Friday, October 21, 2005
Murray, S (2005) Church after Christendom
Murray, S (2005) Church after Christendom. Pasternoster
'Finding ways of speaking to the spirituality of a generation who do not come to church is not a matter of bringing them in, but of changing our understanding of the nature of Church itself.’ (` Richard Thornas, Counting People In: Changing the way we think about membership and the church (London: SPCK, 2003:14)
Finney, J 1992 Finding faith today sindon bible society
Warren, R (1996) Signs of Life:How goes the decade of evangelism? Church house
Booker, m and Ireland, M (2003) Evangelism – which way now? And evaluation of alpha, emmaus, cell church and other contemporary strategies for evangelism
Robinson, M and Smith, D (2003) Invading secular space: Strategies for tomorrow’s Church. Monarch
What kinds of churches might leavers rejoin not leave in the first place?
Churches where God is at the centre, rather than the minister, programme or growth targets.
Churches that nurture authentic friendships rather than insipid 'fellowship' or institutional belonging.
Churches that are self-critical, alert to destructive interpersonal dynamics and that are working towards healthy community practices.
Churches that treat adults as adults and encourage spiritual development rather than spoon-feeding their members.
Churches that foster dialogue rather than monologue and participation rather than performance.
Churches that welcome questions, eschew simplistic answers and affirm the dimension of mystery in authentic spirituality.
Churches that encourage expressions of doubt, anger and lament as well as joyful certainty.
Churches that are attuned to the pressures of daily life and do not place unrealistic demands on their members.
Churches that engage creatively and sensitively with contemporary culture and social issues.
Churches that equip members for the world of work and discipleship beyond the congregation.
Churches that embrace a holistic understanding of mission and have realistic expectations as marginal communities in post-Christendom.
Pp 55-56
Start! Cpas.org.uk
Warren, R (1995) Being Human, being church: spirtuality and mission in the local church. marshall
A paradigm shift is required. Mission is not an agenda item - it is the agenda. It is not something churches do, but a divine initiative in which churches participate. Mission, not church, is the starting point.
Missional language has become familiar. But using this liberally does not guarantee missional identity and, by itself, will not ensure the development of truly missional churches.' Nor will desperately adopting off-thepeg 'missional church' programmes. Post-Christendom churches need a missional ethos, expressed in their core values and nurtured in their corporate life. 137
Hopkins and Ling Mission-shaped church ????
Non-missional churches will not survive post-christiandom 146
The end of Christendom marks the collapse of a determined but ultimately futile attempt to impose Christianity rather than inviting people to follow Jesus 148
Becoming again a marginal mission movement means rejecting many attitudes and assumptions inherited from Christendom. The invitation is to return to our roots and recapture the subversive pre-Christendom dynamism that turned the world upside down from the margins.` Repositioning our churches - theologically, attitudinally and strategically - on the margins is essential. Resisting marginality will jeopardise our capacity to regroup and discover fresh ways of engaging with post-Christendom society. 155
What might this mean?
Assuming less knowledge of Christianity. Most process evangelism courses assume greater familiarity with Christian terminology and concepts than we can expect as memories of Christendom fade. Hugh McLeod warns: 'The decline of Christendom has meant that Christianity has been gradually losing its status as a lingua franca, and has tended to become a local language used by those who are professing Christians, but not understood by others.
Anticipating longer journeys towards faith. Most process evangelism courses move quickly towards assumptions that participants have embraced Christian faith and now need to be discipled. This is unsurprising since some evolved from courses written for new Christians, but in post-Christendorn evangelism and discipling will both take longer. Evangelism will start further back and move more slowly; induction will continue much further. Patience is essential for mission and community-building after Christendom.
Allowing others to set the agenda. Most process evangelism courses set the agenda for discussion. They may allow participants to ask other questions. but organisers assume they know which issues are most important and so refocus conversations on these. Such imposition demands less of the organisers but is inappropriate if we are 'playing away'. Engaging with the agendas of others and discovering gospel connections is more authentic. 155
Process evangelism and seeker-sensitive events represent advances on old-style evangelistic events or guest services, but they are still invitational rather than incarnational. The demise of Christendom requires a missional rather than evangelistic strategy….
…This approach to mission deliberately blurs the boundaries between evangelism and social action. Twentieth-century debates about these aspects of mission presupposed that a powerful church might abuse those for whom it provided practical support by imposing conditions on its largesse or practising covert evangelism. Post-Christendom churches will not be immune to this temptation, but three factors offer protection: they will be relatively powerless; they will more likely be partners than patrons; and most initiatives will foster empowerment, not dependency. This may liberate churches to engage in holistic, sensitive and unapologetic contextual mission. Pp 158
Morisey (1997) Beyond the Good Samaritan: Community Ministry and mission (mowbray)
one particular dimension of the gospel distorted by Christendom: it is good news to the poor. Marginal post-Christendom churches may rediscover a radical gospel that subverts condescending 'need-oriented evangelism' (that leaves unchallenged an unjust status quo) and reconnects evangelism with social justice. If the gospel is truly good news to the poor, we have not been preaching the gospel, for the rich and powerful have not found it disturbing and the poor have not found it liberating. 163
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'Finding ways of speaking to the spirituality of a generation who do not come to church is not a matter of bringing them in, but of changing our understanding of the nature of Church itself.’ (` Richard Thornas, Counting People In: Changing the way we think about membership and the church (London: SPCK, 2003:14)
Finney, J 1992 Finding faith today sindon bible society
Warren, R (1996) Signs of Life:How goes the decade of evangelism? Church house
Booker, m and Ireland, M (2003) Evangelism – which way now? And evaluation of alpha, emmaus, cell church and other contemporary strategies for evangelism
Robinson, M and Smith, D (2003) Invading secular space: Strategies for tomorrow’s Church. Monarch
What kinds of churches might leavers rejoin not leave in the first place?
