Abstract
Many nations in the world are facing times of austerity with resulting economic pressures. The church is not exempt from this and often responds with practical plans to reshape their ministry and mission in the light of reduced resources. Yet there is a need to engage more positively in developing a contextual ecclesiology that enables mission in challenging times. This article seeks to explore this challenge through the example of the Church of England which is seen in terms of eleven elements of its ecclesiology. Ways in which the context of austerity affects thinking about these elements are explored, both in their positive and negative impacts. Austerity is explored through the themes of fear, security, retreat and connectedness. These themes are used as the basis of the suggestion for a positive shape to an ecclesiology that provides an attractive mission model in such contexts. Resources from a charismatic research project, Flame of Love, are used in support of this model. The aim is to suggest a theological as well as practical response to the challenges that austerity presents.
Western nations are facing times of austerity, when cutbacks are being made in government spending in order to enable them to pay back the debt that is owed. Cutbacks to public services, like health and education, and to public workers income or pensions, has caused riots across Europe and protests in many nations. Questions are raised in economic terms about the helpfulness of austerity as opposed to meeting debt through growth. Yet whatever the arguments it appears that people and businesses are acting within an ethos of austerity, of cutting back on spending, and this brings changes to lives of most people through the complex interactions of spending, sales, profit, employment, debt, finances and world markets. Within the church the reaction is often also one of austerity as Christian charities have made workers redundant and churches wrestle with the problem of sustaining current ministry and mission with less resources. These can seem like pragmatic responses driven by the surrounding cultural ethos and often leave little space for missiological and theological reflection. Yet we are called to discern the times and consider how our context and our understanding of the church and mission interact in order to better serve the kingdom of God. This article is an initial attempt to articulate such a discernment within the author’s particular context within the Church of England. It will hopefully offer ideas that can be followed up in regard to other contexts.
The British coalition government has been committed to a programme of austerity since its election in 2010. This has led to much debate within which we have seen some public services reduced with resulting opportunities for the church to provide services as part of its holistic mission. In many communities it is the church that provides youth groups and luncheon clubs for the elderly, that brings lonely people together, that enables community events and gives fragmented communities a focus. 1 It is a time of opportunity, if one in which resources seem less. Although local church income has often been sustained there is pressure, heightened in the Church of England by significant retirements of clergy over the next eight years. The Church of England has a strong desire to maintain a living witness in every community in England, based on what is called the ‘Parish system’. Although a few larger churches will be able to continue with current practices of ministry with dedicated clergy, more usually clergy will be serving a number of churches. Hence there is pressure for change that leads to dioceses calling all groups of churches (deaneries) to come up with mission action plans, practical plans of how to allocate funding for ministry and mission to enable growth yet with less clergy and less income.
Given the context with its pressures and anxieties it is understandable that church leaders focus on forming practical plans to maintain and adapt as best they can whilst keeping a heart for mission. Yet it is not clear that the time given to such planning is matched by time given to reflect on the nature of the church that will result from such plans. There is a desire for mission and yet difficulty in articulating an ecclesiology for the future. Admittedly, this is partly because the Church of England operates with a number of ecclesiologies without a great desire to bring them into conversation. It has been quite possible for local churches to operate under a particular understanding of church without having to worry about other churches. Yet the current plans force a coming together of different churches to share clergy and hence this should provoke ecclesiological reflection.
