Missional Church

Excerpt from interview of Tony Jones (national coordinator, Emergent Village) by Fred Peatross, New Wineskins

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Fred) How do you envision a missional church? How would it be different from the conventional idea of mission?

Tony Jones ) Quite simply, I think of "missional" as outward-focused. The gospel is mission -- it's on the move, it's going somewhere. The gospel is a movement, and the church had better be on board. I don't think it's optional: the church has to be missional.

Fred) When we talk traditional, conventional church, in your opinion, are we talking lost cause in transitioning the thousands of attractional consumerist church into missional churches? From my experience, it unfortunately seems next to impossible to move leaders who have little understanding of 'missional,' not to mention their fears of disrupting the community, to initiate more change. Your thoughts?

Tony Jones ) I agree. Whether it's the attractional church on the right or the bureaucratic, denominational church on the left, I am usually ambivalent. Some days, I have great hope that we can turn the ship of the American church around. Other days, I think it's like the Titanic, and it's already hit the iceberg. For leaders who are deeply embedded in the system already, there's a lot to lose: property, social standing, pension, tenure. It seems to me that few will take those risks.
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