Stephenson Missiology

In this essay I will start by looking at the culture of the UK in the first quarter of the twenty first century and why consumerism is one of its most defining features. I will look in particular at the similarities and differences between this national picture and the culture of semi-rural North Wiltshire. Next, I will look at the nature of discipleship and how that conflicts with the 'it-must-fit-me' culture in important ways. This will provide the backdrop for a critical evaluation of the recent push for 'fresh expressions' of church to better address this culture. Finally I will look at what this has to say in my current context of Corsham and what initiatives I may take based on these insights.

Data consistently shows that the number of people self-declaring themselves Christian is dropping and shows no sign even of bottoming out. The British Social Attitudes survey in 2018 compared answers since its inception in 1983. In this period Christians declined from 66% to 38% with most of the change taken up by No religion (from 31% to 52%). ^[1] Census data shows similar trends with Christian and No religion reporting 46.2% and 37.2% in 2021 compared to 59.3% and 25.2% in 2011 and 72% and 6.4% in 2001 respectively. ^{[2] [3]}

Given such precipitous falls in church attendance within the UK there has understandably been an amount of navel gazing. Michael Moynagh is quick to conclude the issue is internal: 'Many clergy and lay people know that today’s church is not working, it is not connecting with people anymore.' ^[4] This is a natural human reaction from those who have devoted large chunks of their lives to the 'success' of the church. The authors of 'Fresh!' quote George Lings' analogy of contemporary Britain to the Exile as one that resonates for many. ^[5] This is a perspective I have heard more than once in my own context of North Wiltshire and often concludes that we should prepare ourselves for imminent persecution every bit as extreme as the people of Israel in Babylon.

I see three problems with these arguments. First, they extrapolate from a partial analysis. As the authors of 'Fresh!' continue, church has not suddenly become flawed or sinful, it has always been made up of sinful humans. As recently as Victorian England, church has been much larger and more influential but nonetheless often entangled in power politics, exploitation of the poor and racism. ^[6] In addition to any shortcomings of the church, there are strong external factors driving the current trend that simply weren’t there in previous eras including: materialism/ consumerism, powerful elites with a collective unbelief and a wider culture that is largely hedonistic. ^[7]

Secondly, the stance of the church is a choice to which we all contribute. We can be inward-looking, concentrating on protecting our identity and increasingly fearful, adopting a defensive posture. Or we can be bold, engaged and outward-bound, drawing confidence from Christ’s victory that we proclaim as already won. This is the same debate that Augustine engaged with the Donatists, arguing that church has a vital and transformative role to fulfil in wider society not merely to provide refuge for believers that are in Peter Brown’s memorable phrase, ‘immobilized by anxiety to preserve its identity’. ^[8] Not for the first time, I am encouraged that similar challenges have ben faced, and faced down, by the church through history.

But most importantly, this self-critical outlook espoused by Moynagh surely contains a limited view of God. One might argue, 'If this is the best He can do, no wonder few are convinced!' But that is to incorrectly conflate the mission of the church with the mission of God. In the much cited words of David Bosch 'mission is not primarily an activity of the church, but an attribute of God. God is a missionary God.' ^[9] Similarly, John Stott, has observed that 'he is a missionary God before we ever are a missionary church'. ^[10] The Bible provides us the definition of missio Dei starting with creation by a loving Father, drawing near to humanity in the incarnate Son and convinced, enabled and sustained through the Holy Spirit until the establishment of the Kingdom prophesied in Revelation. We are graciously allowed to participate in His own mission of seeking and saving the lost, but he’s not leaving it to this motley crew of sinners alone.

Moynagh concludes that if the problem is a mismatch between the church we have and a changed society then the solution is a changed church. If 'Amazon-ification', offering near limitless choice tailored to our precise desires and delivered ever faster is an accurate description of our consumerism, then surely church too must respond to this 'it-must-fit-me' pattern? Certainly, Mark Dever and Jamie Dunlop strongly disagree. Their thesis in 'The Compelling Community' is that only the supernatural power of God will build the church in a sustainable way. Seeking to do otherwise is not only a recipe for burning out our people but also a disservice to those attracted by such ministries since they embed a consumer view towards church. If a group that previously met my needs ceases to do so I should seek out a new one as 'it-must-suit-me' becomes 'whats-in-it-for-me'. Dever, summarising the Great Commission of Matthew 28, defines church as evangelism plus discipleship and opines that both are blunted if the community is not evidently supernatural. ^[11] When we are tempted by the lies of the world it is the Christian community that 'makes faith plausible' for us. ^[12]

Personally, I think Dever makes some good points but I also think he tips over into that defensiveness that Augustine rejected when arguing that the 'unregenerate' should not be part of the community and that the only thing that is possible ahead of such regeneration is to preach the gospel. ^[13] It seems to me that this is to throw up one’s hands and leave all to God. However, what this thinking does highlight is that at some point going out to all nations must transition to disciple-making and baptising, to paraphrase Matthew 28.

Moynagh tacitly acknowledges that some have doubted whether 'fresh expressions' are even church at all or, at the least, that they should be a stepping stone to 'proper' church. ^[14] Brian Sanders in his 'Microchurches' defines the essential characteristics of these small, grass-roots, churches as worshipping communities loving one another and joining in mission. ^[15] Similarly, 'From anecdote to evidence' defines the essential characteristics of church as Missional, Contextual, Educational and Ecclesial and expressly excludes being merely a bridge. ^[16] Whilst I am satisfied that new forms are church for the reasons outlined, we should nonetheless expect them to show, in growing abundance, the evidence of discipleship.

