! A critique of the ecclesiology, missiology and sociology of the Mission-shaped Church report ! Gareth Powell Pembroke College ! ! A dissertation submitted for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Divinity Faculty University of Cambridge December 2013 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Tis dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except where specifcally indicated in the text. Tis dissertation does not exceed 80,000 words including all footnotes and all references. ! 2 Gareth Powell A Critique of the Ecclesiology, Missiology and Sociology of the Mission-Shaped Church report. Abstract Tis thesis explores the Church of England report Mission-Shaped Church (MSC) and its subsequent secondary and synodical legislation. It traces the missiology, ecclesiology and sociology of the initial report and their subsequently developed over the last seven years. Te thesis ascertains how well this missiology and ecclesiology refects or adapts traditional and contemporary Anglican missiology and ecclesiology represented in official reports of the Church of England over the last two hundred years as well as in its missionary work in England. Chapter one will survey the report itself and all subsequent secondary literature and legislation, identifying their sources and tracing the contours of their theology and sociology. Chapter two places these fndings into historic relief, ascertaining that they are novel in the life of the Church of England; that MSC deduces its own sources; and is alien in its methodology and recommendations compared to the existing theological corpus of the church. Chapter three examines the work of William Temple as a counter ecclesiology and missiology to MSC. Te ‘Temple method’ of bringing any, and all, social issues into dialogue with the existing Anglican tradition, and his emphasis on the sacramental and catholic life of the church, are representative of historic Anglican approaches to missiology and ecclesiology. Chapter four will use the sociology of Zygmunt Bauman as an experimental basis to help the Church of England understand its contemporary context. His work illustrates that the ideology of consumerism is the major missiological challenge the church faces today, one that MSC failed to critically engage with, and actually succumbed to, in its missiological method, which results in a defcient and under-resources ecclesiology. Te conclusion will correct these failings and shortcomings by bringing the ecclesiology presented in the third chapter into critical dialogue with the sociology of chapter four. We will argue that a comprehensive ecclesiology and missiology, that has a sacramental and catholic focus – represented by Temple, and other numerous official reports – when brought to bear on the social reality of Bauman’s ‘liquid modernity’, yields a much richer understanding of the impetus of the gospel in contemporary England. Such a theology combats the anthropology of consumption through its emphasis on sacramental participation, and critiques the exclusion of the stranger and the strange by emphasising a catholic vision of inclusion and mutuality. Index Introduction 5 Chapter One Rereading the Mission-shaped Church Report 12 Chapter Two MSC’s genealogy and eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth-century Anglican ecclesiology and missiology 49 Chapter Tree Te ecclesiology of William Temple 85 Chapter Four Te sociology of MSC 145 Conclusion 196 Bibliography 209 4 Introduction Te former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, in his frst presidential address to Synod said that the Church of England was “at a watershed moment in its life and history” and needed to develop a “mixed economy” of church life if it were to minister effectively to each context to which it was called.1 Williams then instructed a commission to explore how the Church of England might missiologically respond to the institutional and numerical decline it had experienced in the last ffty years, as well as respond to the perceived plausibility crisis it was suffering in contemporary culture. 2 In 2004, the commission issued its fndings in the Mission Shaped Church Report (hereafter MSC).3 Te report itself sought to provide a legal – alongside the new Pastoral Measure – and theological framework for what it called ‘Fresh Expressions’ of church. Te report has proved to be one of the most infuential produced in the last twenty years. It has provoked wide-ranging discussions about the nature of the Church and its missionary calling. In this discussion particular attention has been given to the ecclesiological status of these ‘Fresh Expressions’ of church. A critical examination of this report will form the basis of this thesis. MSC’s publication in 2004 can be seen as a watershed in the history of the life of the Church of England. Not only has it sold in excess of 30,000 copies (official reports rarely sell more than a few thousand), it also set in motion