TS 510 Introduction to the Missional Church Movement

Three Big Questions:

What is a disciple & how do you make one?

Is the gospel that we preach & practice the same one that Jesus preached & practiced?

What is the mission of God?

Four Major Themes

1. God is a missionary God who sends the

church into the world.

It is God’s mission that has a church rather than a church that has a mission.

Mission is understood as being derived from the very nature of God. The classical doctrine of the mission Dei (the mission of God) as God the Father sending the Son, and God the Father and the Son sending the Spirit is expanded to include yet another “movement”: Father, Son, and Spirit sending the church into the world. (Transforming Mission by David Bosch.)

2 . God’s mission in the world is related to the reign (kingdom) of God.

The message of Jesus is centered on the reign of God, which must be understood as both already & not yet.

The Kingdom of God Jesus came “preaching/announcing the good news of the kingdom of God.” “That is my mission” (Luke 4:43 – Phillips) “But we have instead been preaching ‘the plan of salvation.’” Mortimer Arias

Announcing the Reign of God

3. The missional church is an incarnational (versus attractional) ministry sent to engage a postmodern, post-Christendom, globalized context.

Contextualization is a key.

4. The internal life of the missional church focuses on every follower of Jesus living as a disciple/apprentice engaging in mission.

Being missional is a way of life – not something you add on to an already full & busy life.

“Missio Dei” The Mission of God Mission is understood as being derived from the very nature of God. The classical doctrine of the Missio Dei as God the Father sending the Son, and God the Father and the Son sending the Spirit is expanded to include yet another “movement”: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit sending the church into the world.

From the book Transforming Mission By David Bosch

What is God’s Mission?

Mission is the result of God’s initiative, rooted in God’s purposes to restore and heal creation.

“God’s mission is to set things right in a broken, sinful world, to redeem it, and to restore it to what God has always intended for the world.” From the book Treasures in Clay Jars Edited by Lois Y. Barrett

Defining a few terms: • • • • Missions: something a church does as part of its life & programs.

Missionary: someone sent to do missions somewhere else – primarily in the form of evangelization.

Mission: a purpose or agenda – something to accomplish – a strategy.

Missional: to join God in his mission as a way of life – reflecting his character.

Ken Shuman D.Min.

Some History of the Missional Movement

The 1950’s The validity of the foreign missions enterprise was being called into question, and the discipline of missiology within theological education was becoming marginalized at the very same time it was becoming institutionalize.

The 1960’s 1. An alternative missional theology – pursued in primarily ecumenical, Roman Catholic, & Orthodox circles. God intends the redemption of the whole of creation. In this approach God is understood to already be present & active in the world, with the church being responsible for discovering what God is doing and then seeking to participate in that. The establishing of Shalom.

The 1960’s 2. Donald McGavran – The School of World Missions at Fuller Theological Seminary. The Church Growth Movement. This approach sought to reclaim the priority of the Great Commission.

The 1960’s 3. The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization championed by the Billy Graham Association.

The 1970’s 1. A transition from a “theology of mission” to “mission theology.” An effort to bring together evangelism and social concerns as part of the same holistic gospel.

The 1970’s 2. Lesslie Newbigin retired in 1974 as a missionary to India and went home to Great Britain.

The 1980’s 1. A growing divide between evangelicals and the church growth movement and ecumenicals and the mission movement. 1. Donald McGavran and Lesslie Newbigin were key leaders of each movement.

The 1980’s 1. The Gospel and Our Culture Network emerged in the U.S.

The 1990’s 1. 1991 David Bosch – Transforming Mission. 2. 1998 – Missional Church- Darrell Guder, Craig Van Gelder, Lois Barrett, Alan Roxburgh, George Hunsburger, Inagrace Dietterich.

The 2000’s 1. Missional became a movement.

2. Missional became a fad.