Reflection on ecclesiology and mission is becoming increasingly important within the Pentecostal and charismatic traditions which have greatly influenced the Church of England. There has been a developing missiology that has engaged with church growth and Great Commission mission (Paul Pomerville), with the charismatic emphasis on the kingdom of God having come (my own work), on mission within creation (Julie and Wonsuk Ma), and on missional church (Gary Tyra). 2 In different ways each of these studies seek to explore the mission of the Church as enabled by the Holy Spirit, engaging with practical studies and mission and theological scholarship. They address issues of opposition to mission, notably those of spiritual forces yet do not engage with cultural contexts of austerity. Of course, Pentecostalism is rooted in places of poverty and is often growing most in such contexts. The emphasis is usually on overcoming such poverty through the blessings of God rather than on a detailed understanding of the context. This has been broadened in recent years to the blessings given to a community for the prosperity of the wider community through mission. It has to be admitted that those suffering from austerity are often still very rich compared with many in the world, but this is not to say that the pressure they feel because of their loss is not significant or should not be noted. It is increasingly recognized that Pentecostalism is contextual and there is a need to more consciously engage with particular contextual issues in practical, missional and theological ways. 3 This study will contribute one example of such an engagement that will hopefully encourage further research.
Using the Church of England as an example, this article seeks to reflect on how the current context leads to an emphasis on some themes in ecclesiology to the neglect of others. Recognizing what can be lost this article seeks to explore how a more holistic ecclesiology can be developed in conversation with the context of austerity. This is the mission task that is also the ecclesiological and practical task facing the church. It is important to outline a positive proposal that might be of use in similar contexts. To this end I suggest a fourfold shape to a charismatic ecclesiology for a context of austerity. In this I draw particularly on the theme of love as developed within the Flame of Love project. This has developed many important practical and theological reflections on the church as a place of receiving God’s love in ways that transform it to offer love to others. 4 A church of love in times of austerity is one energized to respond to the opportunities in faith and hope.
Elements in a Church of England Ecclesiology
The Church of England came into being during the 16th century amidst various political and religious movements, notably the desires of Henry VIII and the impact of continental Reformations. 5 It is a church that is often described as both Catholic and Reformed – rooted in the Catholic tradition that goes back before Augustine of Canterbury; and also rooted in the Bible, the Word of God, that needs to renew and reform the church. 6 The ceremonies and ideas not explicitly contradicted by Scripture were allowed to continue, and so the Church of England has both continuity and discontinuity with the forms of Christianity that preceded it in England. It further developed through the missionary movement of the 18th and 19th centuries in particular during which time the term Anglicanism came into use to describe a particular way of describing and practising Christian faith. 7
Understanding Anglican ecclesiology requires ‘patience in reading and attending to a number of historical strands’. 8 Indeed, there has been no one dominant Anglican ecclesiology and rather ‘Anglicanism, since its beginnings, has been forged on the anvil of ecclesiological controversy’. 9 These conflicting strands can be seen in terms of the Anglo-Catholic and evangelical (reflecting something of the dual roots of the Church of England), together with the missionary, the liberal and the charismatic. 10 Paul Avis suggests three dominant models of the church within Anglicanism – the ‘nation-as-church’ model, reflecting its early history as the established church in England; the ‘episcopal succession model’, seen in the Oxford movement and its focus on apostolicity and Bishops as a focus for unity; and the ‘communion-through-baptism’ model which he promotes. 11 These are very broad models and it is more helpful for our purposes to focus on elements within Anglican ecclesiology that reflect the influence of different strands as seen within the Church of England. These will allow a more nuanced understanding of the shifts currently taking place in ecclesiology.
I want to suggest 11 elements of ecclesiology within the Church of England, that can be seen to expand the eight suggested in a recent report on ecclesiology and Fresh Expressions of church. 12 These draw on the historical strands mentioned as they engage with Tradition, Scripture, liturgy and the ‘historic formularies’ of the Church of England. 13 The following can be seen within the ecclesiological thought and practice of the Church of England:
Sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist.
Scripture, studied and preached regularly.
Worship through shared liturgical formed, inspired by the BCP and the liturgical movement.
Renewal of church communities by the Holy Spirit, inspired particularly through the charismatic movement.
Context valued, through the local focus of the ‘Parish System’ that embodies an incarnational approach to contextualization. More recently, network contexts have been valued in contrast to parishes. 14
Mission through service and witness in communities, inspired by missionary and liberal movements.
