Barnabas File

In a conversation with a church leader prior to the pandemic, we discussed the various activities of his church and how they might lead individuals to become more committed disciples of Christ.     My friend is very concerned about taking people deeper into the faith, helping them to connect with God on a daily basis and transforming their lives.     Unfortunately, we found that many of the things that his church offered were attracting day campers rather than pilgrims.    This is true of many churches today.   During the latter part of the last century, many churches fell in love with church growth methodologies.  The church growth movement adopted the organizational and marketing ideas used by businesses in post-World War II America.  These included designing events based on the demographics of your community, providing comfortable meeting facilities, making certain that everything the church offered was polished, and evaluating c...

Hardly a week goes by without another poll dealing with the decline and marginalization of the church.   One might become easily discouraged by such reports, but I believe that one antidote is to develop a new way of looking at the life and work of the church.   This comes through the understanding and implementation of a missional ecclesiology. In theological circles, ecclesiology is the study of the doctrine of the church.  There have been a number of ways of interpreting the nature of the church informed by the Bible, history, context and practice.  Ecclesiology is an evolving doctrine. The term “missional” refers to the essential nature and vocation of the church as God’s called and sent people.  Missional is a way of being and doing life as individuals, groups, and congregations. Living missionally means that we ask the question, “What does God want us to be, do, and become to continue the ministry of Christ within our own community and globa...