Building a mission shaped Church

Alpha Cape Town - 2010 Dr Dion Forster http://www.dionforster.com

Twitter: @digitaldion

My passion for Alpha…

• • • • • Alpha ‘Classic’ (6 courses a year – Peter’s speedboat!) ‘Cheeses for Jesus’ and ‘braai Church’ Youth Alpha (calves and cows) Prison Alpha Workplace Alpha

A quick recap…

• • • Prof Jurgens ‘The Western world no longer trusts the good news to be good news’ A shift in certainties… ‘Do Christians hold the truth? No, the truth holds us’.

Overview – shifting our paradigms

•

Section 1 – Shifts in global Christianity.

• Section 2 – Shifting paradigms for a mission shaped Church.

A map of the world (land area)

Christians in the world (a representational map)

Muslims in the world (a representational map)

Population of the world (a representational map)

What do these maps tell us about the Christian faith?

• • • The landscape of Christianity is changing!

Christianity is moving South and East!

“As I travel, I have observed a pattern, a strange historical phenomenon of God “moving” geographically from the Middle East, to Europe to North America to the developing world. My theory is this: God goes

where he’s wanted.” Philip Yancey

What do these maps tell us about the Christian faith?

….God goes where God is wanted…

The next Christendom – Philip Jenkins

The SAME mission in an ever CHANGING world "The gospel must be constantly forwarded to a new address because the recipient is always changing his place of residence.” Graham Cray,

Bishop of York

The world is changing!

A few facts about Church membership and attendance.

a. The two most common narratives for the modern Church are decline or split… (blog post on the mainline Church from the Archbishop of Canterbury).

b. I don’t mind Jesus, but I don’t trust his wife [bride]… (comment by a skeptical friend).

c. 60% of all Churches in America will die out by 2050 (Peter Brierley in Gibbs & Coffey 2005:20) d. The long and the short of it is…

Jesus needs new PR!

A decline in Church attendance

Church attendance in Britain is declining so fast that the number of regular churchgoers will be fewer than those attending mosques within a generation….

Ruth Gledhill’s report on Church attendance in the UK (2008).

Jesus needs new PR*

(public relations)

Enough about the rest of the world… What about South Africa?

THE CHURCH IS IN A GENERAL DECLINE (BUT, THE SAME CAN NOT BE SAID OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH!) (GRAPHS COURTESY OF PROF. JURGENS HENDRICKS,) FACULTY OF THEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF STELLENBOSCH

% Christians in SA: 1911-2001

YET, the reality in South Africa does NOT reflect the Kingdom of God!

• Only12% - committed… attendance is only about 3% - 5%... This was where Alpha Worked wonderfully for us!!

What can we do about this disconnect?

• • • • 79% say they’re Christian, but somehow the churches are not helping them to BE Church… All is NOT lost! If they SAY that they are Christian, we should help them to become what they say they are! (Alpha is EVEN for those who think that they are Churched who need Christ!) The Gospel, and the Christ of the Gospel, have NOT lost their power!

BUT, we need a ‘new kind’ of Church to do this… Our current models are not working… Here’s some data on our decline.

Christian Marketshare Mainline Denominations 1911-2001

Church membership in population groups 1911-2001

Whites Coloureds

Christian Marketshare AIC, Pentecostal, Other 1911-2001

Pent/Charismatic

What makes the AIC and American style ‘Pentecostal / Charismatic’ Churches so popular?

• • • • They are evangelical (even if their gospel is not entirely ‘good news’).

They offer hope – (particularly in addressing the most serious FELT needs of people): Prosperity doctrine offers hope in poverty – – Healing miracles and ministry offer hope in sickness Contextually African (in AIC’s) They have a strong entrepreneurial leadership … (see the sigmoid curve) whereas we face significant pressure to maintain our ‘culture’ (e.g., uniforms, orders of service, hierarchies) They are ‘market oriented’ (changing in accordance with needs and pressures from outside), we are internally regulated (not responding to outside pressures and needs).

Church and choice…

I would contend that there is

NOTHING wrong with the MESSAGE

But, there are some

problems with our METHOD

(the problem of propositions)

• • • •

What’s wrong with our method?