Justice sought for all, in the world and so that all may be included within the church
Leadership through the three-fold ministries of Bishop, Priest and Deacon; held together with a strong commitment to licensed lay ministries and the working together of all God’s people.
Catholicity at different levels – the local, deanery, diocesan, national and world aspects of the church are held together in a way that is structured and yet not strictly hierarchical.
Nations are important – there is a connection between the church and nation in mission and ministry. This is illustrated by the established nature of the Church of England, but not limited to that.
Vanguards in mission have always existed within the church, groups that drive mission forwards. The pioneers in Methodism, the missionary movements and Fresh Expressions are examples of these. 15
These elements are not held equally by all, and have changed in emphasis and understanding over time. They also represent just one authors attempt to summarize a diversity of movements and scholarship within Anglicanism. Yet they should be recognizable enough in practice and allow us to ask how the results of austerity might be changing the emphasis in ecclesiology.
Ecclesiological Change – Pressures and Ideals
The pressure from reducing numbers involved in the Church of England has been significant for at least the last 50 years and there have been a number of initiatives to reach out again in mission. The practice and study of mission and ecclesiology have been central within the wider church since the 1950s. 16 In the current situation the pressures have been seen alongside the desire for ‘Fresh Expressions’ of church that engage with changing culture and draw in new people who are not yet members of any church. 17 This built on earlier work in church planting and spans different denominations and mission organizations. Such mission initiatives within the Church of England naturally develop elements (5), (6) and (11) outlined earlier. There is a healthy emphasis on developing vanguards of contextual mission that give a challenge to step out positively in times of numerical austerity.
Reducing numbers of clergy have provoked debate over the nature of leadership, catholicity and partnership. The episcopal nature of all clergy leadership has come to the fore as clergy become responsible across more parishes. 18 The collaborative nature of leadership that combines local and oversight ministries is becoming more critical, building on movements for ‘every member ministry’ in recent decades. This brings question of catholicity onto the agenda, if not often expressed using this terminology. It is the question of how local churches, Benefices, deaneries and dioceses work together in mission? In this more flexible approaches are being tried, sometimes with a focus on existing social structures seen in cities and towns. Such approaches to catholicity often focus practically on patterns of partnership, of working together in mission across churches, deaneries, dioceses and cities. 19 Issues that have been limited to concerns in world mission are positively coming onto the agenda of churches in England, developing elements (8) and (9). At a time of pressure in clergy numbers and also in pressure on lay leaders there is a challenge to step out positively in leadership.
These positive responses within a time of pressures and austerity lead to the development of certain elements in ecclesiology, as noted. Yet this can also lead to the neglect of other important elements needed for a healthy ecclesiology. Within the Church of England we might ask: how is the Eucharist to be practiced at a time of reduced clergy (1)? How are we to deepen faith and understanding of the Scriptures within church life when much energy is spent reaching out to those beyond whose knowledge is limited (3)? What does a shared Anglican liturgy mean given the varied practice encouraged (4)? Do we need a renewal of renewal (7, 10)? What of mission beyond the church? Are we over-focused on the church to the neglect of issues of justice and the practice of chaplaincies? Interestingly, none of the elements of ecclesiology I have suggested for the Church of England are reliant on particular buildings, although in many minds context (5) implies a building in a parish. Does there need to be a greater willingness to let go of particular buildings in order to release resources for greater mission?
One response to such questions is to emphasize ideals that need to be present at all times within the church. Thus we can state the need for a church that is sacramental, Scriptural, liturgical, renewed, contextual, missional, concerned for justice, has shared leadership, and is catholic, national and pioneering. Appeal can then be made to various theological traditions to support such an understanding of the church. Rather than follow this idealized route, that has been critiqued by Nicholas Healy and others, the aim here is to engage with the significant contextual issues and draw on a particular theological tradition in order to articulate ecclesiology. 20 We are thus moving from considering the practical reactions to a context, towards a contextual mission engagement with that context.
