I recently preached at a service to launch an unusual form of ministry: a young woman was being commissioned as a Licensed Lay Missioner, attached to a local parish. Her responsibility? To cultivate relationships in the neighbourhood and to run Messy Church out of the church on a regular basis. The woman is not ordained, but this is an official ministry of the diocese. So, what is this about?
An American scholar, Ralph Winter, has suggested that all through Bible and church history, there have been two streams of ministry: ministry inside the religious community, and ministry outside it. Here are a few of his examples, plus one of my own:
Old Testament precedents
The Old Testament always assumes the ministry of both priests and prophets. The priests are responsible for regular worship and sacrifice, the maintenance of family life, and the well-being of the community. The prophets, on the other hand, are usually single men, living ascetic lives off in the wilderness, and descending occasionally on the cities to denounce them for the superficiality of their faith!
Both are necessary. The priestly stream is necessary for the everyday life of the community to flourish. But if that’s all there is, there is the danger of the religion becoming no more than a lifeless ritual. On the other hand, if there were only the prophetic, there would be no continuity, no stability, and—for obvious reasons!—no children or family life. The two work together in a symbiotic—though not always comfortable—relationship.
New Testament precedents
As St Paul and the other apostles travelled around and planted churches, these apostolic bands form a kind of mobile ministry team—itinerant, evangelistic, and entrepreneurial, never becoming part of any one church for long. Their goal was simple—to establish local communities where the life and love of Christ could be experienced and shared. Very different ministries, but nevertheless complementary, each doing things the other could not do.
The monastic orders
Monasteries and convents offer ministries different from those of a parish church. Traditionally, they offered education, hospitality, and medical care, especially for the poor—things far beyond the capacity of a parish church. Monastic life was not (and is not) for everyone, naturally, but for some it offered an outlet for ministry different from that of the parish.
The Wesleyan movement
In the 1700s, there was a renewal movement within the Church of England, led by the brothers John and Charles Wesley, both Anglican priests. (Charles, in particular, wrote hymns that we still sing: anyone familiar with “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing”?)
John’s calling was to preach to the masses who had no connection to church. Since they would seldom feel at home in traditional parishes, he went to where people were to preach the Gospel—for instance, to coalminers on their way to work early in the morning. He then started hundreds of home fellowships, led by trained lay people, which were meant to complement, not replace, the work of the parish church. In time, this movement turned into the Methodist denomination—largely because the established church was not flexible enough to accommodate it.
Overseas missions
The 19th century saw the flowering of the overseas missionary movement. I am well aware that the movement has many problematic aspects, particularly for its collaboration with imperialism and colonialism, with all their evils. Nevertheless, it is less well-known that there were also “good missionaries.”
One of these was Gladys Aylward, a young English housemaid who strongly felt that God wanted her to serve the people of China. She was turned down by missionary organizations because she had no education, so she found a way to get herself to China alone.
There she learned to speak Mandarin, eventually becoming a Chinese citizen. She became involved in ministries of hospitality and prison reform, and was a pioneer in the liberation of women in that culture. (There is a lovely old movie about her, called The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, much of it filmed in North Wales, where I grew up.) Gladys Aylward was someone who had an amazing ministry—outside of the traditional church or missionary box.
An Order of Evangelists
In the early 2000s, I visited the Anglican Church of Kenya, where I discovered that they have an Order of Evangelists. In fact, in the Prayer Book of the Anglican Church of Kenya, which I have on my bookshelf, there is a liturgical Form of Service for the Commissioning of Evangelists.
I asked the bishop what exactly these evangelists do. He replied, “They plant churches.” Evangelism and church planting are not exactly mainstream ministry options in the West, but in Kenya, the Anglican church has embraced, recognized, and even authorized these ministries as being necessary to the health and growth of the church.
It’s into this rich historical context that the new ministries in the Diocese of Niagara are best understood. There are ways of engaging people outside the church on their own turf. And, after all, isn’t that where Jesus did most of his work?
Ministry Outside the Box
I recently preached at a service to launch an unusual form of ministry: a young woman was being commissioned as a Licensed Lay Missioner, attached to a local parish. Her responsibility? To cultivate relationships in the neighbourhood and to run Messy Church out of the church on a regular basis. The woman is not ordained, but this is an official ministry of the diocese. So, what is this about?
