Reflections : two years after MSC  1Domestication Danger Truly Mission-shaped is dangerous Cuddly Expressions are not even if you call them “tiger”

1 Domestication: You think I’m joking ? Gregory even had a mission-shaped sausage dog Church Times November 2004

Oh dear …  Just change the labels … Parish Plonk 1989 Mission Shaped Plonk 2004 M-S PCC Agenda : 1 1Mission-shaped Apologies 2 2Mission-shaped Minutes of 20 th Oct 3 3Mission-shaped Matters Arising [ Too many to list ] 4 4Mission-shaped Repair of Hymn books 5 5Mission-shaped Tower Appeal 6 6Mission-shaped sacking of Youth Worker

Not just Language games ? FXC OXC ……. Mission Context M-S C OXC FXC The key is the process – not what it looks like is not m-s C

2 A framework to assess mission But God I liked it in Jerusalem The apostolic direction of the Church:Acts 1.8 Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria to the end of the earth When the Spirit comes upon you.. What is this journey ? From the familiar through the disagreeable to the unthinkable ?

Questions  How much of our current work do you think is within the Jerusalem and Judea framework?  How can we co-operate with the Spirit in spotting and releasing people like Philip, Barnabas and Paul who are called to journey to “Samaria” and the “Ends of the Earth”?  What proportions of our evangelists should we seek to have sent to each mission field? How would we discover answers to that?  Is the diagram, about a change of centre, fair to NT history? If so, what are the implications of the change of centre for the way we work?

The ends of the earth … the unthinkable? Non-Churched ? Samaria … the disagreeable? De-Churched ? The “Judean Journey” is not enough Judea … the familiar? Fringe ? Churched PS – Notice what happens to the old centre

Mission-shaped – not just flavoured  Changes of instinct for existing churches – From modify the existing to create the different – From improve the existing, to diversify – From adding to 1 church, to multiplying churches Mission-shaped means … “Staying in Jerusalem” and its shape - cannot be enough

Mission-shaped – not just flavoured  Changes of instinct – From modify the existing to create the different – From improve the existing to diversify – From adding to 1 church, to multiplying churches – Seeing all inclusive congregation is an illusion you must be joking !

3 Double Listening  Takes skill, humility, perception, experience Can’t buy it off the shelf

Double Listening clarified How are we listening? MSC p and Michael Nazir-Ali : Shapes of the Church to Come Chs 1-2 Is this just a human activity - a missional science?   No, it’s spiritual, listening to God   No, it’s an Art – a kind of discernment

Listening to what sources? To others in the World To God through the Word  Too narrow – Separates Word and Tradition – Separates Word and the Spirit, active in the world – The NT shows Apostles listening to both

Listening for what ? listening to God, for … Mission in stereo, hears God better MSC p and Michael Nazir-Ali : Shapes of the Church to Come Chs 1-2 To the essence/core of the Christian Inheritance To the Mission Context

Get the connections right Planting … Evangelism Create Church 1 st ear Listen To Context 2 nd ear Listen To Tradition ? ? Only one… Listening Irrelevance Syncretism

Get the order right Planting … Evangelism Create Church 1 st ear Listen To Context 2 nd ear Listen To Tradition Mission Shapes Church Scripture assesses fresh expressions Hold together two things creative engagement with context faithfulness to the good news in Jesus

Triple Listening doesn’t help  3 Sources: Word World and oneself ?  We do need to avoid both – Modernist nonsense about utter observer objectivity – Post-modern doctrine that there is no objective core  Who has 3 ears? - Let alone 6? Stay with careful Double Listening Be rigorous about it Make it a core competency in our people

Questions re double listening  Which of those levels are harder for outsiders to discover and why?  Which of those four levels are most important for Gospel and Church to challenge?  What would you say is the dominant culture in which you live?  Describe the core/ essence/ seed of the Gospel that could enter that culture and what would be the challenge brought by it?  What would the core/ essence/ seed of the Church be and what would be its challenge to the culture? Culture can be described as “the way things are around here”, and is almost imperceptible to those who live within it. Some observers say culture is made up of concentric rings: behaviours, forms and meanings, values and worldview.

What are these ?

Crossing the gap Great architecture, but AlphaAlpha

Fresh expressions of community action

Fresh Expressions of evangelism

Fresh Expressions of worship

What are these ? Depends on what they do

What tests for bridges and arches  If it grows disciples …  If it creates interest …  If it produces enquirers …  If it produces converts …

5: Clear and Present danger  Ask for experiments but deny them resources Do mission- shaped Money and mission-shaped Personnel follow the Mission-shaped Agenda ?

Have we done the easy bit ?  Lower rear gear – less speed, easier pedalling  Higher rear gear – more speed, harder work The hardest parts of the journey may still be to come.

Gearing up for more change 1.Spot some pioneers 2.Change selection criteria 3.Provide different training 4.Find suitable first posts 5.Career Pioneer path beyond first job… Enabling Pioneer Ministers e.g. Re Getting Pioneers deep into our system

Finding the Non Churched  It’s about where “they” gather.. cf Acts 16ff Do we dare enter their worlds of….. work place boot fairs the arts clubbers ecology groups new age fairs extreme cyclists bikers gyms surfers City centre flats Schools housing estates