a reconfguring of the ecclesiology of the Church of England in a way arguably not seen since the Reformation. Te report has three basic arguments: frst, as a result of signifcant shifts within English culture and social structure, the structures and practices of the Church of England are increasingly alien to the majority of the population with which it is seeking to share the gospel. Second, within the life of the Church of England new communities of faith have been springing up that offer alternative ecclesial models; these new communities have emerged in this new context and offer insights into how the Church might begin to communicate the gospel in a way that people can understand. Tese communities of faith – which the report now wished to name as ‘churches’ in their own right – had previously existed on the edges of the mainstream life of the Church of England, yet they were pioneering ‘new ways’ of being Church in today’s postmodern society. Tese churches were missionary in their focus and 1 Williams 2003. 2 Sedgewick 2005. 3 Te Archbishop’s Council 2004 (hereafer MSC). Jointly published with the Methodist Church. 5 provided radical new ways to understand the ordering and mission of the Church in the world. Tird, there is a need to relate these new models to the Anglican tradition – both ecclesiologically and missiologically – so that the Church may better understand its new context and mission, and make appropriate changes to its understanding of both in light of these new communities. Te report led to two major legislative measures passing through Synod and Parliament. One was to allow for an entirely new type of church, a ‘fresh expression’, to be established through a Bishop’s Mission Order. Te other was to designate an entirely new type of ordained ministry within the life of the Church, that of pioneer ministry.4 Tese measures fulflled the strategy outlined in MSC. Alongside these legal measures, an official Fresh Expressions team was set up in late 2004, headed by the then Archbishop’s Missioner Stephen Croft. Tis team helped to disseminate MSC’s vision across the breadth of the Church of England and has resulted in over eight thousand Fresh Expressions of church and the training of hundreds of lay pioneer leaders through a national course, alongside over 150 pioneer minister ordinands.5 Recent surveys also indicate that there is great potential for the continued growth of Fresh Expressions. Croft notes that during a survey of every parish in the country (carried out by the Church of England in 2006) over half responded that since the year 2000 they either had started, or were planning to start, a fresh expression of church.6 Similarly, the Methodist Church, who jointly produced the report, carried out a survey of ministers seeking to move onto a new appointment, and a third mentioned – quite unprompted – that they wished to engage with Fresh Expressions of church in their next appointment.7 Te Church of England survey also asked how many people belonged to these new Fresh Expressions of church, discounting those who were already in contact with the church. Te total resulting number was 220,000, half of which were children and young people. Even when taking into account the possibility of over-counting, it is clear that these Fresh Expressions make a signifcant and very visible contribution to the 1.7 million people of all ages who attend a Church of England service at least once a month. Official Church of England fgures for 2010 released in 2012 showed that adult monthly attendance at Fresh Expressions of 4 Tis vision of pioneer ministry has also been embraced by theological colleges such as Cranmer Hall, Durham, St John's, Nottingham, and Ridley Hall, Cambridge, each of which has developed a special pioneer ministry course. 5 See http://www.freshexpressions.org.uk/news/profoundimpact 6 Barley 2008: 168. 7 Crof 2009: 38. 6 church stood at around 30,000 people, or just under 2% of the total number of adults attending church each month.8 It is clear that MSC has had a huge infuence on both the Church of England’s ecclesiology and its missiology and has led to the creation of a signifcant number of new churches. Given this, it is surprising that very little critical attention has been paid to the missiological or ecclesiological basis for the report, the report itself, and the secondary literature subsequently published.9 Tis thesis will attend to this need by critically examining MSC, identifying its methodological sources and assessing whether its analysis and recommendations are justifed. Te former head of the Fresh Expressions core team, Stephen Croft, argues that Fresh Expressions of church are a continuation and development of the missiological insights reawakened by the Oxford Movement. He contends that both take the incarnation as the pattern and type of Christian mission, where the model of the Father sending the Son into the world serves as the inspiration to begin new communities of faith.