Something is troubling about the ongoing conversation between the established church and the pioneering church. There’s a persistent tension between the two, and although sometimes warranted, it has caused a deep rift within our Christian family.
What causes this rift?
Before I begin, I acknowledge that the differences I describe are broad brush strokes. There are always nuances, and if you find yourself in those nuances, please bear with me.
One of the biggest differences is where we place our energy. In the established church, much of the focus is on those already within the church family. While mission plans are made, they often originate from within the church, inviting others to join what the church is doing. In contrast, the pioneering church exists beyond traditional models, engaging directly with the unchurched. It is out of this engagement that mission is grown allowing mission to grow in unexpected and unconventional ways.
Another difference lies in power structures. In pioneering, leadership is often flat, with power rising from the bottom up, often discovering new ways forward and creating diverse ways of being Church. In established churches, power typically flows from the top down, shaping leadership and ecclesiology in distinct ways, often maintaining a certain way of being Church. I have, however, sadly seen too many fruitful new pioneer communities, crushed because of the powers and structures of the established Church.
A third difference is around flexibility. Established churches have a set of doctrines and practices that the institution exists within which creates structures that people, and in particular leaders, must fit into. The pioneering community is much more flexible and creates space for the non-conforming to find a home. The freedom and flexibility of pioneer leaders, often due to their theology of the spirit, allow those who do not fit the box to easily become part of a community together.
So, where we place our energy, power structures, and flexibility are three differences between pioneers and established church communities.
Living in the In-Between
As an ordained Anglican minister called to pioneer missional ministry, I stand in the space between the established church and the pioneering church. Many of us find ourselves here, frustrated by structures that hold us back, yet grateful for the support they provide. We watch the freedom of those outside these structures and long for it, yet we remain convinced that God has called us to love the established church too. We carry the weight of the rhetoric around the dying established church while drawing hope from the experimental pioneering world. We straddle both worlds - something Jesus himself was no stranger to.
Jesus embodied both divinity and humanity; he was the Saviour of the world capable of doing anything at any moment, yet he became like us. Through his incarnation and his death on the cross Jesus reconciled God and humanity, bridging the greatest divide. In the life that he led I see Jesus challenging and inviting both the religious establishment and those outside it, to come closer to God. Bridge building and living in between has the difficult but beautiful call of reconciliation - a heart torn between different places called to see them draw closer to each other and to God. Can we do the same?
Owning the Call
The rhetoric surrounding pioneering has, at times, deepened the divide between pioneers and the established church. This is an age-old tension, and one that has fractured the Church with differing opinions for centuries. But what if this is a rift that God is tired of? I know I am, but I’m not sure this centuries old tension is going to disappear, we are opinionated argumentative humans after all! So, rather than resist it, why not learn to live within it, to live with diversity. For too long, I have felt guilty for living between two camps. God has called many of us to stand in the middle, to work with churches that have open hearts and a willingness to understand what God is doing in this generation, and to pioneer. I think that’s a sign that God is working in both camps. The Church is not finished yet, and we have been tasked with communicating this prophetic hope to a weary and uncertain church. Jesus understands this call.
Jesus’ calling required him to speak truth, challenge traditions, and, most importantly, reconcile us to God. There are, without a doubt, churches that need palliative care, and we must be honest and brave about that. But there are also places where God is raising up bridge builders to nurture God’s Church, helping them see a way forward, and where God is leading people to new creative ways to being Church together - pioneering.
It would be wonderful to wrestle with the tension as Jesus did, to own it and live in our diversity, trusting that God has a much bigger missional plan than any of us can dream.
Jo Allen
Director South West
Thanks Jo. I do appreciate your caveat about nuances - but maybe its worth thinking about that a bit more. Perhaps part of the issue is describing churches in boxy ways. Also perhaps ignoring non mainstream denominations in the established versus missional church debate is missing something. So perhaps considering others like Newfrontiers spin offs and Salt and Light and many other "Word and Spirit" churches may help. They too of course have their issues. I really think we ought to start from first principals about what is the church - from the very early New Testament church in Acts onwards. This is what church should look like rather than focussing on what does it look like now and how…