Churches where God is at the centre, rather than the minister, programme or growth targets.
Churches that nurture authentic friendships rather than insipid 'fellowship' or institutional belonging.
Churches that are self-critical, alert to destructive interpersonal dynamics and that are working towards healthy community practices.
Churches that treat adults as adults and encourage spiritual development rather than spoon-feeding their members.
Churches that foster dialogue rather than monologue and participation rather than performance.
Churches that welcome questions, eschew simplistic answers and affirm the dimension of mystery in authentic spirituality.
Churches that encourage expressions of doubt, anger and lament as well as joyful certainty.
Churches that are attuned to the pressures of daily life and do not place unrealistic demands on their members.
Churches that engage creatively and sensitively with contemporary culture and social issues.
Churches that equip members for the world of work and discipleship beyond the congregation.
Churches that embrace a holistic understanding of mission and have realistic expectations as marginal communities in post-Christendom.
Pp 55-56
Start! Cpas.org.uk
Warren, R (1995) Being Human, being church: spirtuality and mission in the local church. marshall
A paradigm shift is required. Mission is not an agenda item - it is the agenda. It is not something churches do, but a divine initiative in which churches participate. Mission, not church, is the starting point.
Missional language has become familiar. But using this liberally does not guarantee missional identity and, by itself, will not ensure the development of truly missional churches.' Nor will desperately adopting off-thepeg 'missional church' programmes. Post-Christendom churches need a missional ethos, expressed in their core values and nurtured in their corporate life. 137
Hopkins and Ling Mission-shaped church ????
Non-missional churches will not survive post-christiandom 146
The end of Christendom marks the collapse of a determined but ultimately futile attempt to impose Christianity rather than inviting people to follow Jesus 148
Becoming again a marginal mission movement means rejecting many attitudes and assumptions inherited from Christendom. The invitation is to return to our roots and recapture the subversive pre-Christendom dynamism that turned the world upside down from the margins.` Repositioning our churches - theologically, attitudinally and strategically - on the margins is essential. Resisting marginality will jeopardise our capacity to regroup and discover fresh ways of engaging with post-Christendom society. 155
What might this mean?
Assuming less knowledge of Christianity. Most process evangelism courses assume greater familiarity with Christian terminology and concepts than we can expect as memories of Christendom fade. Hugh McLeod warns: 'The decline of Christendom has meant that Christianity has been gradually losing its status as a lingua franca, and has tended to become a local language used by those who are professing Christians, but not understood by others.
Anticipating longer journeys towards faith. Most process evangelism courses move quickly towards assumptions that participants have embraced Christian faith and now need to be discipled. This is unsurprising since some evolved from courses written for new Christians, but in post-Christendorn evangelism and discipling will both take longer. Evangelism will start further back and move more slowly; induction will continue much further. Patience is essential for mission and community-building after Christendom.
Allowing others to set the agenda. Most process evangelism courses set the agenda for discussion. They may allow participants to ask other questions. but organisers assume they know which issues are most important and so refocus conversations on these. Such imposition demands less of the organisers but is inappropriate if we are 'playing away'. Engaging with the agendas of others and discovering gospel connections is more authentic. 155
Process evangelism and seeker-sensitive events represent advances on old-style evangelistic events or guest services, but they are still invitational rather than incarnational. The demise of Christendom requires a missional rather than evangelistic strategy….
…This approach to mission deliberately blurs the boundaries between evangelism and social action. Twentieth-century debates about these aspects of mission presupposed that a powerful church might abuse those for whom it provided practical support by imposing conditions on its largesse or practising covert evangelism. Post-Christendom churches will not be immune to this temptation, but three factors offer protection: they will be relatively powerless; they will more likely be partners than patrons; and most initiatives will foster empowerment, not dependency. This may liberate churches to engage in holistic, sensitive and unapologetic contextual mission. Pp 158
Morisey (1997) Beyond the Good Samaritan: Community Ministry and mission (mowbray)
one particular dimension of the gospel distorted by Christendom: it is good news to the poor. Marginal post-Christendom churches may rediscover a radical gospel that subverts condescending 'need-oriented evangelism' (that leaves unchallenged an unjust status quo) and reconnects evangelism with social justice. If the gospel is truly good news to the poor, we have not been preaching the gospel, for the rich and powerful have not found it disturbing and the poor have not found it liberating. 163
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