Did you know that the word translated as ‘church’ in the New Testament, ekklesia, literally means a group of people? It had no religious connotations and was a common word used in society for any group of people that met together.

Many Christians have begun to question the role and function of the church in Western society. Is the church relevant in this anti-institutional age? Is the church relevant in the digital age?

Whilst there has always been discussions around the forms of church, what songs we sing, what clothes we wear and how we sit, more and more there is a questioning of the essence of church.

A movement that has sprung from this questioning is the missional church movement, sometimes known as the ‘emerging church’. There is a whole heap of debate around the naming of this movement and if you want to know more I suggest googling it.

The missional church movement seeks to reconnect with the idea that the primary purpose of the church is to engage in God’s mission in the world. If your unfamiliar with the idea of mission (other than as a missionary going overseas) it is really quite simple. God is at work in the world. That is God’s mission. God then invites us to join in on what God is doing in the world.

For missional groups this has lead to finding new ways of ‘doing church’ and ‘being church.’ No longer is church about turning up on Sunday, singing some songs and listening to a sermon. Church, if we even use that term, becomes about how we live our lives and how we engage with God and the people around us.

This idea of ‘being the church’ rather than ‘doing church’ is what this blog hopes to explore.

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