Mission Shaped Church Some of the working group Theology for a …

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  Christ and culture : – His Birth, Cross and Resurrection underpin both Inculturation and being counter-cultural p  Inculturation is serious engagement – between the seeds of both the gospel and the church, with the soil of a culture. p  Church has definitive marks – It is also designed to reproduce p 93 – 96 – One Holy Catholic and Apostolic pp NB These ideas outcrop throughout MSC in practical stories, methodology and analogy

Theological principle ONE  Church is shaped by who God is – The Trinity are community-in-mission – Church is the fruit of God’s mission. p 85 but.. Church is not agent – that is the Holy Spirit but a sign of God’s mission – Church’s DNA is “missionary community”. MSC pp Mission comes from the Father, through the Son in the power of the Spirit MSC p85

Mission-shaped Church DNA will.. 1.Be Trinitarian – Understand Church primarily as community-in-mission 2.Be relational – Rather than see Church as structure, history or external practices 3.Be Incarnational like Jesus – Laying aside our status and preferences [Phil 2] 4.Be disciplers, like Jesus – Growing communities of those who follow him and draw others to him 5.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: to put ontology before function

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

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

Mission-shaped Church  Not just a catchy seminar title  Not only a C of E report  But a divine process – Mission shaped the divine Missioner: Jesus Incarnation describes this Philippians ch2 sings it’s praises John hands the pattern on … cf MSC p88

Let Copernicus talk to the church..  Is it just accident that the church now finds itself at the margins ?

Theological principle TWO  Christ’s patterns: – His Birth, Cross and Resurrection underpin both Inculturation and being counter-cultural p – There is here an inherent process – from Christological example

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

Theological principle THREE  Inculturation is serious engagement – It is not imposed by an individual from above or outside, but from the community and below – Inculturation and Contextualisation should be treated as friends MSC pp  Both gospel and church, must be sown – entering the soil of a culture.

Definition & 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

Theological principle FOUR  Church has definitive marks – It is designed to reproduce p 93 – 96 – One Holy Catholic and Apostolic pp – The Chicago Lambeth Quadrilateral pp 100 Scripture, Creeds, 2 Sacraments, Episcopacy

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

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

Church with Mission in the DNA will.. 1.Be Trinitarian – Focussing on God the Trinity, sharing their mission 2.Be relational – Following the Trinity who are community-in-mission 3.Be Incarnational like Jesus – Laying aside their own status and preferences [Phil 2] 4.Be disciplers, like Jesus – Growing communities of those following him 5.Be Transformational like the “economic” Trinity – Looking beyond themselves to a kingdom centred, counter-cultural affect upon society MSC pp81-82: This an adapted order: to put ontology before function

Foundations sometimes matter…