By Rev. Canon Lisa G. Vaughn
Clearly, Christian life and ministry is in the midst of monumental change in 2023. Grappling with this paradigm shift requires clarity and a return to our faith basics. Beyond asking ourselves the critical questions of who we are and what is our purpose as church, it is wise to consider some of our vocabulary, definitions and even do a little ‘math.’
A LANGUAGE LESSON
Let us start with the word, church. This term conjures a mixed bag of meanings and assumptions. For many outside (and sometimes inside) our congregations, church means the building (a place we go to), a highly bureaucratic institution, an ordered ritual (a service) for a congregation, an organization of strict hierarchy and rigid rules. Others understand it more and simply as a people united in the Christian walk.
The modern English word church has roots from Greek, Middle English and German languages, meaning ‘Lord’s house’. This word depicts a place of prayer and worship. Thus the term church really is about location. However, we note that it was not until about 300 AD when Christian communities started constructing buildings for their worship. Prior to that, faith gatherings were in private homes or other communal spaces.
Taking a brief look at the etymology (the study of the origins of words), we can see how our framework of understanding for church is askew. In fact, that term, although translated into English in our Bible as church, is actually the Greek word, ekklesía. It refers to an assembly, or literally a ‘people summoned forth’ or ‘called out’ (similar to Apostolic). Originally it referred to a group of citizens who assembled for political or secular purposes.
Jesus and the First Century scripture writers adopt that term, but instead apply it to Christian gatherings. In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus uses the word ekklesia twice (Matthew 16:18 and 18:17), while The Book of Acts and Paul’s letters regularly refer to these local faith communities in this way. Other Epistles, like Ephesians and Colossians use the term more generally as the Body of Christ.
Somehow this initial New Testament scriptural reference to ekklesia, ‘ones called out’, got mistranslated or confused with this later location word, church – a stationary place. Contrastingly, ekklesia is a group of people on the move. Christianity is a movement. Movements move! (How did we get so stuck?)
We note that in the early days of our organizational beginnings, Christians were first called, People of the Way. These New Testament references clearly indicate a reference to a congregation, an assembled group of Christ-followers who are mobile, adaptive and responding to the Spirit’s leading. What else could explain the rapid expansion of Christianity from a mere handful of ragtag disciples in Palestine, to peoples all over the world?
This echoes what The Episcopal Church’s Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry frequently refers to our identity and purpose as living into The Way of Love.
THE M-WORD: a few definitions of the term
- MISSION is… the outworking of the knowledge of God (spirituality) in and throughout the life of a faith community (church) so as to join in with the purposes of God (kingdom) in giving loving attention to the needs of the world around us (mission), drawing people to the fire of God’s love (evangelism) so that they may share with us in God’s life-giving mission to all creation. – Robert Warren
- MISSION is… the good news of God’s love, incarnated in the witness of a community, for the sake of the world. To participate in mission is to participate in the movement of God’s love towards people, since God is a fountain of sending love. – David Bosch
- The MISSION of God’s people is to alert everyone to the universal reign of God through Christ. It means proclaiming the reconciliation, justice, beauty, and wholeness that flows out of His reign. – Michael Frost
SOME NEW (OR OLD) MATH
Respected scholar, theologian and former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams described church as, “What happens when people encounter the Risen Jesus and commit themselves to sustaining and deepening that encounter in their encounter with each other.”
Church of England priest and missioner, Robert Warren marvels at Williams’ statement. He says, “What is surprising about that definition is what it leaves out. There is no mention here of Word, sacrament, priest, building, public worship and much else besides. But it is a mental model that gets back to the heart of what church is all about. In times of change that is vital for us to do.”
So, adding to our lesson in language, here is a teaching in math of sorts:
Warren, author of The Healthy Churches’ Handbook: a process for revitalizing your church, argues that we need to recalculate our typical understanding of:
Church = Building + Priest + Sunday Services
This framework tends to be about ‘keeping church going.’
A more accurate formulation of our understanding of Church, suggests Warren, is returning to the origin of ekklesia:
Church = Community + Faith + Action
Warren says, “Church is essentially a community of people drawn together by faith and encounter with Jesus Christ as Lord which leads them to take action in the whole of life, living by a different set of values from what would otherwise have been the case.”
To be clear, I am not saying we have to abandon buildings, priests and public worship. Rather, we are called to harness and steward these valuable resources to become engaging faith community. They are a means to our ministry work, not our primary and essential work.
So, as ekklessia, ‘ones called out’, we carefully consider ourselves in this fresh light. We are not just a gathered community, but also just as importantly, we are a scattered community. A people on the go, living out this movement, the Way of Love.
MORE WORD STUDY
Connected to ekklesia, is the word mission. For the last several years in our Diocese we have been reclaiming and embracing this term. We are extricating ourselves from the sad and truly regretful connotation with our Colonial past. Returning to its entomology, mission, from Latin, actually means sent.
From the beginning of Creation, God is a sending or missionary God. In fact, the very nature of the Trinity is of being sent and sending. The Spirit, the Word, the prophets, Christ himself and his followers, are all sent.
As stated in Mission-Shaped Church, the ground breaking 2004 report of the Church of England, “God is a missionary. We would not know God if the Father had not sent the Son in the power of the Spirit.” (p. 85)
In being the loving Creator, Redeemer, Restorer and Reconciler, God’s relational nature is that of sending, the missio dei (the mission of God).
“The Church is both the fruit of God’s mission – those whom he has redeemed, and the agent of his mission – the community through whom he acts for the world’s redemption,” the report continues. “It is therefore of the essence (the DNA) of the Church to be a missionary community.”
As author Tim Dearborn states succinctly, “It is not the church of God that has a mission in the world, but the God of mission who has a church in the world.”
So, let us reframe and reinterpret this understanding of our congregational life and ministry to one of outward orientation, and one that is nimble, responsive and moving!
REFLECTION EXERCISE:
- Explain how you define church?
- Has that understanding shifted over time? If so, how?
- What does it look like for us to actively adhere to Jesus’ commandment in John 20:21?
- Why do you think a God of mission has given us the Church? (See Acts 2:43-47)
- Where can you see the God of mission already at work in your own context?
- In what ways does is your congregation need to catch up with what God is doing?
Rev’d. Canon Lisa G. Vaughn is the Diocesan Parish Vitality Coordinator. For additional articles, inspiration and insights on congregational vitality and mission see the Facebook page “Parish Vitality Coordinator – Diocese of NS & PEI”, and the Anglican Net News, “Six-Minute Study.”