Towards a Charismatic Ecclesiology for Times of Austerity
The concrete, local nature of ecclesiology is being increasingly recognized and yet there still remain few attempts to explore how context and ecclesiology might interact. 21 In this article I am reflecting on ecclesiology within the broad context suggested by the theme of austerity. My own engagement with this theme has been through the narratives of people I’ve encountered in pastoral ministry, whose testimony is usually related with the grand narrative themes that fill typical news reports in lectures, TV and online. This is local–national interaction that is suggestive rather than the result of a systematic study. It is one grounded in a particular locality and hence may not be applicable elsewhere, yet inasmuch as it also engages with the media’s grand narratives it should represent a wider contextual process that others can engage with in other situations.
In talking with people about the future, I have been struck by some common themes. There is anxiety and fear about what is to come for their families and for the church – will their children be able to find work? How will they manage as prices continue to rise? How can the church keep going with fewer clergy? There is also a desire to retreat into safe memories or to blame others – homes and families become more important; it is the Government that are taking the wrong action; it is Europe that is taking our finances; we are British (or English)! Yet there is also an awakening of memories of times when people pulled together, maybe during the war or when the church was the centre of social life in the village. So, reflecting on the nature of austerity that many Western countries are currently experiencing, I want to suggest that it often leaves people and communities struggling with fear (how can we survive?), with a felt need for security (let’s at least hold on to what we have) and a retreat into nationhood (if only we weren’t part of Europe). More positively, austerity has reminded people that we don’t just exist as individuals (we all used to pull together and can again). In terms of contextual ecclesiology and mission, these suggest a concern for relationships and local community, for apostolic faith and risk, for holding together the local and global, and for whole life mission service.
Given this analysis of the current context of austerity I want to explore a positive charismatic proposal that brings this context into conversation with current studies within Pentecostalism. What is needed is an ecclesiology that engages with the context in a way that encourages mission involvement with the opportunities that exist. I want to suggest that a way into such an ecclesiology is though the development of some ideas from the Flame of Love project. This project utilizes a ‘diamond model of godly love’ and has studied different ‘exemplars’ who through their two-way engagement with the love of ‘God’ enable the love of ‘beneficiaries’ and inspire other ‘collaborators’ to engage also with God’s love in ways that enable the love of others. 22 Rather than studying particular exemplars of an ecclesiology of love, this article seeks to articulate some overall themes in ecclesiology that build on the particular studies already undertaken. 23 I want to suggest that the Flame of Love project has much to contribute to contexts of austerity, although further work is needed to explore particular ways this has and can be put into practice by exemplars. This project enables the current article to give a charismatic contribution to the debate, although the theme of love naturally connects it with other approaches to ecclesiology.
I have suggested that a context of austerity can lead negatively to fear, an overdeveloped need for security, a retreat into nationhood and yet positively to a reminder that individualism is not enough. Rather than simply reacting to these with practical measures to keep the church afloat I want to explore a response based on developing a charismatic contextual mission ecclesiology. Reflecting the four aspects of austerity, I want to suggest such an ecclesiology of love has four aspects: places of loving community; growth in Jesus-shaped love; loving connections that span the world; and a whole-life mission of love. Such an ecclesiology develops my own work on mission and networks and draws particularly on Amos Yong’s theology of love as well as other studies within the Flame of Love project.
