An Interweaving Ecclesiology

Mark Scanlan

Description

What is church? What spaces does church occupy? Can ecclesial space exist beyond the boundaries of church? In An Interweaving Ecclesiology Mark Scanlan offers a fresh vision of Christian community as constructed for and by participants as potential ecclesial spaces combine to create an experience which we call “church”. Drawing in particular on research into the dynamic between youth groups and the churches within which they operate, Scanlan brings us a distinct approach to the church in mission that can nuance and develop the tired and sometimes flawed thinking around Fresh Expressions and pioneer ministry. Combining deep ecclesiology with a practical approach, this book will be useful to students and scholars of pioneer and youth ministry and those with a wider interest in how churches operate.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Christian Theology
• Philosophie et théologie
• Ecclesiology

Informations

• Publié par: Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd
• Date de parution: 30 novembre 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780334060772
• Langue: English

Extrait

An Interweaving Ecclesiology
The Church, Mission and Young People
Mark Scanlan





© Mark Scanlan 2021
Published in 2021 by SCM Press
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Scripture quotations marked ‘MSG’ or ‘The Message’ are taken from The Message. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
978 0 334 06076 5
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Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd



Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part 1: Foundations
1. The Dialogical Nature of the Church: Theological Perspectives
2. The Changing World: Sociological Perspectives
3. The Current Gap in our Thinking: Practical Perspectives
Part 2: The Case Studies
4. An Interweaving Ecclesiology in Practice: Presenting the Case Studies
5. An Interweaving Ecclesiology in Practice: Potential Ecclesial Life in the Groups
6. An Interweaving Ecclesiology in Practice: Ambiguity and Potential
Part 3: Expanding the Scope for an Interweaving Ecclesiology
7. Beyond Fresh Expressions: A Mandate for the Whole Church in Mission
8. Not Everything Goes: Regulating the Interweaving Church
9. Releasing Creativity: Interweaving and Pioneering



Acknowledgements
I am deeply grateful to those who have inspired and supported me in this work. First, for the pioneering leaders of Crusaders/Urban Saints who stepped outside of the Church in mission to young people at the start of the twentieth century. Also, for those who follow in their footsteps and lead groups today – especially those named in the St Joe’s and Newtown groups who allowed me to spend time observing the practice in their groups as well as interviewing both leaders and young people. Names of the groups and individuals within them are anonymized throughout this book.
Second, I want to thank Professor Pete Ward of Durham University who supervised the doctoral work from which this book has developed. Pete’s wisdom, vision, patience and prompting helped cultivate my thinking more than I can express.
Third, I am so grateful to the staff and students who form the worshipping and learning community of St Mellitus College through which I have been able to try out some of these ideas in teaching and conversation. I am continually formed in my own theological approach through conversation with staff and students alike.
Finally, I need to thank my family – Linda, who has supported me throughout both my doctoral work and in writing this book, and Caleb and Faith who have encouraged me in this work more than I expected for a 14- and 11-year-old!



Introduction
This is a book about three things: the Church, mission and young people. Except it is really about one thing: the Church, mission and young people. Other than the fact it feels appropriate to begin a work of theology with an interplay of the three and one, these statements set up the contention of this book – that if the Church is to be most effectively the Church in the times in which we live, then it needs to engage with and reflect on the lives of young people in order to be shaped appropriately for the mission of God to which it is called.
Consequently, the contention that runs throughout the chapters that follow is that an ecclesiology, an understanding of the Church, from and with young people will be a gift to the ecclesiology of the whole Church. So, when in this book I talk about the Church, it is for the sake of more faithful work with, and mission among, young people; but when I am discussing work with young people it is for a more faithful Church in the service of the mission of God. Our ecclesiology is all the poorer for not considering the hermeneutical location of young people, and our work with them is all the poorer for not rigorously reflecting on the theology of the Church. Our participation in the mission of God will be the poorer for both. The ecclesiology that emerges from these pages then is one that is flexible and contextual. It will not be possible to simply apply it or use it as a blueprint, but it is an ecclesiology that might free the Church to be the Church in a diverse, complex and changing world.
I will offer here a theological rationale for bringing work with young people into conversations around missional and new forms of the Church by developing a framework for understanding the Church that draws on this practical wisdom from youth ministry. This framework is what I call an interweaving ecclesiology in which various groups, congregational activities, relationships and practices make up the Christian community that becomes the Church for young people and their leaders. Unlike most other attempts to talk about the Church in youth ministry, this approach develops an ecclesiology of youth ministry, rather than for youth ministry. At its heart, this work constructs a vision for ecclesiology, not just the application of it; consequently, it carries within it the potential for offering something to the conversations of the whole Church.
Central to an interweaving ecclesiology are potential ecclesial spaces. These are spaces that hold the possibility of ecclesial life being extended into them as they offer the opportunity of connecting individuals with Christ through engagement in Christian practices and relationships. In this way, church is constructed for and by participants as these potential ecclesial spaces combine to create an experience of church. The research at the heart of this book demonstrated that there is an ecclesial imagination at work within much youth ministry practice that embodies this approach as Christian practices and community are made available for young people, and therefore the groups can be appropriated as part of their ecclesial life. Through potential ecclesial spaces the interweaving of church operates on a personal and institutional level.
Building on this practical ecclesiological wisdom from youth ministry, the book will move to demonstrate how the framework of an interweaving ecclesiology, built through potential ecclesial spaces, offers a distinct approach to the Church in mission that can develop nuance and thinking around Fresh Expressions and pioneer ministry. Resources from within both youth ministry and Fresh Expressions provide the means for regulating this interweaving approach to prevent it becoming an ‘anything goes’ scenario.
Overview
The book is divided in three parts that form three key aspects in the argument. Part 1 revolves around the importance of the Church in taking account of what is happening with young people through chapters that discuss theological, sociological and practical rationales. The theological rationale of Chapter 1 develops a dialogical theological framework detailing the necessity for effective ecclesiological reflection that takes account of the Church’s concrete life in the world; in Chapter 2, the sociological rationale argues that young people are interpreters of culture that, in the light of key socio-economic/cultural pivot points, bring a perspective that is vital to the Church at large; the practical rationale of Chapter 3 takes the form of both historical and literature reviews. The historical review charts the development of an ecclesial imagination within youth ministry through the lens of the work of Crusaders/Urban Saints, whereas the literature review argues that work with young people has largely been absent from reflections on the Church and that theological accounts of the Church are largely absent from youth ministry thinking and practice. Both the historical and literature review demonstrate that there is a gap in our thinking in this vital area.
Part 2 presents the vision for an interweaving ecclesiology through a focus on the description and analysis of ethnographic case studies of two Christian youth groups. As with Part 1, there are three chapters. Chapters 4 and 5 present these case studies at the heart of my research and demonstrate the way that the youth groups studied embody an ecclesial imagination, meaning that the groups carry the potential of ecclesial life for the participants. Furthermore, they will begin to offer a theological analysis of the groups’ life and, through this, develop the concept of the groups as potential ecclesial spaces. Chapter 6 argues that