mission 21 thoughts - pt 5
So some final thoughts - where is the church in the UK? George Lings commented from the platform after the report presentation that the tone is no longer triumphalist amongst church leaders. There is a humility now that perhaps was lacking in the nineties. While there is still a long way to go among the often intransigent inherited churches there is currently a strong permission-giving atmosphere and a willingness to encourage the new stuff. Being cynical one could say this is because they have nothing to lose now – with decline and disintegration staring the established church in the face, but alongside of this is a very real and growing grass roots movement that is missional, organic, and has real potential to become a movement in the next decade.

Some have been saying that there is an arrogance and closed-ness to foreign input here in the UK church. I do not believe that is the case and the evidence confirms this. However I have no doubt that some leaders will not have been wholly positive about the organic stuff I presented, why? Because at heart it threatens their very security, their authority, salaries and positions. I’d be a little uncomfortable in their shoes too! But for the sake of this nation we have got to choose to put the Kingdom ahead of our still declining denominations.

One of the key objectives for M21 was to rehabilitate the idea of strategic church planting; I think we undoubtedly accomplished this. Overall I am encouraged. The research has demonstrated that there is a good amount of church planting going on within and on the edge of the existing church; they are wrestling with the important issues of ecclesiology and missiology and there is an openness to new ways. Then particularly encouraging are the signs of movement beyond the existing structures which undoubtedly reflect similar moves in much of the rest of the world. Will this grow and become more significant? I can't see it suddenly stopping and I have seen it visibly expanding just in the 2-3 years I have been observing it nationally and across Europe, so I am hopeful that this trend will continue and over the next decade we will see God doing something remarkable in this toughest of all mission fields.

posted by alexander @ 8:16 AM    0 comments

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