Mission, Renewal, and the Future of the Church

Radical Mission in a Post-9/11 World: Creative Dissonances

“…There God spoke to him, but not in a tornado that split mountains or in an earthquake or fire, but in "a sound of sheer silence" (NRSV), or "a gentle whisper" (NIV). In the calm after the storm Elijah received both the summons and priorities for his mission (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18).…”

“…He writes, "Renewal will not come by way of incremental revisions of structures and liturgies inherited from the past." 3 Lyle Schaller, a noted North American church consultant, concurs. In Twentyone Bridges to the Twenty-first Century, Schaller contrasts the relatively modest degree of change of a century ago with the increasingly sudden and discontinuous changes that the church now faces in the new millennium.…”

The Centenary of Edinburgh 1910: Its Possibilities

“…Wilbert Shenk declares that "renewal will not come by way of incremental revisions of structures and liturgies inherited from the past." 13 Common to different schools of thought is an acknowledgment that the old wineskins are no longer holding the new wine of the Gospel and that new wineskins are required.…”