Whatever we think about this question and whatever theological and observational critiques we bring to the current trends in local church shaping, there are at least two things that God's people (traditionally, historically and scripturally) affirm regarding God's activity: namely that God is for the healing of the world and that God is not an absentee landlord, but is at work in his world.
I recognise that the simplicity of that statement belies the raging disputes that God's people tie themselves in knots about, particularly in relation to what this 'healing' will look like and who or what will be healed, but it is a starting point for this discussion. And goodness knows the Church needs a starting point for this discussion!
So this, for me, is a good place to start: to affirm that God is for his world and is present within it, and that this must have an impact on the Church, for it is this God who ultimately gives shape to his Church.
In this article, I will address some of the issues which, necessarily, arise from the question itself. Recognising the breadth of the question and the relative brevity of this work, I will contain myself to what I believe to be the main issues, specifically: the timely relevance of such a question, what we mean when we speak of 'mission' and what mission-shaped church might look like.
A necessary question?