An American scholar, Ralph Winter, has suggested that all through Bible and church history, there have been two streams of ministry: ministry inside the religious community, and ministry outside it. Here are a few of his examples, plus one of my own:
Old Testament precedents
The Old Testament always assumes the ministry of both priests and prophets. The priests are responsible for regular worship and sacrifice, the maintenance of family life, and the well-being of the community. The prophets, on the other hand, are usually single men, living ascetic lives off in the wilderness, and descending occasionally on the cities to denounce them for the superficiality of their faith!
Both are necessary. The priestly stream is necessary for the everyday life of the community to flourish. But if that’s all there is, there is the danger of the religion becoming no more than a lifeless ritual. On the other hand, if there were only the prophetic, there would be no continuity, no stability, and—for obvious reasons!—no children or family life. The two work together in a symbiotic—though not always comfortable—relationship.
New Testament precedents
As St Paul and the other apostles travelled around and planted churches, these apostolic bands form a kind of mobile ministry team—itinerant, evangelistic, and entrepreneurial, never becoming part of any one church for long. Their goal was simple—to establish local communities where the life and love of Christ could be experienced and shared. Very different ministries, but nevertheless complementary, each doing things the other could not do.
The monastic orders
Monasteries and convents offer ministries different from those of a parish church. Traditionally, they offered education, hospitality, and medical care, especially for the poor—things far beyond the capacity of a parish church. Monastic life was not (and is not) for everyone, naturally, but for some it offered an outlet for ministry different from that of the parish.
The Wesleyan movement
In the 1700s, there was a renewal movement within the Church of England, led by the brothers John and Charles Wesley, both Anglican priests. (Charles, in particular, wrote hymns that we still sing: anyone familiar with “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing”?)
John’s calling was to preach to the masses who had no connection to church. Since they would seldom feel at home in traditional parishes, he went to where people were to preach the Gospel—for instance, to coalminers on their way to work early in the morning. He then started hundreds of home fellowships, led by trained lay people, which were meant to complement, not replace, the work of the parish church. In time, this movement turned into the Methodist denomination—largely because the established church was not flexible enough to accommodate it.
Overseas missions
The 19th century saw the flowering of the overseas missionary movement. I am well aware that the movement has many problematic aspects, particularly for its collaboration with imperialism and colonialism, with all their evils. Nevertheless, it is less well-known that there were also “good missionaries.”
One of these was Gladys Aylward, a young English housemaid who strongly felt that God wanted her to serve the people of China. She was turned down by missionary organizations because she had no education, so she found a way to get herself to China alone.
There she learned to speak Mandarin, eventually becoming a Chinese citizen. She became involved in ministries of hospitality and prison reform, and was a pioneer in the liberation of women in that culture. (There is a lovely old movie about her, called The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, much of it filmed in North Wales, where I grew up.) Gladys Aylward was someone who had an amazing ministry—outside of the traditional church or missionary box.
An Order of Evangelists
In the early 2000s, I visited the Anglican Church of Kenya, where I discovered that they have an Order of Evangelists. In fact, in the Prayer Book of the Anglican Church of Kenya, which I have on my bookshelf, there is a liturgical Form of Service for the Commissioning of Evangelists.
I asked the bishop what exactly these evangelists do. He replied, “They plant churches.” Evangelism and church planting are not exactly mainstream ministry options in the West, but in Kenya, the Anglican church has embraced, recognized, and even authorized these ministries as being necessary to the health and growth of the church.
It’s into this rich historical context that the new ministries in the Diocese of Niagara are best understood. There are ways of engaging people outside the church on their own turf. And, after all, isn’t that where Jesus did most of his work?
John Bowen is Professor Emeritus of Evangelism at Wycliffe College in Toronto, where he was also the Director of the Institute of Evangelism. Before that, he worked a campus evangelist for Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship. For over thirty years, John has been a popular speaker, teacher, and preacher, on university campuses, in churches and in classrooms, and at conferences, across Canada and the USA. His most recent book is The Unfolding Gospel: How the Good News Makes Sense of Discipleship, Church, Mission, and Everything Else (Fortress 2021).
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