What is the Missional Church?
The word “missional” has become part of the church’s vocabulary in recent years. Often, it is assumed that this is a new way to speak of the mission that has been part of the church’s discourse from the very beginning. Whereas there is some truth that there is a relationship between mission and missional, their approach to the work of the church is vastly different.
The missional conversation is more than a church growth strategy or the latest fad to describe ministries. Being missional is a clarion call to the church back to its roots, to its original purpose of being the representative of God in the world. Being missional represents a “recalibration of the form and function of the church of Jesus” (The Missional Network Blog, n.d.). This article will share three characteristics of the missional church.
The missional conversation begins with the understanding that God is a missionary God or a sending God. Mission is the result of God’s initiative (Roxburgh, 2015). The missional conversation is rooted in God’s purpose to restore and heal the created order. The central biblical theme is about God’s action of redemption through God’s participation in the world. “God’s mission in the world is related to the reign, or kingdom, of God” (Roxburgh, 2015, p. 43).
Learning in the Crisis
Predicting the future is risky business. History teaches us that many of the conveniences we enjoy today were thought to be useless inventions. The bicycle, the motor car, the personal computer, the television set, the laptop, the digital camera, the internet were all discounted. The powers of the day gave them the thumbs down. Those inventions proved the experts wrong. All those items have helped to define our culture and existence in one way or another.
The current realities tempt us to make predictions about the future. Truth is, no one really knows what normal will look like when the dust settles. Let us therefore be careful about pronouncements and pivot to discern the lessons to be learnt in the crisis. There are many lessons to learn and this article posits five of the many that we may learn.
1. We are all connected
This novel coronavirus was allegedly started in China based on the findings. That is very far away from the Caribbean. Flying to China would take almost 22 hours. When the virus started spreading, not many of us expected that it would come this far. Particularly since the others before did not come this way. Little did we know that what happened in China, Europe, and North America was heading for our paradise in the Caribbean – the same rod that strikes the wild goat strikes the tame. We live in a connected world. The 24/7 news cycle and the internet, keep the news of the world close.
O Let The Power Fall
On Thursday, August 13, 2020 the Moravian Church Eastern West Indies Province held its first virtual Provincial worship service in commemoration of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Moravian Church on August 13, 1727. The theme for the service was “O let your power fall,” as we petitioned God to fall afresh on His church in this season.
Conferences provided input and the entire Province was invited to share in the event via YouTube and Facebook. We express our gratitude to those who contributed to the worship service and to all who joined in worship. Thank you for your prayers and presence.
As we continue to reflect on what God did in the Moravian Church in 1727, let us continue to pray that the Spirit of God will be poured out among us so that we may Advance the Kingdom and S.H.I.F.T. (Provincial Theme 2020)
