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Eating Together
Please refer to the conversation cards sheet above.
Dwelling Together
Ephesians 3: 2-21 (JB)
2 You have probably heard how I have been entrusted by God with the grace he meant for you, 3 and that it was by a revelation that I was given the knowledge of the mystery, as I have just described it very shortly. 4 If you read my words, you will have some idea of the depths that I see in the mystery of Christ. 5 This mystery that has now been revealed through the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets was unknown to any men in past generations; 6 it means that pagans now share the same inheritance, that they are parts of the same body, and that the same promise has been made to them, in Christ Jesus, through the gospel. 7 I have been made the servant of that gospel by a gift of grace from God who gave it to me by his own power. 8 I, who am less than the least of all the saints, have been entrusted with this special grace, not only of proclaiming to the pagans the infinite treasure of Christ 9 but also of explaining how the mystery is to be dispensed. Through all the ages, this has been kept hidden in God, the creator of everything. Why? 10 So that the Sovereignties and Powers should learn only now, through the Church, how comprehensive God’s wisdom really is, 11 exactly according to the plan which he had had from all eternity in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 This is why we are bold enough to approach God in complete confidence, through our faith in him; 13 so, I beg you, never lose confidence just because of the trials that I go through on your account: they are your glory. 14 This, then, is what I pray, kneeling before the Father, 15 from whom every family, whether spiritual or natural, takes its name: 16 Out of his infinite glory, may he give you the power through his Spirit for your hidden self to grow strong, 17 so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love, 18 you will with all the saints have strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth; 19 until, knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge, you are filled with the utter fullness of God. 20 Glory be to him whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine; 21 glory be to him from generation to generation in the Church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever. Amen.
Are there any details that stick out to you?
Do they highlight anything to you that you haven’t noticed before?
Learning Together
The Essence of Church
In the language of Mission-Shaped Church the four directions of Church Relationships are described as:
- UP relationships through participating in the life of the Trinity
- IN relationships through fellowship within the gathering
- OUT relationships in love for, and service of the world
- OF relationships, as part of the whole body, through connections with the wider church.
Michael Moynagh, 2012, Church for Every Context: An Introduction to Theology and Practice, London, SCM Press, 106-108
- In my experience, to what extent is church about UP, IN, OUT, and OF relationships?
- What is helpful about this way of understanding church? What could be unhelpful about it?
On Practice and Practical Theology
The good news of Jesus Christ is fundamentally not a set of ideas or system of belief but the grace of God made known in human lives. The church is the body of people who believe the good news and are chosen by God to bear witness to it. The church’s witness bearing is testimony not to its own life but to God’s grace in its life…
Jonathan Wilson, 2006, Why Church Matters: Worship, Ministry and Mission in Practice, Grand Rapids, Brazos Press, 11-12
• What does the church look like when it is most alive?
Loving the Church
Only God can save us, not the Church.
I say that out of great love for the Church. God saves, and the Church is that beautiful gift given by God to preach that word which will set us free. But when we preach “Church” and raise up “Church”, we are not necessarily proclaiming the Lord. We often are preaching ourselves. Jesus never preached Israel, he preached Yahweh. He preached the absolute transcendence of Yahweh and fidelity and obedience to Yahweh.
If we simply love that which is worthy of love, we will never love at all. The Lord loved “the Church”, i.e. Israel, exactly as it was. You cannot love the Church as it was fifty years ago. That’s a cop-out. The only Church you must love is the Church today.
Richard Rohr, 1995, Radical Grace, Cincinnati, St Anthony Messenger Press, 76.
• What makes it hard to love the church?
Reflecting Together: Doing Traditional Church Really Well
Suggested content from Robin Gamble’s chapter in The Future of the Parish System (2006):
- Gamble challenges the view that we should be ‘gloomy and dismissive’ about inherited church. He highlights many things that the English parish church has and does as grounds for hope and positivity. The parish church has:
- A large prominent building
- A vicar
- A congregation
- A parish
- A weekly service
It is engaged in:
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- The still massive ministry of occasional offices
- A considerable range of community activities
- Schools and colleges
- Festivals
- Children’s activities
- Deanery, diocesan and national networks
Given all this, Gamble comments that ‘if we were to offer this assembly of pieces to a new religious group trying to get off the ground or to an emerging political party wanting to launch themselves nationally, they would bite our hand off and beam with optimism and excitement’
(Croft, 2006: 94-95).
Discussion: Does this description match your experience of the parish church? Do you agree that there are grounds for optimism and positivity?
