The next issue of Leadership Journal is going to tackle the issue of the meaning of missional. I found a couple of good expressions of Missional as we wait for Leadership Journal’s attempt.
Tim Conder pastor of Emmaus Way in Durham, NC talk about five common characteristics:
- Missional Communities try to align themselves holistically with God’s theme of redemption.
- Programing and Finances are directed outward.
- Spiritual formation is presented as a way of life, a rhythm of being, and a rule of values verses mental assent.
- Embracing the ethnic and social diversities of local communities is becoming amoral expectation.
- Finally, missional communities are not only ardent listeners for the earmarks of God’s redemptive work in our world, these communities are passionate activists when they find the pathways and trajectories of God’s redemptive presence. The work of justice, reconciliation, peace, and spiritual direction are becoming the dominant reflexes of missional communities.
The Church of England in the 2004 General Synod recommended the report “Mission-Shaped Church” to the whole of the Church of England. This report speaks of five aspects of a missionary church:
- A missionary church is focused on God the Trinity
Worship lies at the heart of a missionary church, and to love and know God as Father, Son and Spirit is its chief inspiration and primary purpose… - A missionary church is incarnational
It seeks to shape itself in relation to the culture in which it is located or to which it is called… - A missionary church is transformational
It exists for the transformation of the community that it serves, through the power of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit… - A missionary church makes disciples
It is active in calling people to faith in Jesus Christ…it is concerned for the transformation of individuals, as well as for the transformation of communities. - A missionary church is relational
It is characterized by welcome and hospitality. Its ethos and style are open to change when new members join.
(HT: JR Woodward)
