An Examination of Emerging-Missional Ecclesiological Conceptions Missional Ecclesiology and the Ecclesiologies of Miroslav Volf, Joseph Ratzinger and John Zizioulas Rev Graham Joseph Gary Hill MTheol, BTheol, HonsDipMin, PGCertTESOL, CertIVAandWT Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, March 2009 School of Theology, Faculty of Education, Humanities, Law and Theology The Flinders University of South Australia TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................................... 6 DECLARATION .................................................................................................................................. 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................... 10 PART 1: INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY ................................................................... 12 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 13 1.1 GENESIS AND DESCRIPTION ................................................................................................... 13 1.1.1 The Topic / Research Question ..................................................................................... 14 1.1.2 Component Questions ................................................................................................... 15 1.2 RATIONALE AND IMPORTANCE .............................................................................................. 16 1.2.1 Brief Introduction to Origins and Definitions ............................................................... 16 1.2.2 Unanalysed Emerging-Missional Church Movement Materials ................................... 27 1.2.3 Absence of Research ..................................................................................................... 27 1.2.4 Dealing with Emerging-Missional Church Movement Ecclesiology ............................ 28 1.2.5 Missional and Ecclesiological Implications ................................................................. 28 1.2.6 Engaging Pressing Questions ....................................................................................... 28 1.2.7 Ecumenical and Inter-religious Repercussions ............................................................ 30 1.2.8 Integration of Christian Traditions ............................................................................... 31 1.2.9 Enriching Missional Ecclesiology ................................................................................ 31 1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES .......................................................................................................... 32 1.3.1 The Two Primary Research Objectives ......................................................................... 34 1.4 ASSUMPTIONS ....................................................................................................................... 35 1.5 STRUCTURE ........................................................................................................................... 37 1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS ...................................................................................................... 38 2 METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................................... 40 2.1 SOURCES USED ...................................................................................................................... 40 2.1.1 Volf, Ratzinger and Zizioulas ........................................................................................ 40 2.1.2 Emerging-Missional Church Movement Sources ......................................................... 48 2.2 CONTENT ANALYSIS , MANUAL COMPARISON , AND QSR NVIVO .......................................... 49 2.2.1 The Process of Content Analysis................................................................................... 52 2.3 COMPARATIVE METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................ 56 2.3.1 Stages and Techniques .................................................................................................. 57 PART 2: CRITICAL SURVEY 1 ...................................................................................................... 59 3 EMERGING VOICES ............................................................................................................... 60 3.1 AN EXAMINATION OF THE CHOSEN EMCM TEXTS ............................................................... 65 3.1.1 A Peculiar People: The Church as Culture in a Post-Christian Society ...................... 65 3.1.2 An Unstoppable Force: Daring to Become the Church God Had in Mind ................... 66 3.1.3 Another City: An Ecclesiological Primer for a Post-Christian World ......................... 66 3.1.4 Beyond Sectarianism: Re-Imagining Church and World .............................................. 67 3.1.5 Breaking the Missional Code: Your Church Can Become a Missionary in Your Community .................................................................................................................................... 69 3.1.6 Church After Christendom ............................................................................................ 70 3.1.7 Church Next: Quantum Changes in How We Do Ministry ........................................... 70 3.1.8 Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures ............ 71 3.1.9 EmergingChurch.Intro .................................................................................................. 72 3.1.10 Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post Christian-Culture ................................................ 73 3.1.11 Houses that Change the World: The Return of the House Churches ............................ 74 3.1.12 Liquid Church ............................................................................................................... 75 3.1.13 Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America ............. 76 3.1.14 Mission-Shaped Church: Church Planting and Fresh Expressions of Church in a Changing Context ......................................................................................................................... 78 3.1.15 Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens ................................................ 80 3.1.16 Post-Christendom: Church and Mission in a Strange New World ............................... 80 1 3.1.17 Retrofuture: Rediscovering Our Roots, Recharting Our Routes ................................... 82 3.1.18 The Change of Conversion and the Origin of Christendom .......................................... 82 3.1.19 The Church Between Gospel and Culture: The Emerging Mission in North America . 83 3.1.20 The Church Faces Death: Ecclesiology in a Post-Modern Context ............................. 85 3.1.21 The Church in Emerging Culture: Five Perspectives ................................................... 87 3.1.22 The Church on the Other Side: Doing Ministry in the Postmodern Matrix .................. 89 3.1.23 The Complex Christ: Signs of Emergence in the Urban Church .................................. 90 3.1.24 The Emerging Church: Vintage Christianity for New Generations .............................. 91 3.1.25 The End of Christendom and the Future of Christianity ............................................... 92 3.1.26 The Essence of the Church: A Community Created by the Spirit ................................. 94 3.1.27 The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church ............................................ 95 3.1.28 The McDonaldisation of the Church: Spirituality, Creativity, and the Future of the Church 97 3.1.29 The Missional Leader: Equipping Your Church to Reach a Changing World ............. 98 3.1.30 The Missionary Congregation, Leadership, and Liminality ....................................... 100 3.1.31 The Out of Bounds Church: Learning to Create a Community of Faith in a Culture of Change 101 3.1.32 The Post Evangelical .................................................................................................. 102 3.1.33 The Prodigal Project: Journey into the Emerging Church ......................................... 104 st 3.1.34 The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21 Century Church 105 3.1.35 Treasure in Clay Jars: Patterns in Missional Faithfulness ........................................ 107 3.1.36 Write the Vision: The Church Renewed ...................................................................... 109 3.1.37 Younger Evangelicals: Facing the Challenges of the New World .............................. 110 3.2 THE CHRONOLOGICAL TRAJECTORY OF EMCM THEMES .................................................... 112 3.3 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 115 4 EMERGING-MISSIONAL ECCLESIOLOGIES 1: ESSENTIAL AND FOUNDATIONAL CONCEPTIONS ............................................................................................................................... 116 4.1 EMERGING -MISSIONAL ECCLESIOLOGY .............................................................................. 116 4.1.1 The Church in an Age of Post-Christendom, Marginalisation, and Liminality .......... 116