My Ecclesiological Vantage Point

I have just returned from hand-carrying the first draft of my ThM thesis over to the department secretary. The angst remains (I always have stomach-churning angst when I turn in a large project; sometimes it is justified; most times it is not...the angst remains). I've posted my own starting point below. The articulation of an EC ecclesiology is over at Who in the World Are We?

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The content of the faith. We know the story of God. The story of which we speak is the story of God, stretching back to the very beginning and forward to the consummation of the Kingdom. We hear the story authoritatively in Scripture and derivatively in tradition. We participate in the story by following Jesus and we tell the story through words and actions.

The nature of the church. We are the people of God. We are peopled through our connection with the Triune God, not by our affinity. Community is essential to our being and our essential communal nature shapes our structures and practices.

The purpose of the church. We expand the kingdom of God. The kingdom was announced by Jesus during his earthly ministry. He called his followers to enter the kingdom. The Kingdom of God has come and has not yet come. Jesus announced its in-breaking, but it will only be consummated in the eschaton. For now, Christians expand the Kingdom through regular life together, centered on Jesus, and for the sake of the world. Together we declare the Kingdom’s King until he comes.

Tag(s): emerging church emergent church ecclesiology

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“Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.” http://www.esv.org/