God's Mission and the church

Ecclesiastes 3:14-15I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by.

Tom Allan, in his 1954 publication: The Face of My Parish, describes D P Thomson's notion of a "Church within the Church": "Corresponding closely to the people who surrounded Jesus...there are the five thousand - the "fringers"...who remain on the periphery...the seventy - the dependable workers...leaders of organisations...loyal to their church...the twelve - a narrower circle and the intimate friends - those who have truly been with Jesus."(The Face of My Parish, Tom Allan p51)  

He viewed part of his task as bringing people from one circle into another, always moving closer to Christ. And he sought to achieve this by involving them in missionary activities in the parish.

However, although he was seeing a rapid growth in membership of the parish church, he cautions: "It Is the easiest thing in the world to get people to "join" the church; it is supremely difficult to know what to do with them once they are in; and it is virtually impossible to keep the majority of them within the conventional framework of the church's life."  (The Face of My Parish, Tom Allan p33)

Sixty plus years on, as congregations explore what it means to be a Missional Church today, we are rediscovering some of those challenges that Allan faced in his parishes in Glasgow. While we are not experiencing rapid numerical growth, we are grappling with how, or more realistically, whether to assimilate those who are experiencing growth in faith and commitment. As God continues to reshape the church today, it is clear that a fluid, less structured body is required to support disciples whose call is to live incarnationally in their neighbourhoods.

Recognising that God is already at work in our communities we face again the knowledge that, often, the church as an institution is a stumbling block rather than a launch pad that helps people discover the call to discipleship, discern their gifts and then equips and releases folk to live out the good news in their many and varied contexts.

In Mission by the People: Rediscovering the Dynamic Missiology of Tom Allan and his Scottish Contemporaries; (Alexander Forsyth 2017)  Forsyth draws this conclusion:

"...practical and theological highpoints of Allan’s missiology can be identified. These demonstrate that his missiology should not be viewed primarily in terms of practical “failure” viewed from the present vantage point, but in many ways as a success and source of inspiration."

It is to be hoped that, as the institution and individual congregations grasp the need to be tentative, to be places of experimentation where we learn from failure rather than fail to take risks, that we will continue to be grateful for saints who have gone before us leaving clues along the way. And, learning from their endeavours, we will contribute to the picture of God at work in the world, calling the church into mission.

Hebrews 11:39-40 (The Message)

Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours.

Generating Capacity

Leadership should generate capacity, not dependency.

Ronald Heifetz

One of the things we seek to do on Path of Renewal is encourage others to listen to what God is asking of them in their current context - and, having discerned that, to step into that role at God's invitation. 

There is no scarcity of God's gifting but sometimes a reluctance or fear or simply blindness on our part to celebrate and release those gifts in others. And that's just part of the adaptive challenge that we are being forced to confront at this stage of our journey in faith.

Often our default mode is, when we see a gap, to seek to plug that gap, a simple, technical fix. Such fixes, however, do not generate capacity in others but help to shore up the myth of our usefulness based on the authority or position of leadership that we hold.

Developing and nurturing spiritual practices that make space to listen to God is an important task to be engaged in both as individuals and as a community. And spending time with the ancient stories of God's people in our sacred texts alert us to signposts that provide way markers for today. There are plenty of stories of the people of God stepping into unlikely leadership roles demanded of them as they journeyed with God learning how to be God's people in each place and time.

One of the things Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in his book Lessons in Leadership, explores is the journey of the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land, charting the journey Moses made as he grew into leadership:

One illustration he uses is the description of how, early on the journey, the people complain to Moses about the lack of food and Moses provides food - with God, manna is provided. Moses meets a technical challenge at that stage. The people need food, Moses speaks to God and food is provided.

However, a bit further on in the journey, when the people complain about food again, Moses despairs. He asks God to let him die because he cannot carry this burden. Why such a different response?Because Moses recognises this as a deeper test of his leadership. This is no longer simply about food. It's a revelation of some of the hard battles that are before him, not just taking the people out of Egypt but taking Egypt out of the people!

It is at that point that Moses realises that simply plugging the gap, supplying food is not enough. He is now faced with an adaptive challenge, that of changing the hearts and minds of the people he leads, equipping them to be strong and resilient, ready to face what lies ahead on the journey. They too need to develop leadership skills rather than constantly succumbing to authoritarian figures who, albeit cruelly, have supplied their needs as a people in slavery.

Leadership requires grace that can accommodate the anger of people resistant to change. It also brings out, releases and encourages gifts of leadership in others. 

Leadership takes seriously the possibility of learning from all sorts of unexpected sources, being prepared, even expectant for our own growth as well as celebrating growth in others.

Leadership distinguishes between technical and adaptive challenges and recognises that there are often others who are better equipped than we are to take on a task and helps facilitate the recognition and use of different gifts that build up the body of Christ. 

Leadership that embraces humility and vulnerability is more suited to responding to adaptive challenges. That is the kind of leadership we seek to embolden and encourage today.

