Foundations for Mission

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Foundations for Mission
John Clark, Martin Lee, Philip Knights, Janice
Price, Paul Rolph, Anne Richards, Nigel Rooms

• A study of language, theology and praxis from the
  UK and Ireland perspective

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The Task

• The task of this study group is to explore how a
  Trinitarian understanding of God as Father, Son
  and Holy Spirit relates to the theory and
  practice of mission how the confession that God
  has a missionary identity impacts Christian
  witness how a discernment of the Trinitarian
  Gods inner relationships and love impacts
  ecclesiology, community life and society.

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Hypothesis

• Academic and theological task
• Hypothesis is that what is said publicly about
  the theology of mission by UK and Ireland
  churches, agencies and institutions does not
  necessarily match up with the mission practice,
  understanding and outworking of those same
  bodies.

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Research in Three phases

• Website search for public language about mission
  NVIVO analysis of that language and semiotic
  analysis of sites
• Survey using theological statements
• In depth interviews with participants about their
  responses
• National churches and agencies (GMN/GC/BIAMS)
• Local churches in Nottinghamshire
• BIAMS conference members

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Websites NVIVO analysis

• Transformation
• Sharing
• Equipping
• Community
• Fellowship
• Supporting
• Creation .

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Some Website straplines

• Sharing Jesus, Changing Lives Christian Care for
  Families A Community Centred on Christ for the
  New Evangelisation For People and Community
  Informing, promoting and inviting all Christians
  to respond to todays mission Where a little goes
  a long way Growing leaders, growing churches

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Websites (Semiotic analysis)
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Websites

• Theological language not so important
• Pictures, stories, welcome, portal devices send
  important messages
• More attention needed concerning underlying
  meanings of images and web constituents
• Some emphasis on the committed rather than the
  casual visitor
• Can public language about mission be upheld in
  practice?

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Survey

• Statements about mission
• Origin and Purpose of Gods Mission
• Kingdom, Mission and Church
• Who best does mission?
• Evangelism and Mission
• Mission and Development
• Mission and Improving Lives
• Mission and Other Faiths
• God at work through.

• Mission and Proclamation
• Mission and Sin
• Mission and Salvation (two statements)
• Mission and Church (essence of the Church)
• Mission and Church (function of the Church)
• Mission and Partnership
• Mission Outcomes
• Mission Priorities page

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Survey

• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Neither agree nor disagree
• Disagree
• Strongly disagree
• Challenging process but fruitful because the
  statements had to be addressed.

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Survey results emerging themes

• Desire to agree with mission resist disagree
• Good language (transformation, reconciliation,
  hospitality, love) strongly affirmed
• Negative language (confront, condemn) resisted
• Justice deeply problematic
• Reflection on complex issues causes some shift
• Theology is weak driver
• The Church is missionary, but mission is not to
  or into church

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positivelanguage
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Negative language
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Theologically difficult statements
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Justice
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Survey process- emerging themes

• Process helps people start to think about the
  complexity and messiness of mission
• Need to contextualise, root ideas in story
• It depends what you mean
• Is and ought
• Struggle to respond
• Leadership questions does the team think?

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BIAMS

• Mission as missio dei
• Mission as transformation
• Mission as proclamation

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Interview process

• Exploring
• 13 Questions overall
• Experience of filling in the survey
• agreement and disagreement
• Dont know
• Problem of Justice
• Authority, Trinity, Understanding of God
• Theological position (Bevans and Schroeder)
• Proclamation
• Missio Dei
• Justice
• Comparison of theology and mission priorities

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The Interviewees

• Local
• 9 Anglicans, 2 Baptists, 1 each of Methodist,
  URC, Salvation Army, RC and Pentecostal.
• 13M 3F 1 non-white British
• Local Clergy in the main with some with
  denominational roles.

• National
• 11 in total 3 Churches, 8 Mission Agencies
• 4 Mission agencies in Global Connections Network
• Rest from GMN network
• Some issues with interviewee not being the survey
  respondent

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In-depth interviews local headlines

• Clergy universally convinced of the local
  missionary task as core purpose of the church
• Some evidence of receptivity of Missio Dei, but
  only some an adoption distribution curve?
• Many want to hold to a holistic approach while a
  majority when pressed will prioritise
  proclamation of Christ

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In-depth interviews national headlines

• Leadership tensions representation difference
  between churches and agencies
• Awareness of Missio Dei (esp. agencies) but not
  foremost driver
• Desire to root things in theological reflections
  and story
• justice as problematic word
• holistic emerges again

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Further Analysis mission drivers

• Wide range of understandings of mission
• Congregations lag behind
• Authority for mission Mt. 2819-20
• Institution as a drag as well as driver

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Further Analysis Justice

• In local churches not much enthusiasm
• part of the whole
• Justice as simple charity
• In national interviews Justice as a means to an
  end
• holistic a get out jail free card?

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Further Analysis God of Mission

• In Local Churches one third very clear
• only two give a fully Trinitarian answer
• one third thrown by the question silenced for
  some time and then talk about mission in general
• spirituality of mission is missing here
• Nationally little evidence of spirituality in
  mission

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Conclusions

• Public mission language does not match mission
  reality
• Websites have hidden potential that is probably
  not realised
• Mission has common assent but prioritising
  action in mission is difficult
• Most response to relational language and themes
• Resistance to negative, separating language
• Theology is a weak driver, mostly Matthew 28.19
• Justice is a problem
• Need to contextualise what mission is in
  experience
• Gap between leadership and ordinary Christians

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Outcomes

• Process just as important as results and felt to
  be useful so production of
• Tool for web analysis and thinking about design
  for mission messages
• Adaptations of the survey for different
  constituencies to do mission audit
• Template of questions for discussion or interview
  for mission reflection

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