Monthly Archives: October 2013
Practices of a Missional People – Editorial
The church does not have a social ethic; the church is a social ethic. Stanley Hauerwas[1] “Missional Church” is like “Female Woman”.Christopher Wright[2] How might we better understand and participate in God’s mission in western culture? That is the question...
Read morePractices of a Missional People
Alan begins his keynote by affirming God’s creative engagement in our world of destructive social patterns, brokenness and oppression...
Rapid Response
Kyle Small – Rapid Response to Practices of a Missional People by Alan J Roxburgh
Rapid Response to Practices of a Missional People by Alan J Roxburgh
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was traveling to Harlem and around the US in 1930, and it was there, in the neighborhood of Harlem that he said, ‘I moved from phraseology to reality.’ Current ecclesial speech in the US is around phraseology and...
Read moreWesleyan Wisdom for Mission-Shaped Discipleship
In recent years, some scholars have shifted their focus from missional ecclesiology to mission spirituality, by making authentic discipleship the starting point of missional thinking. From this perspective, it is not churches but people that participate in the mission of...
Read moreMonastic Practices and the Missio Dei: Towards a Socially-Transformative Understanding of Missional Practice from the Perspective of the Northumbria Community
To be a missional people means to live according to the reality of the presence of the kingdom of God that is now at hand. This radical call to missional living requires us to practice intentional spiritual disciplines...
Rapid Response
Dwight Zscheile – A Rapid Response to ‘Monastic Practices and the Missio Dei’
Dwight Zscheile – A Rapid Response to ‘Monastic Practices and the Missio Dei’
Spiritual formation is a critical dimension of the missional conversation overdue for further development within a missional framework. This essay helpfully reframes spiritual disciplines from a primarily private, individualistic view toward a socially-engaged, kingdom perspective. It grounds this reframing in...
Read morePractices for a Missional Church Planting Order
What practices can sustain missional practice and spiritual vitality among church planters? Taking cues from Ignatius of Loyola this article proposes a rule of life for a church planting order...
Rapid Response
Rapid Response to Practices for a Missional Church Planting Order by Christopher B. James
As a church planter, I found Mr. James’s article helpful and relevant. I was particularly captivated by his reference to David Bosch’s observation that missionaries and church planters are often spiritual “misfits” at home, and the mission field (or church...
Read moreAre we post-community? Challenges to Christian faith and mission in a rapidly urbanising world
This article defines community as ‘a sense of belonging that is the fruit of common commitments and personal investment’ and explores the art and nature of community building for mission within the context of a rapidly fracturing, individualising and urbanising world...
Rapid Response
Alan Roxburgh – Rapid Response to ‘Are We Post-Community’ by Ash Barker
Rapid Response to ‘Are We Post-Community’ by Ash Barker
It is with appreciation that I read this article asking a tantalizing, perhaps rhetorical question: ‘Are we post-community?’ While I don’t believe this is the case (the devil is in the question of what is meant by ‘community’). Barker is...
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