Andrew over at Backyard Missionaries asks the right question about our churches’ theological reflection:

what is striking me and giving me some cause some for concern is the amount of time spent focusing on ‘what we do when we meet’.

I wonder if this communicates what we feel to be at the heart of ‘church’? I believe our ecclesiology follows our missiology and once we get a focus on mission we will form up our church structures (or unstructures) and gatherings appropriately. As one in a new ‘church’ I don’t think our meeings are ever going to be whiz bang affairs, but they ought to sustain us in the mission we re called to. I guess I’m really saying who cares what we do when we meet if it renews and nurtures us to be sent out again. (just to clarify - i do see a place for prayer, scriptures and the whole one another stuff happening)

A number of the emerging church blog chats have had this focus also - now its not bad - don’t hear me say that - but i sense we spend too much energy trying to get the meeting ‘right’ and in that focus risk creating nothing more than a smaller version of what we have all come out of - a meeting centred ecclesiology.

If this were the view of the churches of Christ at the middle of the last century, we would have emerged from it far more relevant and poised to impact the world than we currently are.

If you don’t read Hamo’s blog regularly, stop reading mine and get over there.