Gavin Tyte explores becoming missional.
For those of us immersed in fresh expressions of church and trained in missional thinking, it can be easy to forget the paradigm shift required by the average member of a standard parish church.
When you say 'mission' it is often understood to mean 'a mission', as in an event at which the church hands out tracts, knocks on doors and gets in a guest speaker. For those a little further down the missional road, if you mention a fresh expression of church, it can be viewed simply as 'alternative worship' – be it messy church, sacred space or snazzy youth praise.
However, I believe that if the Church of England is going to survive and if God has a plan to reach everyone in our communities, then the local parish church is going to have to become missional. It will need to stop its focus on connecting the unchurched to worship services (however relevant they are) and start providing opportunities for the unchurched to join in with the church in the ongoing mission of God.
Every parochial context is different; there is no blueprint, but there are three things we are implementing in our parish church:
Preach the mission
The preaching and communication of the church needs to hold a steady course and be consistent in every area – whether Sunday services, website, weekly newsletter, meetings or conversation.
Make the move from groups to teams
Look at the existing groups in the church, such as Mothers' Union, and re-brand them as teams – each with a missional purpose. Start providing training for the team leaders in how to invite people to join in with the mission of God in the world. I want each of these teams to be able to invite people to 'join in' with what God is doing and come to know Jesus. Some of these teams may well grow into fresh expressions of church.
Grow leaders of congregations instead of leaders of services
In many parishes, there is a great emphasis on church services. However, if we are to reach our communities then we are going to need to equip, empower and release people to lead new communities of faith. Rather than planting churches that are clones of the parent, we need to seed new congregations.
At the moment I can identify four separate congregations meeting under the banner of Uplyme Church – each holding gatherings at different times. It is my hope that we grow and develop a leader for each of these congregations; not just to deliver services, but to nurture, teach and develop each congregation as a missional community.