What Is Missional Ecclesiology?

Missional ecclesiology demands more of the church than deciding which community service projects to undertake or setting congregational priorities for the coming year. Missional ecclesiology is a way of understanding the church. It begins with the missio Dei – God’s own “self-sending” in Christ by the Spirit to redeem and transform creation. In a missional ecclesiology, the Church is not a building or an institution but a community of witness, called into being and equipped by God, and sent into the world to testify to and participate in Christ’s work. The Church does not have missions; instead, the mission of God creates the Church. The Church serves God’s call to mission through its work in three broadly defined categories: the proclamation of the Word of God, the administration of the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and the nurture of the covenant community of disciples. It undertakes this mission without regard for its own agenda or survival.