Andrew S M Clark

‘Ecclesia at minimum is the gathered body of Christ followers incarnating in culture and committed to the apostolic teaching, prayer, worship, fellowship and the threefold ministry of gospel proclamation (catalytic), care for others (cathartic), and defence of the faith (analytic).’ – Dr Michael T Cooper

I am currently doing a professional doctorate in ministry alongside Dr Cooper, and we are exploring what’s called missiological ecclesiology. In normal English, the mission and nature of the church. Above is one of the working definitions of ‘church’ expressed through the lens of what the church exists to do. With every statement about the church, there’s always much more that can be said, but this statement is an intentional reductionism. He is saying the church is much more, but it can’t be less than this.

Truth is, we complicate the church quite significantly and we make it very difficult to sustain because of that. Jesus never had to navigate making the church fit the criteria for a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation…quite possibly because the body he was gathering was an organic one, not a mechanical one.

The church in Scotland, and in other places, is at a place where it is scrambling to erect the scaffolding on institutional forms that have been crumbling for years. And I’m not even talking about old, costly buildings. I’m talking about the very essence of life and faith, and even doctrine.

My doctorate program is helping me explore questions about how we should think about the shape of church moving forward, particularly in the island context. It is about discerning the essence of what it means to be God’s people for this time and remaining adaptive in our forms of expression.

Here’s what we do: we start with our idea of what church should be, then that shapes what our mission looks like…and both of those dictate what we end up saying about Jesus out there in the world.

Here’s what we perhaps should do: we start with Jesus, knowing him and what he calls us to; then that shapes what we do in the world…and both of these shape the church as it gathers as the body of Christ.

Do you see the difference there? Two completely different starting places which produce dramatically different results.

So, the question: if Jesus walked on Arran for a season and called together disciples to learn from him, grow in him, and take his mission to the world, what would it look like? Would it look like what we are currently doing? If not, why do we still do it that way?

Our biggest challenge in the 21st century is the challenge of creative imagination to be church that is a movement of people, as salt and light, amidst the darkness of the world. How can we respark our imaginations and our discussions around this?

Well, my studies aren’t designed to be preoccupied with lofty and irrelevant ideas, but practical reflection and action on how we can work together to make a real difference in our call from God. I believe a Jesus-shaped mission will lead to a beautiful Jesus-shaped church that will witness so powerfully for him in such a close-knit community as ours. The day of the institution is over. It’s time for the beautiful body of Christ to arise.

Do I get even half an ‘amen’?