(1) Church – Places of Loving Community
When times bring attitudes of fear, the development of loving communities is key to ecclesiology – ‘perfect love drives out fear’ (1Jn 4:18). Classical Pentecostal communities have been characterized by the distinctive of Spirit baptism, the ‘crown jewel’ of Pentecostalism as Frank Macchia has argued. 24 For many, Spirit baptism is seen in terms of tongues and empowerment for mission and yet it has always been broader than that in practice. Early Pentecostal journals note in particular how Spirit baptism was a baptism into the love of God. Despite the many Pentecostal failings, the gift of tongues often brought reconciliation and the overcoming of racial divisions into focus, as love was shown where there was division. 25 Within a charismatic fellowship, different people are drawn together and Yong argues this particularly includes those living with disabilities. 26 It is the Spirit’s eschatological presence that enables the church in the present to experience something of the unity that will exist in the coming kingdom. A church open to being continually filled with the Spirit is one in which there exist many differences but these do not have the last word as people are empowered to come together in love. There is a pneumatology of love that is at the heart of a Pentecostal understanding of the church, one in which engagement with God leads to a benevolent drawing together of people in the ‘one Spirit’ (1 Cor. 12:13).
A contemporary study of 127 congregations in the Church of God (Cleveland, TN) highlights the continuing importance of Spirit baptism in enabling loving relationships amongst family and friends. 27 However, it was noted that Spirit baptism becomes less significant in enabling loving action on behalf of those further away from the church, where Christian media plays a more important role. Yet historically, Spirit baptism had an impact on interactions beyond the Christian community. Amongst other effects, Spirit baptism empowered a strong strand of Pentecostal pacifism that valued the life of all people. 28 There is a challenge present here, to emphasize in the churches teaching and practice that we need to encounter the Spirit in order that the church does not turn in on itself. The Spirit does not just enable us to love those closest to us but is always wanting to draw more into this loving community, particularly those we don’t know or perhaps understand. Time needs to be given to the practices of the Spirit, notably space for the baptism (or filling) in the Holy Spirit, but also worship, sacraments, charismatic gifts, contemplative silence, Scripture, preaching and fellowship – all of which can be seen as rooted in this pneumatology of love that draws people into the Trinitarian life of God.
The relationship between churches as communities of love and the wider communities in which churches are set is a complex one, yet one through which the Spirit works. All families in the earth derive their name from the Father and so we need to pray for the Spirit’s strength that we might be established in love (Eph. 3:14–17). Traditionally, within the Church of England, this establishment has been rooted in particular places through the Parish system which has reminded many Christians over the centuries that loving churches have to be kept open to the Spirit drawing others in through our relationships. Recent years have seen debates over the changing nature of society, with some arguing that we are now in more of a network society. 29 The report Mission-Shaped Church argued for Fresh Expressions on this basis although more recent thinking has acknowledged that society has a ‘mixed economy’ of forms. The pneumatology of love sketched here suggests that relationship and engagement with God and with others is more significant than place or network. It may be that churches have established relationships with those in the same place or the same network, or a mix of both. The question is more whether a spirituality of love is at the heart of the church.
The mission of the church in times of austerity connects with people to the extent it witnesses to communal lives of love. It is less about particular mission events or evangelistic speakers, although those have their place, but more about developing communities that live out the life of the Spirit alongside those who have yet to discover the work of the Spirit. Such communities are a challenge to lead and are more diverse than we are used to having in planning our worship and discipleship, but are key to growth as we look forwards. An ecclesiology of loving community enables the engagement of people with the divine love that brings gifts of love that transform and witness to the wider world.
(2) Church – Growth in Jesus-Shaped Love
When times seem to force people to hold on to what they have in order to feel secure, what is needed is a way into a life of freedom that offers growth beyond what has already been achieved. Such a Christian way of life is modelled and taught by Jesus, a way that is rooted in his summary commands of loving God and loving others (Lk. 10:27). This is a risky journey of giving of ourselves in all situations, trusting that the Lord’s love is sufficient for our needs. It is notable that this summary of commandments comes in Luke after the sending of the 70 out in mission, and Jesus’ rejoicing in the Spirit over their enacting the kingdom. We are to love in a context of a journey of mission which the Spirit enables us to carry out. 30 We enter into a narrative of loving mission that engages with the Gospel narrative of Jesus. In this there is the growth of the kingdom and the joy of new disciples, yet not one free of suffering and evil. Indeed, love is to stretch out even to those who are our enemies (Lk. 6:27). Rather than create secure boundaries around ourselves we are empowered by the Spirit to enter into mission narratives inspired by Jesus. Such is the pneumatology of growth at the heart of ecclesiology in the context of austerity.
