Charismatic Church and Mission in Times of Austerity

Abstract

Many nations in the world are facing times of austerity with resulting economic pressures. The church is not exempt from this and often responds with practical plans to reshape their ministry and mission in the light of reduced resources. Yet there is a need to engage more positively in developing a contextual ecclesiology that enables mission in challenging times. This article seeks to explore this challenge through the example of the Church of England which is seen in terms of eleven elements of its ecclesiology. Ways in which the context of austerity affects thinking about these elements are explored, both in their positive and negative impacts. Austerity is explored through the themes of fear, security, retreat and connectedness. These themes are used as the basis of the suggestion for a positive shape to an ecclesiology that provides an attractive mission model in such contexts. Resources from a charismatic research project, Flame of Love, are used in support of this model. The aim is to suggest a theological as well as practical response to the challenges that austerity presents. KeywordsCharismatic, Church of England, Ecclesiology, mission, Pentecostalism Western nations are facing times of austerity, when cutbacks are being made in government spending in order to enable them to pay back the debt that is owed. Cutbacks to public services, like health and education, and to public workers income or pensions, has caused riots across Europe and protests in many nations. Questions are raised in economic terms about the helpfulness of austerity as opposed to meeting debt through growth. Yet whatever the arguments it appears that people and businesses are acting within an ethos of austerity, of cutting back on spending, and this brings changes to lives of most people through the complex interactions of spending, sales, profit, employment, debt, finances and world markets. Within the church the reaction is often also one of austerity as Christian charities have made workers redundant and churches wrestle with the problem of sustaining current ministry and mission with less resources. These can seem like pragmatic responses driven by the surrounding cultural ethos and often leave little space for missiological and theological reflection. Yet we are called to discern the times and consider how our context and our understanding of the church and mission interact in order to better serve the kingdom of God. This article is an initial attempt to articulate such a discernment within the author's particular context