We can be sure that it is NOT the Gospel that has lost its effectiveness (the MESSAGE, and PERSON of Christ remain valid and effective for transforming the world) However, we can be sure that the delivery, engagement, and support mechanisms are losing their intended impact. (the problem of ‘propositional’ evangelism in a postmodern world) So what we need is to find a way of engaging the world in an ‘incarnational’ manner (addressing the needs of the world, from the perspective of the world), not in a transcendent manner (pressing the concerns and needs of the Church onto the world).

We need a new ‘narrative’ for the Gospel. The existing one still has value, but only for those ‘in the system’ (it would seem), we need a narrative that engages those outside of the system..

The SAME mission in an ever CHANGING world "The gospel must be constantly forwarded to a new address because the recipient is always changing his place of residence.” Graham Gray,

Bishop of York

Christians in the world (a representational map)

AIDS deaths in the world (a representational map)

The spread of wealth (a representational map)

The most impoverished places in the world (a representational map)

Christians in the world (a representational map)

Preaching the truth without love is like giving someone a good kiss when you have bad breath. No matter how good your kiss is, all the recipient will remember is your bad breath!

- Ed Silvoso

Overview – shifting our paradigms

• Section 1 – Shifts in global Christianity.

•

Section 2 – Shifting our paradigms for a mission shaped Church.

Transform your work life! Turn your ordinary day into an extraordinary calling!

In stores 10 May 2010

Let’s get honest

What if they all turned up!?

Your work and life for God’s purposes and blessing!

Suburb City Nation Family Individual

 Paradigm 1 - God’s discipleship plan is for more than just individuals. (Matthew 28:18-20) “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Matt. 28:18-20)

Doing your work for God’s purposes and blessing!

 Paradigm 2 – Everything has been ‘redeemed’, and so it needs to be ‘reclaimed’ (Luke 19:10) “For the son of man came to seek and save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10) “For it was the Father's good pleasure …to reconcile all things to Himself…whether things on earth or things in heaven.” (Col 1:19-20)

Doing your work for God’s purposes and blessing!

• Paradigm 3 - God views every Christian as a minister, and so work can be worship! (Col 3:23 24) “Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, working for the Lord and not for your masters, since you know that you will receive your reward from the Lord; you serve the Lord Christ.” (Col 3:23) The ‘worship switch’… ON or OFF?

• Doing your work for God’s purposes and blessing!

Paradigm 4 - God wants us to take light into dark places, and get salt out of the salt shaker. (Matthew 16:18-19) “Upon this rock will I build my Church, and the gates of hell will not overpower it…” (Matthew 16:18-19).

Building the Church is what Jesus does… Taking his Kingdom and gospel all over the earth is

what we’re commanded to do… - Ed Silvoso

• • Paradigm 4 - God wants us to take light into dark places. (Matthew 16:18-19) cont….

We’ve got the WRONG methodology!

4. Bless 1. Preach 3. Fellowship 2. Minister

I will pay you a salary NOT to preach…

4. Preach 3. Minister 1. Bless!

2. Fellowship Jesus’ methodology (Luke 10:2 9).

When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.’ ….Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, …Heal the sick who are there and …tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.’

Doing your work for God’s purposes and blessing!

 Paradigm 5 - True transformation must be tangible and visible.

The Gospels recall two incidents when Jesus wept, once for a friend, and another time for a city. His tears show how deeply he loves individuals and cities (groups, structures etc.).

What would the most tangible and visible expression of God’s love be in your context? What is REALLY good news to the poor?

Remember the ‘methodology’ of Jesus… Bless, Fellowship, Minister, Preach…

Doing your work for God’s purposes and blessing!

     God’s discipleship plan is for more than just individuals. (Matthew 28:18-20) The marketplace has been ‘redeemed’, and so it needs to be ‘reclaimed’ (Luke 19:10) God views every Christian as a minister, and so work can be worship! (Col 3:23-24) God wants us to take light into dark places. (Matthew 16:18-19) True transformation must be tangible and visible

Alpha and the ‘mission shaped’ Church     Alpha has a high value on ‘heuristic’ learning.

It facilitates and ‘experience’ of the good news before it requires the acceptance of a proposition.

If done properly Alpha should have a ‘low barrier’ to entry (friendship as a key to entry into the community of faith).

Remember: Bless Preach!

 Fellowship  Minister 

Building a mission shaped Church

Alpha Cape Town - 2010 Dr Dion Forster http://www.dionforster.com

Twitter: @digitaldion

THE MIDDLEBURG MODEL