Ephesians 4:15-16

But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

Path of Renewal - A movement, not a programme

Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

From the beginning, we've been at pains to make it clear that Path of Renewal is not simply another church growth programme - or, indeed, any type of programme. It is not an attempt to "fix" the church but a movement that seeks to recover the core purpose of what the church is about and work out how we live out those immutable values in our local communities today.

Many institutions have grown out of good and noble and sometimes radical intentions to provide services - religion, finance, education, health: The National Health Service (in the UK) sought to provide health care for all, free at the point of delivery.

The challenge is that, once these institutions become established, the radical nature of their instigation and their core values become obscured, not least by bureaucracy and by other competing interests.

In response to this, movements arise on the margins that seek to challenge the stagnation or status quo of institutions in an attempt to recover those radical principles on which they were founded. However, in an institution there are a lot of extraneous paraphernalia at stake, useful for maintaining an institution but not for delivering or engaging with the core purpose of the organisation and there is often a struggle to maintain the status quo that protects those elements of an institution, particularly when status or employment is at stake.

Sometimes movements have to constantly battle against institutions. Occasionally, the institution sees the value of a movement and offers collaboration to help it restore core purposes.

Those who participate in movements find their values critically examined by others. This is helpful in honing and defining the purpose of a movement. It also helps those engaged in the movement to embody the changes they want to effect. 

Our work in Path of Renewal, part of which is establishing spiritual practices that transform the lives of leaders involved is an important part of that embodiment.

In the stories of the Exodus of God's people from Egypt, we see God's people being transformed by the re-establishment of God's will and purpose in their lives individually and in community.

As they became settled in a new land, institutions grew up, a monarchy was established and corruption set in. Prophets then emerged to challenge those institutions and to lead new movements that re-established the core purposes of the people of God - to live in God's peacable kingdom where the lion lies down with the lamb by loving justice, practising mercy and walking humbly with God.

Similarly, we see Jesus and his disciples engaged in a kingdom movement, challenging the political and religious authorities of the day. And what a movement - one that included prostitutes and tax collectors, that encouraged parties but that also promoted focussing on the inner life - feeding body, mind and spirit!

The vitality of the church demands that such movements, birthed by the Holy Spirit remain active in communities today, embodied, contagious, always willing to challenge institutions by focussing on renewal, inspiring others to re-define core values and how those might be lived out in our different cultures today. 

Movements, though they must remain mobile and light on their feet, responsive to new insight and revelation, also require resilience and a commitment for the long term. Change, particularly cultural change is an ambitious endeavour and slow to effect. That is why embodying effective Spiritual Practices are essential for health and growth. These practices are also transformative for individuals.

And so we continue to be part of a movement not a programme, a kingdom movement that seeks to discern and realise the purposes of God today. 

Making failure count

Fear of failure on mission can be the biggest hindrance you and your church face to being a missional church. 

Logan Gentry in a blog post for Verge: http://www.vergenetwork.org/2017/05/31/quit-listening-to-missional-experts/

One of the tenets to which we aspire in Path of Renewal has been to create a culture of experimentation in our various local contexts. Indeed, the initiation and funding of the Pilot has demonstrated an uncharacteristic risk-taking by the national church. In the recruitment process with congregations, I often spoke about the risk of failure, emphasising the learning that would be gained even if we did not achieve our objectives.

And yet there is, understandably, great reticence to speak of our failures. Far from making them learning experiences, we turn them into causes of shame, to be buried and not examined too closely.

Gentry goes on to say that "failure produces great stories!"

And in stories are the beginnings of healing and learning.

The Old Testament is full of such stories - as are the gospels. Stories that put a spotlight on the nature of God's relationship with creation, a relationship characterised by love, understanding, patience, affirmation, renewal.... A relationship that makes every failure an opportunity for something new - not by minimising or sugar coating reality but by allowing space for forgiveness, and for second, third and fourth chances that lead to growth for us and for our communities.

There are plenty of experts about, offering all sorts of formulae for developing Missional churches. There is lots of good advice and tried and tested development programmes.

But there is nothing that can take the place of journeying with God and our communities, trying and failing, leading and learning, creating stories together that are shot through with humour and with the amazing grace of God.

Discerning God in our everyday

John 20:19-21

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

If I'm asked to describe Path of Renewal (which I am frequently), I most often describe it as an opportunity to create space, to take a step back (or several steps back) and discern what God is revealing of how we are being invited to join in the mission of God wherever we are today - Something that is different for every context, congregation and individual. That discernment involves deepening our own relationship with God and with the communities we serve and demands our own transformation before we can begin to transform the world around us,

For most of the time I've been involved with Path of Renewal, I've also been undertaking a Diploma in Pastoral Supervision. Both of these pursuits involve creating space for discernment - discernment of God's call on our lives. As a facilitator in Path of Renewal and as a Supervisor in Pastoral Supervision, my role is one of creating space, a space for listening and, out of that nuanced listening, occasionally offering alternative images for consideration, always recognising and honouring the wisdom and creativity of those with whom I work. To be involved in that process is a sacred gift.