Identifying with the narrative of Jesus, through the Spirit, is the way of growth embraced by many of the emerging churches. 31 This is not a naive or literalistic approach to the Scriptures that ignores issues of context, but rather an interweaving of our narrative alongside that of Scripture in ways that inspire mission. This is a costly mission for the church, as it was for Jesus. There is no room for a triumphant faith or one that assumes an overly positive anthropology, although Pentecostalism is prone to both these temptations. 32 In the narrative of Jesus the Cross looms high, as he announces his exodus in Lk 9:31. We are led inevitably towards the Cross which lies at the heart of God’s plan of salvation and also our calling to ‘carry the cross’ (Lk 14:27). The way of growth is through a surrender to the cross, allowing our projects, our plans, even our understanding of faith to die in order that God’s resurrection may become real in our lives. One Church of England mission leader went as far as to say that it is this that characterizes the vocation of Anglicanism. 33 Only by the means of the Spirit of love can we journey towards the Cross and know the power of resurrection. This narrative challenges the simplified narratives present within the ‘prosperity gospel’ whilst acknowledging that the gospel makes a positive difference to life. 34
This is the journey of discipleship in which the love of God empowers sacrificial loving mission for others. In this it is clear that we are not talking about love in terms of nice feelings but rather in the context of a disciplined commitment to have lives shaped around Jesus. It is the command to love that brings freedom through discipline, witnessed to by churches such as the Dream Center in Los Angeles. 35 Here, many people who have been involved in gang culture have found freedom through intense and highly regimented programmes of discipleship. Such discipleship leads people to encounter the love of God in ways that enables dreams to become reality. Christians are encouraged to risk dreaming of ways the church can make a difference socially, and to work to enable the dreams of others. There are abundant opportunities to put the desire to love and serve others into action in ways that bring hope to the world. Here is a model of individual growth within a community that makes a difference socially. Of course, the journey also needs to address structural issues and political policies in society that block such a growth in love. We need to look beyond the Dream Center for this.
There are some for whom the call to discipleship is a call to peace-making and justice in dangerous environments. 36 This is seen as the leading of the Spirit of God to individuals and communities to take significant non-violent risks to bring justice and peace. Exemplars of such a leading identify with the narratives of Jesus working with the poor, a liberator who brought freedom to the oppressed. 37 They saw Jesus teaching them to critique and cross boundaries as they love even the enemy. Following such a leading leads to conflict with those who benefit from the poverty of others, challenging all to live an economy of love. Encountering the love of God enables a risky stepping out on behalf of those lose out under the power of others. This calling out also develops the missionary narratives that are still very much a part of the Pentecostal tradition. The Spirit sends ordinary people out in mission and evangelism to other cultures, leading to the planting of churches that grow and become gradually autonomous, eventually seeing local people called out in mission – what Julie and Wonsuk Ma call ‘full circle mission’. 38
An ecclesiology of growth in Jesus-shaped love enables people to engage with Jesus through Scripture and life in order that they may in love take risks in their discipleship that offer healthy witnesses to life in all its fullness.