Group Activities
DNA = Desire Plan Action
Gamble recommends the PPP strategy for helping a church ‘build a planned way forward into health and growth’ (Croft, 2006: 102).
- He asserts that ‘having a plan or strategy is a bit alien to most of us involved with Inherited Mode Church. Our natural language is that of presence, caring and weekly routine. We tend to be more into ‘being’ than planning. If we do plan then it is usually for the week ahead, or for the next festival, rather than for long-term vision. We are brilliant at being reactive to “what is”, we are less good at being proactive and building the “what can be”’ (Croft, 2006: 102).
- Presence = pastoral contact with those on the fringe of church or outside the church.
- Proclamation = communication of the gospel message and invitation to a wonderful new
way of life. - Persuasion = sensitive listening and sharing, e.g. through enquirers groups and
discipleship courses - Gamble notes that ‘Paul and Jesus followed presence with proclamation, but our practice
is to follow presence with more presence’ (Croft, 2006: 103).
Discussion: Does your church seem to follow the PPP strategy? In which element of this strategy might you need to grow?
Optional further material from Bayes & Sledge, Mission-Shaped Parish (2006):
- Doing church well involves recognising humanity and divinity.
- We are a human church; we are ‘different members of a body and need to make the most of opportunities to recognise our shared humanity and celebrate it’ (Bayes & Sledge, 2006: 37). This involves:
- Welcome, which is what happens after you’ve said ‘hello’.
- Sitting together.
- Celebrating rites of passage and knowing each other personally.
- Socialising together.
- We are also a divine church. ‘Divinity in worship is about creating a sense of wonder and awe. Divinity is about creating space, worth and expectancy for the living God to dwell in’ (Bayes & Sledge, 2006: 38). This involves the use of symbols and movement, silence and space, to enable people to encounter God.
- ‘In worship there is always a balance between relevance and reverence; making connections [with people], but being taken out of our routine context into the presence of God where often words are not enough to express the inexpressible’ (Bayes & Sledge, 2006: 39).
How do you ensure a balance between the human and the divine, between being relevant and welcoming and being open to ‘the holy’?
Group Activity: Using the (Church's) Year in Evangelism
In pairs, brainstorm ways you might use the church’s year, or just the general year, in evangelism: Action planning: Which idea will you take away and try?
Reflecting Together on the Mixed Ecology
In it’s ‘Vision for the 2020s’ documents and discussions, the Church of England has been focusing on the Mixed Ecology of contemporary church life, and what that means for us moving forward. It is worth exploring with the group what we mean by Mixed Ecology, where we might experience it in our churches, and what it means for our ministry.
- Mixed ecology is the idea that traditional and pioneering forms of church compliment each other and work together, rather than competing with one another.
- This is a move that has been underway for quite a while, first emerging as the ‘blended economy’, before being promoted as the ‘mixed economy’ model in Mission Shaped Church in 2004.
- Mixed Ecology emphasises the view that different forms of church co-exist and enrich one another, rather than competing with each other.
- Traditional or Inherited Church has usually been seen as the ‘normal’ church space, with other types of church around the edge. The idea of Mixed Ecology is that these ideas are all equally church, working together to draw people into a relationship with God.
- To ensure that these different expressions of church are properly church, rather than just social gatherings with prayer, the Fresh Expressions movement developed a set of criteria to help explore whether something was church.
These criteria are:
- Contextual – Finding culturally appropriate ways of reaching people.
- Missional – Working mainly with people who do not attend church.
- Ecclesial – Intends to become Church for the people it reaches.
- Formational – Aims to form disciples.
Have the group spend some time thinking together about the criteria above. Do they ring true of their own church experience, whether that is in a pioneering or traditional expression? What is lacking? What is emphasised?
Discussion:
- Have the group come across the language of ‘Mixed Ecology’ before? If so, what are their experiences of it? If not, what are their first impressions of it?
- Do the group think there is anything significant about the move from Economy language to Ecology language?
- Economy language emphasises competition, Ecology emphasises complementation.
- Many people today have little to no experience of Christian worship or community, how might the mixed ecology be helpful in engaging with this cultural setting?
Prayer Activity
On one post-it note, write or draw one thing from this evening’s session you’d like to learn more about, or do more, or try out…
On another post-it note, write or draw one gift or quality or talent you have that can help your church…
In pairs, share briefly what you’ve put on your post-it notes, then pray for each other – aloud or quietly.
If time allows, pairs may wish to share insights from this prayer time with the larger group.
Each person may like to take away one or two of the post-it notes as a sign and a reminder that we continue to hold these intentions in prayer and resolve to act on them between now and the next session.