-86

  5. A revolution about the centre A hint from history From churchas centre, to SON’s mission as centre

  6. Let Copernicus talk to the church .. • Is it just accident that the church now finds itself at the margins ? • God is the centre and mission from church is more spelt “Go” than “come”

  7. Theological principle TWO • Christ’s patterns: Birth, Cross and Resurrection underpin our understanding of the Church • Why? • Its his church • It is his body • Christ is being formed in us • Branches to Stem and Disciples to Teacher

  8. Can Church be freshly expressed? • Note the changes celebrated in Philippians 2 • The incarnation was a fresh expression of God the Son • It was change – it had not been seen before • Jesus exhibited both call and experienced changes • In ministry • In suffering • In death • Incarnation is a story of continuity • And of change – held together • So church holds onto its foundational ID but…

  9. Copying Church won’t do • Reasons against: • God the Son takes on flesh, born of Mary as Jesus • Jesus as a missionary – enters a specific culture • Copying ignores context and so invites irrelevance

  10. From Father Culture Incarnation underpins loving engagement Caesar Death Incarnation OR Counter-Cultural ? Resurrection and Ascension Lordship underpins conflicting engagement Kingdom Signs

  11. Jesus-shaped Church • Not just a catchy talk title • John 20.21 hands the pattern on • “As the Father sent me, so I send you” • His patterns are to be reproduced in us cf MSC p88

  12. Theological principle THREE Christology is the foundation for Inculturation • Inculturation is engagement with context • It comes from “below” and becoming an insider • It is not imposed from above or outside • Inculturation and Contextualisation should be treated as friends • Both gospel andchurch, must be sown • entering the soil of a culture. MSC pp 90-91.

  13. CP: Definition, process & result Church planting is the process by which a seed of the life and message of Jesus, embodied by a community of Christians, is immersed for mission reasons, in a particular cultural or geographic context. The intended consequence is that it roots there, coming to life as a new indigenous body of Christian disciples well suited to continue in mission… Mission-shaped Church p 32-33

  14. Theological principle FOUR • Church has definitive marks • It is designed to reproduce p 93 – 96 • One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic pp 96-99

  15. OHCA Jesus focus Jesus followers Holy “UP” Apostolic Catholic “OUT” “OF” “IN” One Church is any expression of the life of Jesus in communal form Enduring Marks Fourlinked Journeys

  16. Catholic “OF” The forgotten dimension ? • Thanks for • Communion – UP • Community - IN • Commission – OUT • May I add • “Communicate”, “Continuity” or “Connectedness” – OF

  17. Mission-shaped Church DNA will .. • Be Trinitarian • Understanding Church primarily as community-in-mission • Be relational • Rather than see Church as structure, history or external practices • Be Incarnational - like Jesus • Laying aside our status and preferences [Phil 2] • Be disciplers, like Jesus • Growing communities of those who follow him and draw others to him, becoming like him • Be Transformational, like the work of the Trinity • Looking beyond themselves to a kingdom centred, counter-cultural affect upon society MSC pp81-82: This an adapted order: 1 5 2 4 3 to put ontology before function

  18. Trust the DNA …. You can’t know the results first !

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