(3) Church – Loving Connections that Span the World
When times force many to retreat into nationhood and more clearly defined tribal identities, what is needed is the dynamic reality of a world connected church. In discussions about the nature of the church, across all traditions, the Nicene definition of the church as ‘one, holy, catholic and apostolic’ offers a challenge and hope for nationally or tribally limited identities. The church is inherently catholic, one church that spans the world and which is enabled by the apostolic call to mission and unity. Within the missionary tradition that helped shaped Pentecostalism, this is practiced by means of a giving and receiving in love between churches for the sake of mission in the world. Churches are connected across the world, not simply for their own sake but for the sake of the Gospel that needs to be shared. The term ‘partnership’ has been used to describe such ways that churches work together for mission. 39 In mission, churches find their identity being shaped by both local and global factors, and this is a particular characteristic of pentecostalism. 40 In love, the church is enabled to not just look outwards but allow itself to be shaped by the reality of others living in different places. This is a significant reality within the Anglican Communion that historically owes its partnerships to the work of the missionary movement. Of course, this also brings significant tensions as there are very real differences in the church around the world. Yet partnerships urge us to wrestle in love with our differences.
Such an outward openness can be seen in terms of the Pentecostal development of a catholic spirituality rooted in love, as Dale Coulter argues. 41 Whilst Pentecostals have often cut themselves off from wider Christian traditions, which might be judged ‘lifeless’, at the same time their emphasis on the presence of God has opened them up to engage with Christians across the traditional divides. The 40-year dialogue with the Roman Catholic church is perhaps one of the most significant testimonies to this. 42 Experiences of the loving presence of God, particularly in Spirit baptism, were interpreted in early Pentecostalism through the language of ‘bridal union’: the Spirit brings together Christ with his bride, the church. Pentecostals, caught up in the arms of the Beloved, were transformed and sent out with love for all the world. This focus on experience, love, transformation and mission is the heart of a Pentecostal catholic spirituality that connects it with many traditions within the wider church, both present and past. Love drives us out beyond our tribes to connect with others who are different and yet share in the transforming love of Christ. Yet, it must be admitted that Pentecostalism has not always reached beyond its boundaries and has often created new tribes at odds with others. The tendency to schism needs recognizing and yet there is a contemporary retrieval of the narratives that exist within Pentecostalism of overcoming boundaries. These in part seek to provide a way beyond the sinful realities of past and present and point forward in ecclesiology.
This Spirit driven Pentecostal connectiveness crosses boundaries and structures designed to keep people in their separate tribes. This is a great strength, witnessed to in ecumenical engagement and the charismatic transformation of historic denominations. Yet it often goes together with an anti-structural approach to ecclesiology: what is needed is a spiritual rather than a structural union. However, on closer examination, Pentecostal history shows the importance of structures to Pentecostal life and mission. Often, Pentecostals built upon existing church and mission structures even whilst they kept the focus on local congregations that is often presumed in discussions of their ecclesiology. Within some Pentecostal denominations there has been the development of hierarchical and episcopal models. 43 More recently in the UK there have developed ‘apostolic networks’ which represent more organic church structures that can be seen as more appropriate to contemporary culture. 44 These may represent a way between congregationalism and hierarchical models of the church, and I have developed this in the direction of a network ecclesiology. 45 Given the missionary nature of the church rooted in the witness of the churches in Acts, it is reasonable to see the Spirit at work beyond the established boundaries and yet in ways that bring concrete loving connections between old and new churches. More work is needed, but it is possible to see the charismatic and the institutional held together within the mission work of the Spirit. 46
An ecclesiology of loving connections that span the world recognizes the work of the Spirit to push us beyond existing boundaries and identities towards connecting with others who will be transformed and who will transform our identities and tribes.
