This little blog has been a bit neglected again! The last year I’ve been getting settled into two new ministries here on the Isle of Arran, where I’m pastor of Arran Baptist Church and Centre/Ministry Team Leader at Sannox Christian Centre. Lots of new things to figure out, rhythms to create, community to get to know, and all that sort of stuff, as well as just settling in. We’ve been here almost a year, and so life is taking shape.
I’m back to the blog because one of the new opportunities I have is to participate in some doctoral studies. I have begun a Doctor of Ministry programme – a professional doctorate – focused on building, maintaining and growing missional movements. The main partners with the seminary in the US (Kairos University) are the Movement Leaders Collective headed up by Rich Robinson from here in Scotland, and Alan Hirsch, who just happens to be the missiologist who has most inspired my thinking since his book ‘The Forgotten Ways‘ was written in 2006 and updated with a second edition in 2016. The other partner is Dr Michael T Cooper, who leads up a ministry called Ephesiology and has studied the Ephesian movement extensively, as well as Neo-Druidism as a contemporary religious movement (also an interest of mine in relation to the interaction of the Celtic saints with ancient paganism and the relationship between Celtic Spirituality and Neo-druidism). Dr Cooper will be my faculty supervisor.
The outcome of the project is a paper I will write in combination with a practical piece of field research that will be worked out in my context. The aim is that I will learn and reflect in new ways in my current ministry and context, but also do so asking movemental questions. Broadly, I am exploring what missional discipleship looks like and how it can be activated to create a movement. Now, I don’t for a minute expect I will reap any such harvest in exploring this, but perhaps there’s some things I can do to prepare the ground maybe for several generations hence.
One of my other interests is revival history, and exploring the conditions that were conducive to revivals in history. In a sense, several historic revivals also sparked movements. Think the Pentecostals, the Methodists, the Salvationists, the Moravians, etc…all had revival conditions with key common factors surrounding beliefs, behaviour and what it meant to ‘belong’, all had a strong commitment to the centrality of Christ and the call to make disciples. These, I firmly believe, are the roots of the renewal of the church.
Any ‘restructuring of ecclesiastical chairs’ is just that…you might as well do it on the Titanic. It isn’t going to do that much. I speak with just 23 years in full time Christian ministry. It is going to need something significant to transform the church to become fully fit for mission (to borrow a phrase). I believe the changes needed are more fundamental than that.
Hirsch, in Forgotten Ways, identifies across a number of Jesus movements 6 key elements that make up what he calls missionalDNA – things that can be found in the New Testament, in the early church, much of church history, the Chinese underground church, etc etc that are key to seeing exponential growth. The first two of those I think are particularly significant and where everyone needs to start to lay again the foundations, and I think the other elements of his mDNA flow out of these.
Firstly – the church needs to possess in fulness the convictions, beliefs and practices that come out of the statement, ‘Jesus is Lord.’ He is the absolute key to the health and faithfulness of the church. I don’t think success is ever guaranteed, but life and health flow from Jesus and our submission to His lordship.
Secondly, the only fitting response to the Lordship of Jesus is to BE a disciple – one wholly devoted to living out the Jesus-shaped life and, in turn, to make disciples and take seriously the call to do that. If we are learning to do that effectively, we’re one the verge of change.
I feel that call again so keenly. Why? Because I’m back on my home turf. These people around me are MY people. My family and friends are among them. I walk amongst people who share my tongue, my history, my geography, and many on this island even share my genes! My passion for Scotland has never wavered, but its on new levels here in this place.
So, I’m resurrection my blog as a place for me to log, not my ‘academic’ stuff, but some reflections on what I’m thinking about along the way. I learn better by writing stuff down! There’s no point in doing this study if it benefits only me and the few folks I work with. So, if you fancy coming along for the ride…welcome along.
Andrew S M Clark 