A workshop presented by Michael VandenEnden & Gerald Hildebrand

While considerable attention has been given the being the “missional church,” relatively little attention has been given to the practice of “missional preaching.” Missional church thinking (now over 100 years old) is a movement that draws heavily on the concept of missio Dei, as the essential element in Christian ecclesiology. “The emphasis was placed on the mission of the Triune God in the world in relation to all three persons of the Godhead – Father, Son and Holy Spirit” (Van Gelder, 2004). So the mission is God’s, not the church’s; and the church, participating in the missio Dei, is missionary by its very nature.

So, what does it mean for us to be missional in our preaching, or to “preach mission?” Does it have to do with being a sent community (John 20), and becoming living demonstration (i.e. incarnation) of the gospel? Hunsberger (2003) has suggested that “we structure our lives around being a sent community instead of a vender of services.” This involves a fundamental shift in identity, pastoral leadership habits, community formation, orientation of the church’s mission and preaching.

Paul wrote, “… we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of god and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:23, NRSV). And to Timothy he would write, “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendent of David – that is my gospel” (2 Timothy 2:8, NRSV). How do we do this?

Here are a few questions that we may wish to consider in our conversation:

1. How does missional preaching prepare God’s people for their witness to the work of Christ in the world?
2. How does our preaching express the dialogue between the gospel and culture?
3. Is preaching limited to the gathering of believers, or does it finds its way into the public square? And if so, how does this find expression?
4. How does our preaching contrast the gospel message with the practices and values of civil religion?
5. Does our preaching have a cross/inter-cultural dimension, preparing God’s people to be citizens of a global community of Christ-followers? How does our preaching help people develop a Christian world-view?
6. Does our preaching engage people in a participatory manner – moving from a monological presentation to a dialogical, participatory encounter with the biblical text and God’s people?
7. How do we engage the imagination and memory of the community in the sharing of the good news of Jesus?
8. How do we employ the arts in our gathering so that people may be drawn to hear from God and each other through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the gift of our senses?
9. Does our preaching only serve as a motivation to action, or does it call people to a deeper, contemplative place where we may hear the personal invitation of God to be a follower of Christ in all of life?
10. How does our preaching bring together our understanding and experience of justification and justice?

Please come and participate in this conversation. We assume that our shared experiences can serve to identify some “best practices” that we can learn from one another. It may be suggested that our “best preaching” takes place when we speak authentically – out of who we are and how God had is forming/transforming us in Christ.

Come share your story.

Michael Vanden Enden is pastor at Grantham MB Church, St. Catharines, Ont.

Gerald Hildebrandt is pastor at McIvor Avenue MB Church, Winnipeg.