an emerging missional church

jared brandes is an emerging missionalist.

a while ago that was my facebook status & since then it has provoked some feedback from friends wishing to know more. so in this post i hope to better explain what i meant in that status. but before explaining my personal stance with emergance & mission let me give definition to those who may need it. 

emergence* -  "The principle of emergence was developed to explain the ways organizations (churches) develops and adapts in differing environments. Contrary to popular notions that they develop through some top-down, pre-determined, well planned strategy, emergence theory shows that complex systems develop from the bottom up. Relatively simple clusters of cells, or groups of individuals, who individually don't know how to address a complex challenge, when they come together will form, out of relatively simple interactions, an organizational culture of a higher complexity that can address these challenges. In other words, the answers to the challenges faced by organisms and organizations (churches) in changing environments tend to emerge from the bottom up rather than get planned beforehand from the top down. This is why we describe missional leadership as the cultivation of environment within which the missional imagination of the people of God might emerge."

missional* - "A favorite term I use to describe a certain type or mode of church, leadership, Christianity, etc. For example, a missional church is one whose primary commitment is to the missionary calling of the people of God. Missional leadership is that form of leadership that emphasizes the primary of the missionary calling of the people of God's people, etc."

in chapter 2* of Hirsch's book he discusses the different modes of 'church' that Christendom has evolved into through three different eras. he explores the apostolic and post-apostolic mode, the christendom mode & the emerging missional mode. each having its own distinct period of time with varying degrees of influence. he uses six distinct categories in his exploration. 1) gathering style, 2) leadership ethos, 3) organizational structure, 4) sacramental mode or means of grace, 5) position in society and 6) missional mode. for example the apostolic mode (AD 32 - 313) was clearly influenced by Christ himself, they did not have specific buildings and were often "underground" because of persecution. their organizational structure was cell driven & decentralized. the apostolic mode of church operated on the fringes of society. 

later the development of the christendom mode (313 - current) of church was influenced from the top by none other than Constantine himself. the christendom mode of church changed in many ways. the church moved from not have a sacral building to having a specific place of worship as central to the experience of church. the leadership was institutionally ordained clergy, thus giving the christendom mode an operating style of pastor-teacher. sacraments were now restricted to the institution & because of Constantine declaring Christianity the official religion of the state it moved into the center of society and surrounding culture. the other major shift within the chirstendom mode was that the church moved from sending out missions to attractional missions. 

lastly Hirsch presents the emerging missional mode (past 10 years), this mode rejects the need for dedicated church buildings. its leadership ethos reverts back to the apostolic and post-apostolic mode, being very decentralized. the practice of sacraments moves completely away from the christendom mode in which sacraments could only be experienced in church. the emerging missional mode opts for a meal version of sacramentalization. also its place in society is once again on the fringes and is not central to culture. this mode also reverts back to the practice of sending out rather than attraction. 

for many months i have been expressing to family and friends that the way we are "doing" church is no longer the most effective way. please do not read this to mean that i don't think any of the previous modes have been ineffective. many christians today have come to know Christ in a very real way through the very familiar chirstendom mode of church. i would also argue that both the apostolic and christendom mode has been the best way of "doing" church thus far. it also must be known that i have a deep love for The Bride. i do not wish to condemn Christ's mate, i only wish to challenge her and her leaders to a higher standard. we can do better! 

since first starting Alan Hirsch's book i have been deeply excited to very depths of my soul. Hirsch has been able to articulate what i've been feeling & thinking for a long time. admittedly i am only part of the way through the second chapter of his book. but it seems to me that his emerging missional mode of church is the direction in which we as christians need to be heading. people often comment that the biblical way of church was the best but because of the way cultural & society has developed its no longer possible. i disagree. we can accomplish the biblical mode of church, with some adaptations. i believe these adaptations can be found in what Hirsch is calling the emerging missional mode. in my opinion we must as the body of Christ head in this direction. 

in the words of Hirsch "...the truly liberating thing to realize is that Christendom was not the original mode of the church, and hopefully it will not be the final one. It is high time for us to dethrone Constantine; as far as matters of church go, it seems he is still emperor of our imaginations. The church now faces the challenge of discovering mission in a new paradigm while struggling to free itself from the christendom mindset. Or in the words the ever insightful Loren Mead, "We are surrounded by the relics of the Christendom Paradigm, a paradigm that has largely ceased to work. These relics hold us hostage to the past and make it difficult to create a new paradigm that can be as compelling for the next age as the Christendom Paradigm has been for the past age."

so to conclude i feel i must state that my facebook status was incorrect. i myself am not an emerging missionalist but more of a subscriber to this way of doing church.

so, what do you think? 

are we as the church still operating in the chirstendom mode? 

do we in fact need to shift to a emerging missional mode? 

* definitions taken from "The Forgotten Ways - Alan Hirsch" pages 279-280 & 284, emphasis added.
* information on era specific church modes taken from "The Forgotten Ways - Alan Hirsch" pgs 64-66