Theology: Missional Communities

Missional theology is a constellation of ideas that come together in a comprehensive conversation about God, the church, and what God has sent the church into the world to be and do. Mission is understood, first and foremost, as being rooted in the identity and nature of God. If God is at work bringing about the mission it may be in ways that the church is unaware of, and which are located outside the church’s activity. What does this commitment to a missional God mean for congregations, existing and emerging, what kind of spirituality is needed in leading congregations, in preaching, caring and praying? The question ‘what is the mission of God’ is studied empirically from the perspective of existing and new ecclesial practices that in one way or another seek to correspond with this mission.In this track we expand the bandwidth of how we think congregations can express themselves in todays highly diverse cultural contexts. On the one hand, it is about the missionary and diaconal practices of the congregational church expression. We observe that the Spirit of God creates community, can be lived out in community and reaches out to people outside this community. On the other hand, it is about new emerging distinct Christian practices (like church planting, fresh expressions, emerging churches, urban mission) in hitherto unexpected cultural contexts.