Missional is the “coin of the realm” but we don’t all agree on its “value.” (PCUSA)

It Takes a Church: Missional is the “coin of the realm” but we don’t all agree on its “value.”  Tod Bolsinger

… And in essence I want to ask:  Can we agree on these two points so that we may begin to move on to others that are in need of further consideration?

•    Mission determines structure.
•    The congregation is both primary to and insufficient for mission.

In one sense these points should be easy to agree upon.  They are from our New Form of Government and both express thoughts from the current Form of Government.  But before assuming that we are all in agreement (the Nfog is, of course, up for debate), I’d like to ask:

First, do we agree that MISSION, specifically, the Mission of the Triune God expressed for the whole world determines the forms and structures of the church? It’s first God’s mission, not ours.  It’s first God’s mission, not the church’s, not the denomination, not even the individual Christian.  The Mission of God revealed in Jesus Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit to redeem and renew all of creation determines our structure.  Can we agree on that?  Do we also agree that when the MGB Commission considers “models” from Middle Governing bodies, the primary consideration should be whether the proposed structures further the Mission of the Triune God in the world today and not any political, personal, institutional, traditional, historical, organizational, economic or societal aim?  Can we stipulate this?

Second, do we agree that the congregation IS the basic form of mission, and thereby the basic form of church?  Do we agree that the congregation in its particular contexts is the foundational and primary place where the MISSION of GOD engages the need of the world?  The congregation (and not the denomination nor the individual) is the foundational, first line engagement of God to the world. 

Third, do we also agree at the very same time, that the congregation in and of itself is NOT sufficient as the church?  That in order to fulfill the mission of God, we need more than congregations?  We need forms and structures of SOME kind beyond the congregation. We need them to witness to the unity of the church, to engage in mission in ways that are beyond the scope or ability of a local congregation, for discernment, for learning, for leadership development and calling and perhaps a few other things that support and strengthen the mission of the congregation. …

Bless you Tod Bolsinger for the fine work you are doing in moderating the MGB Commission. Here are Tod's two previous installments from "the observation deck."

Observation #1: For Presbyterians, the Process IS the Product.
Observation #2:  Almost everybody agrees that something has to change.