Proposal Time

It's time to hand in a proposal to the Bishop for the Church plant. Just trying to make sure we get the building blocks right and in language that is helpful. We've identified three key elements, a worshipping community, discipleship training and mission through networks. Now just got to unpack those in to C of E language. I'm enjoying pulling some of my favourite quotes like this one from David Bosch;

Mission refers to a permanent and intrinsic dimension of the church’s life. The church “is missionary by its very nature,”..and it is impossible to talk about the church without at the same time talking about mission. Because God is a missionary God, God’s people are missionary people. The church’s mission is not secondary to its being; the church exists in being sent and in building up itself for mission..this means that ecclesiology does not precede missiology; there cannot be church without an intrinsic missionary dimension…Unless the church of the West begins to understand this, and we develop a missionary theology, not just a theology of mission, we will not achieve more than merely patch up the church. We are in need of a missiological agenda for theology, not just a theological agenda for mission; for theology, rightly understood, has no reason to exist other than critically to accompany the missio Dei.