To identify what that discipleship looks like lets consider how Jesus discipled his own team. The very essence of discipleship is to respond, obediently, to the demand to 'Follow me' (Mark 1:17-18, 2:14), not 'when you’re done with the nets' or 'once you’re confident your pension pot is full' but immediately. In Luke 14:26-27 Jesus goes further. Perhaps he is being deliberately provocative in demanding that disciples must hate their parents and even themselves to follow him but certaily he wants them to be in no doubt about the costliness of being a disciple. Some would quite literally be called upon to pick up their crosses as the price of discipleship. And in addition to obedience to the instruction of the Great Commission to proclaim the Good News Andrew Roberts points out in Fresh! the infectious, bubbling over excitement that simply has to tell others as exhibited by Andrew and Philip in John 1:41, 43-46. ^[17] So we should expect of ourselves and our fellow disciples increasing amounts of these three: obedience, self-sacrifice and proclaiming the good news.

It is clear by now that there is a chasm between our societal expectations of immediate gratification of our every whim and the demands of discipleship. No wonder there are headwinds!

If we are to bridge this chasm, it seems to me that we must model and encourage discipleship rather than using it as a gatekeeper to exclude what we deem to be insufficiently orthodox. Citing Michael Langrish’s 'fuzzy-edges' to Christian community and discipleship, Fresh! identifies a shift from 'believe, belong, behave to belong, behave, believe'. ^[18] There are two distinct points encapsulated in this terse expression: First, as our material needs are ever more lavishly met, there is nonetheless an emotional and spiritual need that is often unmet. This 'it-must-fit-me' attitude is immune to being told what to do but may be won over by sincere and mutual relationship, by being part of something. In his survey of fresh expression churches Roberts states this desire for relationship comes through time and again. ^[19] Piggybacking on the vogues for mentoring and life coaches he proposes that a 'discipleship coach' that pairs a more mature Christian with a less experienced or not-yet Christian may offer an attractive model. ^[20] For me, this exemplifies being 'wise as serpents and innocent as doves' (Matthew 10:16)--doing what it takes to win disciples. However, as noted above in the advice of Dever and Dunlop, this reordering of belief and belonging is not without critics.

Second, discipling cannot simply be mutual support. Care and service are dimensions of these discipling communities, but having created a trusting and safe environment we must have the boldness to challenge people to commit themselves to Christ. And then to continue in cooperation with the Spirit in sanctification. Here I will agree with Dever and Dunlop in their caution against what they term 'gospel-plus' ministries (gospel plus food bank, gospel plus toddler group, gospel plus cafe). These, they argue, all too easily become a secular work focusing on the 'plus' to the exclusion of the gospel. ^[21]

Before leaving discipleship I feel we must address what McGavaran coined as the Homogeneous Unit Principle. This simply argues that change is hard for people and changing to the culture of being a Christian is enough change to deal with at a single time. Change to the group in other dimensions such as race, age, social or work identity as well throws an additional, and unnecessary, obstacle in the way of the potential disciple. As Cray observes this homogeneity is a common and frequently controversial aspect of 'fresh expressions', though not always by intention as McGavaran advocates for. ^[22] Once again Dever and Dunlop take the more traditional line, arguing that we should expect diversity in our churches since they are supernatural communities not social clubs. Whilst I am inclined, as I have said, to pragmatism in service of building up the Kingdom I feel compelled to observe that homogeneity does robs church of much richness that comes from diversity. For example, I have personally enjoyed the opportunity to make inter-generational friends and to see my children nurtured by other adults and in turn able to care for those younger than them.

As identified in the church audit, Corsham and its surrounding villages are relatively affluent compared to national or even diocesan average. However, it is also a very mixed community, so these numbers mask significant pockets of deprivation. This is borne out by the consistent and growing use of the food bank over the last decade as well the uptake of the Souper Friday community cafe initiated in mid-2019.

The other thing that I find striking in the audit is that in the 2021 Census recorded 52% of the respondants identified themselves as Christian. And relative to other areas there are only a tiny number of followers of other faiths. Not only is this slightly more than the national average, it is dramatically more than one sees in all the local churches combined, even at the Christmas peak. As Cray states in Mission Shaped Church, most current evangelistic strategies and church members have most impact among the de-churched suggesting there may be a fruitful mission ground here. ^[23]

A recently introduced Christianity Explored course, running alongside Souper Friday has found some adherents. One lady, with long inactive associations with both Anglican and Catholic churches has even told me she is planning to be baptised shortly. This type of initiative, addressing both the deprivation and de-churched insights above seems to me to be on the right track.

As mentioned in the audit, very recently our church Elders have proposed a review of the three Sunday congregations, possibly beginning a new, reinvigorated 'plant' seeded from the other congregations. In contrast to the observation in Mission Shaped Church that buildings are plentiful in the Anglican church, it has been our experience that the absence of a suitable building has loomed large over the church plant in Rudloe. There is no church or even community building in Rudloe other than the small Ministry of Defence owned cafe already used by the plant. It would be my personal wish to collaborate with one of the under-utilised churches nearby, (though, unfortunately, there is not one in Rudloe). However, we must be note too that Cray states these inter-denominational efforts, whilst aligning well to de-churched mission field, pose even more challenges to the denominational leaders than other kinds of planting. For now, we have begun to meet to pray, discuss and discern ideas.

Every church emphasises different aspects of mission and so to ensure a complete evaluation I will comment on each of the 'Five Marks' in turn.

There is much to celebrate in CBC, especially its strengths in protecting and defending the faith and the faithful. When it comes to reaching out to our context there may still be much to learn.

In a piece of late-breaking news, since I began preparing this audit, the Elders have proposed a review of the three Sunday congregations, possibly beginning a new, reinvigorated 'plant' seeded from the other congregations.