A Conversation about Church and the Gospel

“The primary question is, How does the church in North America most appropriately understand its current situation?”-Alan Roxburgh

“Liminality is the conscious awareness that as a group (or individual) one’s status-, role-, and sequence-sets in a society have been radically changed to the point where the group has now become largely invisible to the larger society in terms of the previously held sets” (Roxburgh 1997 :24).

Separation—group is detached from their established roles (:27) Liminal—group is now outside normal roles and relationships that gave meaning and identity (:28) 2 Critical Elements: Questioning of almost everything considered normal so that… Discover the potential for transformation and grow into a new identity Reintegration—back into the society as a “new being” with a “fresh identity” (:29)

Modern culture What is the identity of the Church in relation to Modern culture? ChurchPost-Modern culture What is the identity of the Church in relation to Post-Modern culture?

In preindustrial societies liminal occurred within an overarching worldview that gave structure What we have today is no overarching worldview or structure to our liminal transition There is no returning to the world as it was before only movement into the future where there continues to remain a tension between secular and sacred within society

Christendom—In Christendom the church and culture were seen as one - a "Christian culture." In this situation mission was not something that occurred within the culture but instead was something that was taken to those outside of the culture. Mission was often done as an extension of the political agenda (e.g., the Crusades)

Secularism—is a system or ideology based on the principle that there should be a sphere of knowledge, values, and action that is independent of religious authority, but it does not necessarily exclude religion from having any role in political and social affairs. growing authority of science (knowledge) emphasis on rationality (epistemology), and the autonomous individual (society).

Enlightenment--the intellectual movement that emerged in the late 17th and early 18th century that articulated the main values that have characterized modernity: rationality, universality, autonomous individual, skepticism as basis of critical method.

Reformation—In this period the cultural world became segmented into different areas of concern: political, family, economics, church. There was a highly unstable political situation and the church was concerned with its own agenda and establishing itself within society. The church became a definable part of the social reality - separate from other segments of society. Church as Chaplin of the private sphere of life

Postmodernity—the period that is succeeding modernity marked by its rejection of science as the sole authority, the insistence on multiple ways of knowing, including the spiritual, and advocacy of cultural pluralism and relativism. From Newtonian—mechanical, individual, objective To Quantum—relationship, community, subjective

Post-modern—Like the church in the first century we are once again on the margins of society. There is a high missionary responsibility—therefore you hear much talk about “Missional Church”. We are in a very spiritual society but most are not interested in Christianity the way that they perceive it to be.

What could be easily accepted and digested by a modern mindset meets a barrage of questioning by the post-modern mindset interested in spirituality and quickly loses its ability to be filling… the church has in effect embraced modern rational culture and created a barrier to post-moderns. “Quite simply, we seem to have ended up with a secular Church is a spiritual society” (Drane 2001 :61).

The "Establishment Church" ParadigmThe "Missional" Paradigm The "establishment church" paradigm is grounded in inherited understandings of the church from tension with Modern culture The "missional" paradigm presents a genuinely different understanding of the church and its calling…rethought and re- conceived—in tension with Post-Modern culture 1.The church is a personal sanctuary … functions as a place for individual religious experience and growth. 1. The church is ecclesia -- a public assembly -- to which God is calling all peoples to be transformed into the people of God. 2. Fitting into the private sphere of human life, the church functions as society's "chaplain," fulfilling the religious needs of society. 2. Rather than fulfilling self-defined religious needs, the church offers the world a new paradigm: a contrast society. 3. The resources, practices, and services of the church -- scripture, tradition, doctrine, worship, preaching, programs—are deemed useful as functional guides for the development and expression of individual belief, piety, devotion, morality, service. 3. The church's resources, practices, and services cultivate a new people, a people learning and practicing the virtues, habits, and behaviors of the reconciling way of life disclosed in the words and deeds, ministry and mission of Jesus Christ

The "Establishment Church" ParadigmThe "Missional" Paradigm 4. Clergy are professionals trained to facilitate the development and delivery of religious goods and services. Lay people are consumers of clerical services, who sometimes help the clergy. 4. Laos (lay persons and clergy together) are called to be a community of disciples who through faith in Jesus Christ participate in the transformed life of the Holy Spirit. 5. The church is the agent of mission -Formed and informed by the services and programs of the church, lay people thus witness to their faith, contribute to the moral values and structures of society, and encourage others to come to church. 5. The locus of mission is the worshiping and witnessing community. The evangelical mission of the church is graciously and hospitably to invite the world to participate in the re- creation of humanity: to experience the freedom, joy, and wholeness of life in communion with God and fellowship with each other. 6. The church can control its own destiny. It operates in a relatively stable and predictable environment. 6. The church cannot control its own destiny in today's world, but is called and empowered by the living God for mission in a turbulent and unpredictable environment.

“We most often live from a functional Atheism that sounds like this, ‘Nothing good is going to happen today unless I make it happen’.”- Todd Hunter “You can’t add missional onto an already packed life. It has to be your life.”-Todd Hunter “God wants to provide, all you have to do is show up.” - MaryKate Morse

Separation Realizing that Self and Individualism does not define the universe Identity (Liminal) Relationship is the Point—We were born not to add to a mechanical assembly line like world, but to be fully human by being in relationship with God and others. Reintegration Centered openness—where we, center ourselves in a God in relationship (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and of relationship (the incarnation) so that we can open ourselves to people and be in relationship with them so that they might participate with Christ in us and through us