A Spirituality of Missional Communities

It could argued that every church community is missional by definition, but there is particular potency in those that begin with the primary intention of being missional in their community and, as a result, shape their church life around loving their neighbours. These communities have been given various names, among which planting and pioneering are common. They are not groups of people with of faith which replicate denominational patterns of worship, but seek to contextualise deeply what it means to be church in their setting, many of which are part of our beautiful network. These communities particularly find their telos in the missional nature of our God, and so they will be called missional communities.

Much of the uniqueness of these missional communities is found in how they live their lives in light of their faith, and so a missional spirituality becomes important. ‘We can think of “mission spirituality” that enables Christians’ relationships and lives to become the witness to the gospel toward the world. Mission spirituality is concerned with the spiritual resources from which mission springs.’ (Ryu, 2024, p. 305) There are marked patterns of these resources within missional communities that resource contextual mission. Cathy Ross and Jonny Baker have written a wonderful book on this focusing on what they have discovered particularly amongst pioneers, acknowledging that, ‘There is no one right way or approach to pioneering spirituality, there is simply great freedom in Christ.’ (Ross and Baker, 2015, p. 14) As such, this article is by no means an exhaustive list, but highlights four key areas found in the literature: an understanding of the Spirit at work in the world, discernment, attentiveness and hospitality.

The Spirit at work in the world

This is the theology of the missio Dei. Mission is not something the church does, but the character of God that we get to participate in. This underpins a mission spirituality which seeks to discern the work of the Spirit in each context and respond accordingly (Zscheile, 2012, pp. 7 & 13). It also means that each missional community with a missional spirituality will look different in its own context. There is no cookie cutter.

This understanding turns power dynamics on their head. In mission, the church can easily say, “we have something to give you,” but when we lean into the missio Dei, the church gives the power in mission back to God by asking, “where is the Spirit at work and how can we join in?” This should shape the actions of a missional community around discernment, listening and humility. A mission spirituality is fundamentally one that looks outwards, beyond oneself, to discover and follow Jesus (Ryu, 2024, p. 305). The theology that the Spirit is at work in the world deeply shapes a missional church community to give of themselves to their community.

Discernment

Discernment is needed if a missional church community is to seek out the work of the Spirit in the world. In Rural Ministries we call this ‘missional listening.’ This is a spirituality because it is not a one-time action at the beginning of a missional adventure, but a constant way of life that asks the missio Dei question, ‘What is the Spirit doing and how can I join in?’ Keifert and Rooms have written some wonderful short booklets on mission spirituality and missional communities, and they say that following our missional God has an ‘ethos of self-limitation and getting out of the way of the Holy Spirit.’ (Keifert and Rooms, 2014, p. 14; Rooms, 2019; Rooms and Keifert, 2019). Discernment requires us to acknowledge that we do not know the programme, the service, the kids’ group or the shelter that will display the love of Jesus in a particular context, but God does. As such, our task is not just to be God’s love in the neighbourhood, but to discern the love that the Spirit is engaging in in our local community, and to join in. Discernment requires us not only to listen but to truly hear the other. The instinct is often to defend what already exists, whereas a missional spirituality, by contrast, receives these words honestly and asks how God may be calling the community to respond. Missional communities have a spirituality of deep listening and ongoing discernment.

Attentiveness

The word attentiveness is a huge buzz word in the mission and spirituality community. We may find that word helpful or irritating, but either way it has gained attention for a reason. We live in a busy world, with plenty of distractions, obsessed with success and growth, which can sadly be replicated in our Churches (Bradbury, 2024, pp. 164–166) . Attentiveness is in antithesis to growth and acceleration in our time. A missional spirituality, shaped around attentiveness, provides the church community with an antidote to the chaos of the world, and creates patterns that allow each community to slow down and genuinely hear God, each other and their community. Attentiveness in Christianity, put simply, is paying attention to the move of God in ourselves, our communities and our world. Baker and Ross link contemplative practices like lectio divina* and the examen with attentiveness as helpful for this kind of spirituality (Baker, 2015, p. 397; Ross and Baker, 2015, pp. 11–12). Paul Bradbury’s description of some core values of such communities as ‘Small, slow, simple, sent, serving’, captures a similar attentive spirituality. A spirituality of attentiveness allows each community to listen and notice where God is at work in order to join in.

