Church for the 21 st Century

‘ What does it look like to form God’s people in a place where the maps that once guided us so well no that once guided us so well no longer help us to make sense of the territory in which we find ourselves.’ Alan Roxburgh

Ancient pathsAncient paths New map through the biblical narrativeNew map through the biblical narrative New maps on the journeyNew maps on the journey

Continuity and changeContinuity and change Free and rootedFree and rooted Catholic and ReformedCatholic and Reformed Unity and diversityUnity and diversity

‘ The only people who can discover how discover how to be a Christian in a particular culture are those living in it.’ those living in it.’ Steve Hollinghurst Steve Hollinghurst

What are our specific mission tasks now? What are our central convictions about life? Who are we now in this missionary situ?

1. A larger city church has started a student congregation. 2.A church in Perth which has two congregations which meet in the same premises at the same time – one using English, the other using Korean……. 3. A congregation that meets in the school hall at 3.30 pm on Monday afternoons in order to reach parents/carers and their children. 4. People can log onto a cyber-church to receive teaching and pastoral advice, leave prayer requests and share in discussion. 5.An Christian organisation has started a church for prostitutes and drug addicts who have been converted through their work. 6.An evangelist is starting a ‘walkers church’ – a monthly hike with Christian meditations en route 7.A gathering in a pub organised by a pioneer after playing football together which includes eating together and prayer 8. A church founded by a Nigerian pastor to reach Nigerians in the CBD

A fresh expression is a church plant or a new congregation. It is not a new way to reach people and add them to an existing congregation. It is not an old outreach with a new name. (rebrand) Nor is it a half way house, which people belong to for a while, on their way into Christian faith, before crossing over to ‘proper church.’ This is proper church.’ Graham Cray. An Introduction to fresh expressions

So what is church ?

‘Theological reflection on the identity and calling of the church follows on from its existence as a community of faith. Alister McGrath

“ And so from the start, where Jesus is, there is the church, the church is the assembly of those who are finding their relationships, their lives transformed by the presence of Jesus.”

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

Organised Organic One Diverse Holy Charismatic Catholic Local Apostolic Prophetic Howard Synder, Decoding the Church. Baker Books

Unity in freedomUnity in freedom Catholic in partianshipCatholic in partianship Holiness in povertyHoliness in poverty Apostolic in sufferingApostolic in suffering J. Moltmann, The Church in the power of the Spirit. SCM 1977

“ The missionary church will not aim to spread its own form. It is not a subsidiary of the old one. It is a ‘new church’ of the same apostolate. It preserves its unity when it fulfils Christ’s apostolic mission to its own historical situation.”

“ the theological doctrine of the church cannot be simply expressed in abstract terms about the churches timeless nature. It will have to provide points of departure for reforming the church, for giving it a more authentic form. Faithfulness and the fresh start are not antitheses in the history of the Spirit.”

Open before God before humankind before humankind before the future before the future Three dimensions

You have just left the future! “ A gospel of reconciliation can only be communicated by a reconciled fellowship.” Four areas 1.Eschatological church 2.Reconciling church 3.Foretaste of the Kingdom 4.Uniting-restoring harmony

“The church is the pilgrim people of God. It is on the move….Therefore the nature of the church is never to be finally defined in static terms but only in terms of that to which it is going. It cannot be understood rightly except in a perspective which is at once missionary and eschatological.” The Household of God.

‘ Diversity is part of God’s gracious purpose but separation and mutual recognition is not.’ ‘ There must be new ‘forms’ of church, outside the walls of the existing church and distinct from the community from which it came. Separation there must be- for the sake of mission but equally separation cannot be the last word for the gospel is about Gods purpose to unite all things in Christ.’ Ecumenical Review 29

Culturally part of its localityCulturally part of its locality Witness relevant to its communityWitness relevant to its community Physical form and operating structuresPhysical form and operating structures culturally appropriate Acts on its own initiative inActs on its own initiative in leadership & mission. Local

So what would be your essential marks of the church?

Anglican ecclesiology It did not start in 16 th CenturyIt did not start in 16 th Century There is no definitive AnglicanismThere is no definitive Anglicanism It is globalIt is global

“ The Church of England is part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church worshipping the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It professes the faith uniquely revealed in the Holy Scriptures and set forth in the catholic creeds, which faith the Church is called to proclaim afresh in every generation, lead by the Holy Spirit, it has borne witness to the Christian truth in its historic formularies, the 39 Articles, the BCP and the Ordinals of Bishops, Priests and Deacons. Preface to the Declaration of Assent. Canon C15

“There seems to be a mandate for some reinterpretation, re-expression and making the faith relevant, provided that this exercise, imperative as it is, remains faithful to the Scriptures and the creeds.” “ one that is full of vitality and manoeuvrability and which has the flexibility to make contact with the contexts of our pluralistic world. Paul Avis, The Identity of Anglicanism, T&T Clark,2007

1.Start at different places 2.The danger of waiting for the perfect church 3.Bigger and broader than we conceive 4.Gathered and dispersed 5.Issues of maturity and sustainability 6.Importance of interdependence

1.Passion focused more than project 2.Network not just neighbourhood 3.Fluid more than fixed 4.Fragile more than finished 5.Lay not just ordained

How might our tradition help in developing fresh expressions? fresh expressions?