Word Spirit Street Joining Centre and Edge
In 1972, Ralph Winter wrote ‘The Two Structures of God’s Redemptive Mission’. In this short paper, he reflects on the history of the Church and the tension between institutional religious structures and highly missional groups. He calls them modalities and sodalities, but we might call them the centre and the edge.
On a bad day, centre ministries critique edge ministries as having become consumed with justice causes and having lost sight of Christ as the centre. Similarly, edge ministries will critique the centre for having focussed on gathered worship, but failing to worship God through service to those in need.
My experience has been that centre ministries are often more comfortable with music worship, large gatherings and conferences, while edge ministries are more critical of the excesses and inwardness of these spaces, while preferring to embody their faith through service.
Sadly, when these two forms become oppositional they miss out on the gifts offered by each. The centre church sometimes fails to ground its theology in embodied neighbourhood practice, and the edge develops a works-based theology that sometimes loses sight of the one who makes it possible.
But in Winter’s article, he argues that the historic Church has been at its best when we find a way to work together. He says there is a “…necessity for both structures not only to exist, but to work together harmoniously for the fulfilment of the Great Commission and for the fulfilment of all that God desires for our time.”
In so many ways, the pursuit of this harmony is the journey our diocese has been on for the past decade.
Enter our upcoming conference, ‘Word Spirit Street’
Word Spirit Street arose from the desire of community practitioners to have a space where we could engage deeply and faithfully with scripture, reflect on how this impacts our missional practice, and receive empowerment from the Holy Spirit to keep doing the good work.
This year we will have Dr Chris Marshall with us, unpacking his work from the story of the Prodigal Son and looking at the themes of justice and mercy. His work will be further explored by community practitioners such as Cat Noakes-Duncan, Aaron Hendry, and Ana Fletcher. And we will then respond with music worship and prayer ministry to receive the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to continue to work faithfully in our neighbourhood contexts.
Word Spirit Street runs from Tuesday to Thursday next week, 9am to 3pm, at St David’s in Naenae. Registrations can be made using the form at https://forms.gle/bCyR9AkKQVNq1Soq6
Word Spirit Street is brought to you by CATCH Network - www.catchnetwork.org.nz
