[amc] Fw: Regarding the term "missional"
- From: "Ray Gingerich" <RGingerich@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Austin Mennonite Church" <amc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2004 10:59:04 -0600
Friends,
I found this post to MennoLink very helpful. On the other hand, I still
doubt that I will be using the term any time soon.
Ray
----- Original Message -----
From: "Leo Hartshorn, Lancaster, PA"
<Leo.Hartshorn.guest.540717@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <menno.org.peace.d@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <menno.talk.issues@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2004 10:04 AM
Subject: Re: Regarding the term "missional"
> Friends,
>
> I have been interested in the discussion on "Is Peace Missional?" and the
> whether "missional" is another buzz word in Mennonite Church USA or a
> technical term that the constituency does not quite understand. Part of my
> work as minister of peace and justice with the Mennonite Mission Network
is
> to work at integrating peace and mission, as well as to train
congregations
> and conferences in becoming more "missional." So, I thought I should enter
> the conversation on this topic.
>
> I would have to say that "missional" is something of a technical term in
> that it points to a paradigm shift in the concept of mission. Thus, it
grows
> out of the field of missiology, but also the practice of mission. The
> concept of a "missional church" emerges out of an understanding that the
> Western Christianity finds itself in a new cultural context that calls for
> the church to address a changing world (e.g. postmodernism, secularism,
> Western Christian hegemony, etc.). While acknowledging the complexity of
> past mission understanding and practice, generally speaking, mission was
> centered in mission agencies, tended to be understood as the church's work
> in foreign lands, the work of older established churches, usually Western,
> with dependent churches (indigenous), was most often tied to imperialism,
> colonialism, paternalism, and involved an imposition of Western culture,
> which assumed a Christendom concept of the church (i.e. alignment of
church
> and state, Christianity and culture) and Western Christianity as
normative.
> Again, speaking in generalities, mission was practiced by missionaries and
> was more of a "one-way street" from "us" to "them."
>
> The concept f the "missional church" seeks to communicate and activate a
new
> understanding and practice of mission within a changing world. In this
newer
> understanding mission is centered in a sending God, rather than the
church,
> a method of evengelism, or particular culture. Missional points to the
> Spirit's movement within the church and world toward the reign of God.
> Mission is the essence of the church and permates all it is and does
> (including its work of peace and justice), and not an isolated part of its
> life. Mission is practiced by all Christians (a New Testament and an
> Anabaptist notion). Mission is local as well as global, particularly in
> light of an understanding that North America is becoming a
> "post-Christendom," secular society, a "mission field" for the gospel as
> much as any foreign "non-Christian" country. Local congregations become
> "missionary outposts." Mission becomes a "two-way street," by which God
may
> transform everyone in the relationship.
>
> So, "missional" is more than a buzz word or new name for what we have done
> in mission all along. But, it is somewhat technical in that it points to a
> complex reality, understanding and practice of mission. I believe that
peace
> and justice are integral to the "missional church" and that there is an
> ongoing need for critical social analysis of the "missional church"
concept
> and practice that keeps in mind the same issues that were problematic in
> older models of missions, such as Western hegemony, power and privilege,
> racism, paternalism, apolitical understandings of the gospel, etc. (issues
> of peace and justice), which are embedded in our systems, including the
> church and mission institutions.
>
> Maybe someone else can explain "missional" in less technical terms without
> making it simplistic. But, being "missional" has to do with aligning
> ourselves with God's movement and activity within the contexts to which we
> have all been "sent."
>
>
> Peace,
>
> Leo Hartshorn
> Minister of Peace and Justice
> Missional Church Development
> Mennonite Mission Network
> 202 South Ann Street
> Lancaster, PA 17602
> office-717-399-8353
> cell- 717-471-7476
> guest.540717@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> guest.126127@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> Check out our Peace and Justice Support Network web site:
> http://peace.mennolink.org
>
> The history of Christian missions is filled with variations on the theme
of
> the imposition of Eurocentric-Caucasian cultural assumptions upon
> communities with completely different histories and presuppositions about
> existence...A missional church is not only a church with a gospel to
> proclaim...it is also a church that tries to understand and conduct itself
> according to that gospel. That is why the discussion of...mission and
ethic
> should never be separated. Douglas John Hall
-------
Austin Mennonite Church, (512) 926-3121 www.mennochurch.org
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