A few years back, when the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) surveyed its members on their concept of mission, it discovered that there was no common understanding of this term. The NCCA found that some churches were even reluctant to share their “secrets” in the field o mission.

 History teaches us that this is not new: it was partly out of this very spirit of competition that the Edinburgh Missionary Conference of 1910 was organized – an event that many regard as being the birth of the modern ecumenical movement.

Taking stock
2010 will see the centenary of the Edinburgh Mission Conference. Time to take stock, said the NCCA. “Growing Churches in the Australian Context” is the title of a series of broad facilitated discussions now taking place in each state, the results of which will be brought together in some form in 2010.

Queensland Churches Together hosted the “Growing Churches” convocation on Tuesday, 11 November 2008. In small groups and in plenary twenty representatives of member churches and non-member churches asked what it meant to be a healthy church.

The crowded bus
Metaphors abounded: the church as a crowded bus on a journey, with people jumping on and off. A movement, a pilgrimage. A “centred set” (this one courtesy of Dave Andrews), with Christ at the centre, but also at the margins, and our moving in and out – not unlike the image of the labyrinth. Essential to that image is the ability to let go. A “centred set” cannot be controlled. The longing for control and certitude arises out of fear. If Jesus is our role model, we see that he was not threatened by difference nor paralysed by fear.

Another metaphor: the church as a tree, its roots clinging firmly to the rock of Christ, bearing the fruits of the Spirit. And: the church is like herding cats.

The health of individuals in the church was seen to be key to the health of the church as a community, with mutual support and encouragement playing a significant role.

Hospitality
Participants agreed that hospitality has to be a central attribute of a healthy church. Father Dimitri Tsakas, Vicar General in Queensland of the Greek Orthodox Church, quoted one of his favourite sayings: “When we have found our vertical relationship and are able to share it horizontally, we have fulfilled the sign of the Cross.”

At the end of the day it seemed much had been discovered that would need further exploration. The theme of hospitality, for example. What does it mean in Australia in the light of huge diversity of communities of different origins, and the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in our churches? What does hospitality mean in terms of mental health issues in the churches? This was a theme discussed at QCT’s recent General Council meeting. And what does hospitality mean when many people nowadays travel long distances to attend a local church but are not part of that local community?

There was also a sense that each person in the room had something unique to contribute, but that time did not allow this richness to be explored in any depth. Father John Abdel-Karim of the Antiochian Orthodox Church touched very briefly upon the experience of being church in a war zone (Lebanon in past years), indicating that whereas his congregation there had numbered 2000 members before the war, it jumped to 3000 during the war.

The Australian context
Changing demographics, the stresses in rural Australia, the challenges of regionalization, a widespread ignorance of the biblical narrative, a loss of credibility of the church (church vs. Jesus), increasing individualism and consumerism, yet also the search for spirituality – these and many other factors were seen to influence the context of which churches are a part. Helping people to cope with change, it was noted, may be one of the church’s main missional tasks. That of course raises the question of how churches themselves deal with change.

It may seem obvious that for all the churches represented at the meeting to underline the centrality of Christ in the mission of the church. Yet when individuals from different churches cross their denominational boundaries to talk to each other and then sense this message in each other, the effect is one of discovery. The conversation itself becomes part of the process.

Towards the end of the day a number of questions were raised which could form the basis of ongoing discussion:
• How does the church, both institutional and non-institutional, contribute health and life to the missional context?
• What opportunities does the context give the church for mission?
• How can we focus on the Kingdom of God, not just on the church?
• What language is accessible to Australians, and how can it be inclusive (not just in terms of gender)?
• How will the church know that it has made a difference?

At the end of the day there was a sense of wanting to take the discussion and turn it into action. We hope and pray that whatever comes out of this process will help churches engage more fully and meaningfully with the communities they are part of.