In, not of: The theological task and the mission of the church

This article demonstrates how an interdisciplinary approach to thinking about mission allows for a more dynamic definition of who belongs to the Christian community. It argues that the church ought to understand its relationship to its sociocultural environment not in terms of who is “in” and “out” but in terms of the One toward whom this community is oriented, and the corresponding movement towards or away from this center. This will be done by bringing the exegesis of John 17:14–19 and Romans 12:1–2 into an interdisciplinary dialogue with Paul Hiebert’s “bounded-set” and “centered-set” models in order to show how the centered-set model provides a more theologically nuanced and faithful depiction of the church’s missional identity. Additionally, the trinitarian theologies of Thomas Torrance and Lesslie Newbigin will be added to this conversation to further demonstrate how Hiebert’s centered-set model, in partnership with a trinitarian ecclesiology which focuses upon participation, fellowship, and communion, reduces the stark divide of “in” and “out,” instead defining belonging to the Christian community with reference to the God who gathers and calls the church together.

The Church as Christ’s broken body responding to the emerging global challenges in a divided world

Public debate about the role of the church within society has gained momentum especially because the contemporary changing global political and economic landscape has resulted in deeply a divided world. People are asking questions about the missional identity and vocation of the church. If the church is the broken body of Christ in the world, what are the ways in which it is expressing that brokenness in practical ways? This vulnerable status necessitates modelling the politics of Jesus that risks putting up resistance against all threats that prevent people from experiencing fullness of life. The contemporary era of global governance is characterised by ‘moral lowlifes’ in political leadership that uses judicial and executive overreach to weaken democracy and empower the wealthy elites. Furthermore, the impact of technology and computation on shaping human relations has produced a consequential decline in human trust and relationships. Therefore, the missional agenda of the church as the broken body of Christ serving a divided world, calls for building life-affirming relationships that overcome dehumanising barriers.

Recovering core identity, hermeneutical and contextual preaching

The church has the privilege of participating with God in his saving mission in a broken and suffering world, also known as the missio Dei (Bosch 1991:8–11, 390–393). This is its core, missional identity. However, many local churches are facing an identity crisis at their very core. The reasons are numerous. This article seeks to define, in a theoretical and theological way, the core identity of the local church and in the light thereof to explore two areas: (1) how the local church and particularly its pastor view the core identity of the local church, and (2) whether the identity of the local church is affected through the ministry of preaching – preaching that takes into specific consideration the aspects of hermeneutics and context. The research indicates that while the church may have an understanding of its core identity – certainly when it answers the questions ‘who are we?’ and ‘what are we called to be and/or do’ – it lacks significantly in its missional identity. Contributing factors are mentioned and remedial action is proposed.

The Ecclesiological Self and the Other: Concepts of Social Identity and Their Implications for Free Churches in Secular Europe

This article suggests that social identity research, especially the concept of self-other differentiation, may shed light on the observable ecclesiological and missional identity crisis of free churches in secular Europe. As free churches find positive value, meaning, and perspective in distinction to particular ‘collective others’, both their ecclesiological self as well as their philosophy of ministry are shaped by these kinds of social psychological procedures. It is thus proposed that the ecclesiological and missiological difficulties of free churches in Europe are at least partly due to the fact that what has historically been the most relevant ‘identity-forming other’ is fading away. While free churches originated within a Christendom context, they now face an increasingly secular environment. This seems to necessitate a mental rearrangement of sorts since it is no longer suitable to determine one’s identity in comparison and opposition to other Christian groups within the sphere of cultural Christianity.

Missional Identity of a Parish Church: A Case Study from the Church of England

This essay draws on the typological framework of Stephen B. Bevans and Roger P. Schroeder in Constants in Context: A Theology of Mission for Today (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2004), to analyse a case study church drawn from the Church of England. It investigates key elements of the theology and life of the church, in particular its implicit eschatology and understanding of salvation, and its approach to evangelism, to identify and establish which of Bevans and Schroeder's models it most closely expresses. This correlation is then used to draw out certain practical implications for the life of the church, most notably how it can more consistently and therefore with more integrity live out its inherent approach to mission. This shows the general practical usefulness of this methodology for other churches in different settings.

Can Pietism Change the World? Reconsidering Hegel's Tutelage of 'Faith'

The legacy of the ecclesial renewal movement known as Pietism is debated on questions of how it envisions the church's relation to the world. On the one hand, there are denominations today that invoke the legacy of Pietism as a resource in constructing a missional identity and a clear ethic of social engagement and transformation. On the other hand, there are critics, such as Karl Barth, who register Pietism as a phenomenon that fosters individualism rather than social-mindedness. Barth blames Pietism's inward concept of authority. This essay is an attempt to temper the claims of such critics through a close reading of the analysis of the 'faith' consciousness found in G.W.F. Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. In contrast to Barth, Hegel offers a reading of Pietism's inward concept of authority as forming dissatisfied social agents, rather than atomistic individuals fundamentally alienated from one another. On Hegel's account, the Pietist experiences an essential or spiritual belonging to the actual social world, yet she is continually dissatisfied with the external actualization of this spiritual relationship. Thus, Hegel provides a way for Pietist traditions to conceptually integrate the emphasis on inward experience with a clear ethic of social participation and responsible engagement.

Congregational analysis: A theological and ministerial approach

The research problem concerned is: What criteria should be used when congregations are analysed? Congregations as faith communities are defined differently. Identifying the local congregation as a defined and as an empirical subject plays a major role in answering the research question. The theological points of departure taken are that any measure of a local congregation has to deal with issues such as faithfulness to the gospel and the missional identity and integrity of the congregation as a contextual faith community. The hypothesis is that theologically informed and motivated congregations can and should be analysed in the process of continuing reformation. While the first article described the approach and outcome of empirical research, this article focuses mainly on understanding the church as intermediary in its ministerial role-fulfilment. Ministries are modes by which God is coming to his own and through them to his world. Eventually a case is made for congregational analysis as a test of faithfulness to this understanding of ministry.