Uncommon Conversations
Phil Miglioratti and Angie Ward
“A New Paradigm for Church and Mission”
"The answer to the crisis of the North American church
will not be found at the level of method and problem solving."
Darrell Guder
Beyond Church and Parachurch: From Competition to Missional Extension
by Angie Ward Foreward by Jerry E. White
PHIL>>> Angie, you are proposing the American Evangelical Church is in urgent need of redefinition. Why is it "critical to our identity and unity?"
ANGIE>>> I believe that our increasingly polarized world needs the church to be an agent of hope, grace, and redemption. That requires a clear understanding of our identity and mission as the body of Christ. Otherwise we can waste a lot of time and effort duplicating efforts or even working at cross purposes.
"The solution? I believe we need to make
five difficult shifts or movements
pertaining to our models and mindsets."
Angie Ward (this and following quotes)
PHIL>>> First, please, explain why paradigm-shifting is difficult...
ANGIE>>> Shifting our paradigms is so uncomfortable and difficult because it requires challenging and changing our deepest assumptions and foundational beliefs.
PHIL >>> ... then help us understand why each shift is so critical; both a need and a challenge:
ANGIE >>>
Movement 1: From Confusion to Clarity
>>> As long as we don’t have a full understanding of our identity and mission as the full body of Christ, our partnerships and practices will be compromised. We need every believer, from leaders to laity, to have an understanding of and love for the church as the bride of Christ.
Movement 2: From Scarcity to Generosity
>>> For too long, many of us in ministry – even in the wealthiest parts of the world – have operated from a scarcity mindset that leads us to protect our resources and functionally compete against others for them. Instead, we must move to an open-handedness in which our default mindset is to release resources rather than seek to collect and protect them.
Movement 3: From Institutional to Movemental
>>> Institutions can be good things – they help us organize around a shared mission and purpose. They can be a source of stability and have served as cultural anchors for centuries. But the same anchor can also inhibit mobility and agility. I believe we need to return to the original movemental nature of the church, which will require rethinking organizational structures.
Movement 4: From Empire to Kingdom
>>> A focus on institution can also lead us to build our own empires. A true kingdom mindset will recognize and support God’s work around the world, not just in and through our own organization or location.
Movement 5: From Control to Freedom
>>> Most of the lack of unity we see in the body of Christ today is rooted in a struggle for control: of getting to determine who is in and out, who and what is worthy of our resources, and who has authority over another. But what if the needs around the world are more important than our need to maintain control?
"We need an entirely new framework or paradigm
to guide our thinking, our language, our actions
regarding these shifts.
A comprehensive new way of thinking
for the church for the 21st century and beyond."
PHIL>>> IAngie, please introduce us to:
- Rethinking Church as Ekklesia >>> We use the word “church” in nearly a dozen different ways, meaning anything from a building to a denomination to a broad concept of all believers around the world. But the New Testament writers and early believers had a clear understanding of the church as a gathered people, locally embodied. These people are committed to one another and to pursuing mission together.
- Reshaping Church Culture as Missional >>> God by nature is a missional God. Because of God’s love for people, God desires to reconcile and redeem a wounded humanity. As the people of God, the church should also reflect this missional nature.
- Recognizing Missional Extensions >>> We are all called to be on mission: as individual believers, as the ekklesia, as missional organizations such as parachurch agencies, and even as Christian-run businesses.
- Resetting to a Community- Wide Ecosystem >>> Instead of viewing the church and various agencies as a collection of cylinders or institutional containers, I suggest we view it instead as nodes on a network that covers the earth. Instead of serving as containers with high walls, organizations then become something like lily pads for people and resources to move around to the areas of need.
"There is great danger in institutionalism, in believing institutions and organizations are the center, the source, even the goal,
instead of simply the means for equipping and unleashing the body of Christ."
PHIL>>> Agree/Disagree: This difficult truth about institutionalism applies to every sector/stream of Evangelicalism regardless of denominational size or organizational style. Institutionalism is more obvious in tradition-bound, high-church worship and highly corporate denominational structures, but congregations or ministry organizations of any size or strategy can be controlled/directed/enforced by institutionalized systems and planning.
ANGIE>>> I would agree. The mindset can creep in no matter the size or type of organization. It’s one of placing the ongoing maintenance or existence of the institution over flexibility for mission. We got here for good reasons, because institutions help us marshal resources for good work, but the danger is in institutionalism.
"Where do we go from here?"
PHIL>>> Give us a headline sentence on these four steps you say "we all must take to reshape our conversation and practice for faithful ministry in this new world;" steps I believe we cannot avoid or ignore.
ANGIE>>>
- Repent >>> We need to humble ourselves and repent of erroneous beliefs and practices, giving everything over to God.
- Reclaim >>> After repenting, we must reclaim the original nature and purpose of the church, and of our identity as the body of Christ.
- Reframe >>> We need to reshape our conversations using different language, such as the “missional extensions” paradigm I suggest.
- Reshape >>> Finally, we must reshape our practices, experimenting with new forms and structures that will release everyone for for collaborative mission around the world.
"My goal now is to do my best to 'champion the church.'"
PHIL>>> Tell us why you champion:
ANGIE>>> For too long, evangelicalism has had a weak or nonexistent ecclesiology – an understanding of what the church is supposed to be and do. I was guilty of this myself. I realized I knew more about “leadership” in the church than I did about the church itself. My journey of exploration opened my eyes, changing my perspective and ultimately my path and practice in ministry.
Humility >>> It takes humility to assess beliefs and practices that feel foundational to us.
"Every member on mission" >>> The Bible is clear about the priesthood of believers and that the nature of the church – that is, for all of us as the body of Christ – is sentness to the needs of the world.
Para-Church >>> The missional extensions that have sometimes been referred to as “parachurch” are vital to taking the full gospel to places that the local ekklesia can’t reach.
Apostolic Function >>> Rooted in God’s love for all the world, God established the church as a called out and sent people. We are all to function as apostles, on mission around the world.
Deconstructing >>> It’s necessary and healthy to assess our beliefs and resulting structures and practices. This process clears old, unfruitful branches and makes way for new life.
"I think we can do better. I think we must do better."
PHIL>>> One more comment/insight you want us to think about...
ANGIE>>> Our cultural and missional moment demands that we ask hard questions about our identity and purpose as the body of Christ.
"I pray that the conversation in this book has spurred greater love and deeper thought in you..."
PHIL>>> Angie, please write a prayer we can pray to begin or restart a journey from conformity or competition to missional culture and missional extension
ANGIE>>>
Lord, forgive us for our inflexibility.
Thank you for your faithfulness despite our failures.
Give us your heart of love for all the world.
Help us to enter boldly into hard conversations and the work of new construction.
May we live fully into our identity as the body of Christ, and to your work in the world.
For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.
Amen.
>>>KEEP SCROLLING for RELATED CONTENT & COMMENTARY, RESOURCES & REPLIES