A great day was enjoyed by all at the ‘Mission in a Strange New World’ conference recently held at Trinity College Bristol. Keynote speaker, Dr. Stuart Murray-Williams (pictured) spoke of the ongoing transition from a Christendom culture to a post Christendom world and the impact of this on society and the church.
It's a time for the Church to both grieve and celebrate the end of Christendom as we face the challenge to move from maintenance to mission, control to witness and institution to missional movement but also seize the opportunities emerging in what’s been called The Quiet Revival.
He also suggested that the cultural exile for the Church and transition to a new age has come as no surprise to God. Rather, we can be encouraged by the time of great theological and spiritual renewal experienced by the Jews in exile in the 500s BCE as we see signs of new life alongside death.
And indeed, the nine afternoon workshops illustrated those catching the fire of spiritual renewal. The leaders spoke about what mission looked like in their context: community organising, community collaboration, street ministry, enterprise and new monasticism, eco-communities, community housing, estate ministry and pioneering experiments. Paul Bradbury brilliantly summarised the whole day using the parable The Lighthouse to highlight that, while there is a new renewed interest in Christianity in our nation, this is not a turning of the tide back to Christendom business as usual. Rather, as people encounter God through scripture, tradition, the Spirit, this will be related to their lives and the times in which we’re living. Just as the early disciples saw the church emerge, morph, change and grow both through their tradition and their new encounter with the risen Jesus, so this continued as Gentile believers encountered the Spirit and so continues as the Spirit of mission extends the church today into new cultural contexts.
Overall, people left feeling inspired and equipped with ideas, contacts and faith to take the dreams of God forward in their contexts. The final word goes to a long-serving Bristol vicar who said May 17th was the best training event she’d been to in the Diocese – thank you God!
If you’d like to view the slides and handouts from speakers and workshop leaders, visit our website via the button below or you can email lee.barnes@bristoldiocese.org. Paul Bradbury’s talk can be accessed here.
Visit our New Christian Communities page to access the resources