Ecclesiology Wrap: September 5 through September 11

– 2009/09/12Posted in: Links

Decisions and Status Going off the Map: Mark Carey shares the beginning of the journey that St Mary’s Harrogate (the About page is well worth a read) is taking to “go off the map” and plant Mission Shaped Communities as part of the Church of England. Follow the story and carry them to our Father in prayer.
Church Life – A New Series: Alan Knox has started an important blog series to “help explain how we live life as the church… how we share our lives with one another.” I know I’ll be mining it for wisdom, as I am part of an in-the-birthing-process community in need of models. Check out the first narrative: Church Life #1.
It’s Not About You: Jonathan Brink interacts with a statement made by Reggie McNeal during The Nines: “we are not the point.” This is an important discussion, for if we swing to either end of the spectrum, either it’s not about us at all or it’s all about us, we have surely missed the point of Scripture and God’s Kingdom. Reggie McNeal joined the discussion, clarifying his comment and placing it in a kingdom context.
In the Church, “New” is not Improved: Eric Carpenter discusses how “This desire for the next new thing has also infected the western church” and offers a solution we’ve had all along: the biblical description of the church. Eric focuses on the historical description in the book of Acts, while, in the comments, I give a nod to the NT images of the church in Paul’s epistles.