(4) Church – Whole-Life Mission
When times cause us to think beyond our individual needs, then the church needs to articulate a whole-life approach to its loving mission. In recent years, there has been a greater awareness of the way people, nations, banks and companies are interconnected. Often this comes through the negative impact of one bank or nation struggling or going into excessive debt – witness the tensions in Greece and the financial collapse in the US. 47 The world is now ‘ultra-connected’ and the implications are still being worked out in the political sphere. More personally, we often find our hearts moved by the plight of those affected by these world-sized challenges. Life in all its complex fullness is made real to us as we find ourselves connecting our lives with those of the poor; with the need for justice, peace and healing; with a lost sense of community; with workplaces and networks that span nations; and with governments and NGO’s. The many dimensions of human life in the world today are the context for the churches mission. This is fresh way into the holistic mission that the church has learnt so much about over the past century in particular. 48
It is becoming increasingly recognized that Pentecostalism is driven by a love that is social and holistic as well as evangelistic. Through encounters with their loving God in worship, Pentecostals are empowered to help their neighbours and build communities. Pentecostalism has always had the potential to be an agent of social transformation given its value of all people as made in the image of God, the importance of the gifts of the Spirit being given to all, and the reality of ‘social uplift’ as holiness changes lives. Yet there has grown a more focused approach to holistic life transformation within what has been termed ‘progressive’ pentecostalism. 49 In this we can see a breakdown in the divide between the sacred and the secular – both are transformed together as the Spirit works God’s mission through the church. All of life is rooted in the work of the Spirit and so we should not be surprised at the ultra-connectedness of the world. Pentecostalism shares such a transformational approach with many emerging churches who seek a holistic life-embracing spirituality that transforms the world. 50 One example of a charismatic emerging church is Blood-n-Fire, developed by people dissatisfied with their involvement in a Vineyard church after encounters with God granted them a heart of love for the poor and homeless of Atlanta. 51 Encountering God’s love led to a focus on relationships of love with all people, a spiritual transformation that transformed the secular and began to break down the disconnected way that many churches operate. The apparent focus on worship and individual encounter with God is often the starting point for a holistic outward journey to transform the world in all its messyness. 52
The Church of England has long had a holistic whole-life approach through its Parish-based approach, yet the changing culture represents a challenge to re-connect the practice with the life of the Spirit. This is Pentecostal journey into whole-life mission that is rooted in loving encounters with God by the Spirit. It is a journey with many set-backs, and Blood-n-Fire did run into serious problems in regard to how distant and unequal relationships became which undermined its mission. There is a need to reflect on the finite nature of human love and ability to relate, alongside issues related to structural oppression which often remain the domain of liberation theology. Yet this doesn’t take away from the importance of developing relational, loving approaches to whole-life mission that seek to re-connect what feels to have been disconnected. An ecclesiology of whole-life mission receives love from God and others in ways that transform the interconnected world (secular and religious) in holistic ways.
Conclusion
Many nations are facing challenging times of austerity, with cutbacks being made in government spending. This has naturally led to pressures on churches who find their income and resources reduced. The tendency is to respond practically with plans of how to grow despite reduced finances and clergy numbers. Inevitably some themes in ecclesiology are neglected in such responses and they are not grounded in theological reflection. I have argued that what is needed is the development of positive mission ecclesiologies that engage with such contexts of austerity. Drawing on recent Pentecostal study in the Flame of Love project I have suggested a four-fold pattern for such an ecclesiology. There is a need to understand church in terms of places of loving community, where lives are grown in Jesus-shaped love, connections of love that span the world are developed, and a whole-life holistic approach is taken to mission. This builds on a theology of the Spirit of love who leads individuals and communities into transforming encounters with God and lives lived alongside Jesus that transform the world. Some of the neglected aspects of ecclesiology noted are addressed in this approach, challenging the church to a renewal in the Spirit of love that empowers mission and deeper engagement with the Scriptural narratives. It leaves open questions of liturgy and Eucharist whilst valuing the Spirit without which they become empty forms. Here is an approach to a pneumatology of love that offers to reshape our institutions, rather than letting the institutional pressures of practice to shape our theology. In this, it is notable that buildings come as a secondary consideration and this has implications for the future.
Finally and practically, the suggested ecclesiology requires us to ask: what practices in our church life keep us open to the Spirit of love, encountering Jesus, developing community, being shaped in discipleship, connected with the world and sent out in mission? There are many challenges and yet many opportunities in our current contexts – may we allow God to transform our challenges into mission opportunities.
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
I am grateful for feedback to an earlier version of this article presented at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies.
Funding
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.