Church for Every Context. Michael Moynagh

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      Although theologians have brought the relationship between church and kingdom more sharply into focus since World War Two, the assumption that mission was mainly about church left a legacy. Many Christians today still define the world in church categories, distinguishing – in Hoekendijk’s words – ‘not-yet-church, already-church, still-church and no-longer church’ (1952, p. 324). They see mission primarily in terms of evangelism, of working with God to draw people into his family. The church follows the Spirit into the world to rescue it from sin and bring people into the kingdom. Individuals enter the kingdom when they are born again and become members of the church. Church and kingdom are virtually collapsed into one.

      On this view, through the Spirit the church imperfectly embodies the kingdom in its life, not least by explicitly acknowledging the Lord’s reign. In some perspectives the kingdom is spiritualized – by entering the church you enter a spiritual kingdom. But increasingly the kingdom is seen in physical terms, as God’s rescue of the whole of creation. The church then becomes God’s agent and foretaste of a holistic kingdom. It joins the Spirit in pushing back forces that threaten creation’s well-being, and conversion includes being converted to this task. The underlying assumption, however, remains the same: the church is the gateway to and the vehicle of the kingdom.

      Is this the perspective of Mission-shaped Church (2004), which kick-started fresh expressions of church in the UK? John Hull lambasts the report for leaning too heavily in this direction. The lineage of church planting, in which mission was closely identified with church extension, encouraged the working party to become too church centred in its theology. ‘We looked for a mission-shaped church but what we found was a church-shaped mission’ (Hull, 2006