Discernment invites us, in community, to recognise the presence of the risen Christ in our midst and to hear the call of God on our lives. It is not a mechanical discipline but a spiritual practice involving transformation of hearts and minds.

The disciples in the locked room, confronted by their risen Lord, could not rely on their knowledge or expectations, they could not revert to former roles and practice - this was a whole new ball game and they had to find a new level at which to engage with Christ"s presence and with his commission to them: "As the Father has sent me, so I send you."m

Discernment, whether undertaken with one other person or with a whole community, involves that same sort of switch- going beyond what, in our heads makes sense, to believing in our hearts the way that God reveals and then following that way, sent into the world transformed by the risen Christ to serve the world today.

Diana Butler Bass in Christianity For The Rest Of Us shares this:

Emerging Christianity is about change—about changing from spiritual tourists to pilgrims—about transforming our selves, our congregations, and our communities. We are going there, to a change of heart that revolutionizes one’s whole life. 

In our changed landscapes and culture today, the risen Christ invites us on a journey of discovery and transformation - and breathes his peace into us as we set out on our own particular path of renewal.

The slow work of love

 

“It saddens me to see how many are still locked down by the belief that if they just work a little harder, if they just collaborate better or build a bigger network, if they just develop a new approach, they’ll turn the world around. Can we please abandon these self-destructive beliefs?”

Margaret Wheatley, So far from home 35

This may sound a little defeatist for the work we are about today but also very freeing. If we can somehow abandon the mindset that our one task is to find that key that will unlock renewal in the church, not only will we save ourselves a lot of heart ache and frustration, but we will also be clearing a path for the Spirit to breathe through structures that obstruct and control and break down barriers that are hindering God's reshaping for today. We are making way for the great spiritual rummage sale of this era if we can stop tinkering at the edges and begin to glimpse the new thing that God is doing and in which we are invited to participate.

That work isn't corporate or outcomes driven - the Holy Spirit doesn't recognise such confinement. Rather, it will emerge from individual discernment of God's calling and purpose. Leaders in today's church are being asked to deepen their own faith by cultivating spiritual practices that keep us rooted and grounded in God and in the power of the Spirit and then to invest in others to encourage and enable spiritual growth that helps others to recognise God at work in their context and the work to which God calls and equips them. It's not about the latest trend or quick fixes but about the slow work of the Spirit moulding and shaping a culture that allows the free reign of God to flourish.

In the words of Paul: Ephesians 3:16

I pray that, according to the riches of God's glory, God may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through God's Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.

The world conspires to convince us that we do not have time for such slow work in the church today nor the power to effect change. But the Spirit of God beseeches us to harness the power of the Spirit while exercising patience with ourselves and with others to allow new seeds to be sown that will, in God's good time, produce a harvest. We may not see that harvest but, meantime, as we reconnect with the grounding power of love, we can reach out and transform the world around us with the much needed love and compassion of God, preparing the ground in which the Spirit can flourish.

Without a blueprint

Changing our world means cooperating with the redemptive possibilities God is birthing around us...that involves abandoning our preconceived notions of what ministry should look like and entering fully into the contexts in which God has placed us.

To Alter Our World: Partnering with God to Rebirth Our Communities; Alan Frost, Christiana Rice

For the last 18 months, 40 congregations have been exploring together what it means to take up God's invitation to join in the mission of God in their communities. That journey has been different for each context. It involves laying foundations for a mindset change that encourages people to listen to God and, from that place of deep listening, to discern to what it is that God calls them at this time.

While there are many stories of encouragement that have emerged from the journey, as well as stories of caution and the pain of a journey from knowing to unknowing, there is little to show for the changes that have been wrought. Yet those changes have been foundational, wrought in the hearts and minds of those called to lead, with God, in rebirthing kingdom communities.

And so, as we seek to recruit some more ministers and congregations to embark on this journey of discovery, it is almost as difficult to articulate what it is we are inviting folks into as it was in the beginning. While, we can, perhaps, better explain what the desired outcomes might be, essentially, we are inviting people to go on a journey. It's a journey that will be new to some, one that some have been on for some time, and one that some will discover is not, in fact, the journey they thought they were making.

The Panel on Review and Reform's report to the General Assembly of 2016 that sought approval to embark on the Path of Renewal Pilot Project, identified some characteristics of Missional Churches: those who are: involved in local community & wider; engaged in authentic Christian community life & worship, open & relevant to all generations;  and forming people in faith at all ages and stages of life.

But what the Pilot has taught us is that making the journey together, exploring as we go is important in the process of discovering what God reveals along the way. Recognising the God who walks alongside, sometimes playful, sometimes frustrating, sometimes clear and directive, sometimes baffling, but always just ahead and enabling us to catch up, displaying infinite patience while we do brings us into a new relationship with God, changes us as we seek, with God, to change our communities.

Perhaps it's the kind of journey on which  the Woman at the Well embarked - a journey with Jesus that transformed not only her but her community too:

John 4:28-30

Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him.