Hospitality

When we think of hospitality, we often think of the person who readily opens their home to others, often involving food. Although this kind of hospitality is beautiful, this is not the kind about which I am writing. The hospitality of missional communities is a mutual relationship, one where the church community readily receives hospitality from others (Ross, 2008). ’To receive hospitality, then, is to overcome our prejudice and our assumptions about others and ourselves. It requires us to suspend, or even let go of, what we think is precious in order to receive what the other has to give us. ‘It is not to stand on our culture, but to allow our culture to be open to different ways of thinking, being and doing.’ (Keifert and Rooms, 2014, p. 17)Hospitality in this sense is both practical, through being a guest to those in our communities, and ethical, through being a guest in the way we approach others with our words and actions.

Ryu argues that this kind of hospitality is wrapped up in solidarity and the marginalised (Ryu, 2024, p. 311). In allowing those outside our church community to be host, we get to see how our neighbours live, and we gain solidarity through spending time in their world, which often places us amongst the marginalised. As Ross states ‘This kind of engagement may involve a subversive approach and will take us to the margins as we encounter injustice and strive to defeat it.’ (Ross, 2008, p. 175) However, receiving hospitality from those with less and on ‘the margins reminds us of the paradoxical power of vulnerability and the importance of compassion.’ (Ross, 2008, p. 172). Receiving from another, especially someone with less, requires a laying down of pride and of control and a picking up of vulnerability and compassion, a sense of ‘letting-go’ for Jesus (Ross and Baker, 2015, p. 10). A missional spirituality of hospitality allows a missional community to choose the other over themselves, to genuinely listen and walk with, beginning to understand and discover ways that God’s love is present and where more of God’s love is needed.

So What?

These four aspects of a missional community spirituality cause the Church to confront our own power and control issues, to let go and to be outward facing. It’s a deep challenge to take the missio Dei seriously and seek out the Spirit in the world. This type of spirituality is both confronting and releasing, because when we truly listen to God, the Spirit in the world, the lives of our neighbours, we let the light of the Spirit in and we are undoubtedly transformed more and more into Christ’s likeness. Practically this may mean fewer services and more community around the table, less volunteering on rotas and more relationships in the community and less responsibility on a single leader and more on the whole church community. These four aspects are not unique to missional communities, many churches display elements of each. However, a brief look at the literature suggests that they are central to a missional spirituality in these communities. They are valuable not only for understanding the ways these faith groups conduct themselves, but also for appreciating our diverse ecosystem of Churches, and learning from a church community whose telos is the missional Spirit.

Conclusion

The spirituality of missional communities is often based around an understanding of the Spirit at work in the world, discernment, attentiveness and hospitality. All four attributes lead to a sense of listening, a laying down of assumptions, barriers and powers that place the church over the community, and invite the church to be part of the community, ultimately joining in with the missional Spirit. Missional communities will all look different and be shaped by the missional activity of the Spirit through deep discernment, but always with the positive assumption that God is at work and we are called to join in. How can we adopt an understanding of the Spirit at work in the world, discernment, attentiveness and hospitality to discover more of Jesus’ love in our communities?

Jo Allen

Joint CEO, Rural Ministries

First published in MOSAIC Issue 20, September - December 2026

*Lectio divina is a practice of reading a passage of scripture, sitting quietly and noticing what stands out, re-reading the passage and doing the same again, then journalling or, if done in a larger group, sharing what is discovered. The examen is a prayer at the end of the day which takes you through what has happened and where you have noticed God. Each practice creates the space to slow down, to listen and to notice the Holy Spirit.

Bibliography

Baker, J. (2015) ‘Yes to Mission Spirituality’, International Review of Mission, 104(2), pp. 393–402.

Bradbury, P. (2024) ‘small, simple, slow’, in W. Foulger and J. Cockayne (eds) New Churches A Theology. London: SCM Press.

Keifert, P. and Rooms, N. (2014) Forming the Missional Church. Cambridge: Grove Books Limited.

Rooms, N. (2019) Missional Church. Cambridge: Grove Books Limited.

Rooms, N. and Keifert, P. (2019) Spiritual Leadership in the Missional Church. Cambridge: Grove Book Limited.

Ross, C. (2008) ‘Creating Space: Hospitality as a Metaphor for Mission’, Anvil, 23(3).

Ross, C. and Baker, J. (eds) (2015) Pioneering Spirituality: Resources for Reflection and Practice. London: Canterbury Press Norwich.

Ryu, K. (2024) ‘In search of spirituality for intercultural mission: Hospitality, solidarity and marginality’, Transformation, 41(4), pp. 304–319.

Zscheile, D.J. (2012) ‘A Missional Theology of Spiritual Formation’, Faculty Publications [Preprint], (302).