Claire Musters speaks to John McGinley about the emerging reformation of the church, explored in his latest book.
Why did you feel now was the time for this book?
In my role with the Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication I have the privilege of serving churches across the country and ecumenically. I began to notice two significant themes in the conversations I was having with church leaders. Firstly, the sense that things that used to work weren’t working anymore and people were struggling to know how to address the experience of declining attendance, aging demographic and stretched resources (even before the pandemic). Alongside this I was seeing wonderful signs of faith and a variety of new expressions of church and discipleship practices.
I wanted to speak into this reality of decline and challenge and life and growth, and help people discern what God might be doing at this time; to be able to interpret the signs of our times.
What are the trends you see in Church history regarding change and revolution? What lessons do you think we can learn from them?
The most significant and relevant trend I see in Church history is that at the very time the Church feels at its weakest or overwhelmed by the surrounding culture, God begins to move in what eventually becomes a dominant new pattern of church life, bringing renewal and revival. We see this in examples such as the Desert Fathers, the fall of the Roman Empire and Benedict’s monastic movement, and the Wesleyan revival. In each of these stories the renewal movements start small, but the new life and health multiplies and grows. That is why we need to look for the signs of what God is doing today – it won’t be obvious to start with and so we have to find the things God is blessing and the ways he is bringing new life to his Church.
What do you think the Church will look like in the future?
I am full of hope because I see the new shoots of life that God is bringing to his Church. But the Church in England has been in decline for 70 years, so we can’t use our current pattern of church life as a model for the future. What God is doing is not a small tweak to the current model; he is dismantling his Church and reforming it. This will take decades not years, but if I’m right then it is vital we understand this and begin to join in with what God is doing even though it is uncomfortable. One of the hardest aspects of this is not knowing what it will look like, so I have focused on spiritual practices and patterns of life and relationship rather than structures. Rather than resisting change we have to open ourselves to God’s work, allowing him to lead us step by step.
Your chapters cover the hallmarks you believe will make up the Church of the future, such as being churches that plant churches, churches with a diverse leadership and prioritising prayer – and even going more slowly. Could you explain why you think they will be in the DNA of the Church of the future?
The reason I suggest moving slowly in recovering these practices is so we stop looking for quick fixes and instead pay attention to the quality of the life we live in Christ. These practices grow over time, and require us to learn them because they feel uncomfortable and unfamiliar. The danger is that we hear words such as ‘church-planting’ and ‘prioritising prayer’ as technical solutions without taking time to understanding the massive cultural, leadership and lifestyle change this will involve for our churches and members. We need to follow Jesus and allow him to teach us these things over time.
The specific practices are not an exhaustive list but what I believe are key areas in which God wants to correct distortions that have grown up within the Church. These, I suggest, have grown up during Christendom like the way a cataract across an eye gradually blinds someone. We accept our current practice as normal and yet I believe it has moved away from God’s original intention. For example, every Christian prays, but the pattern of prayer in most of our churches lacks an understanding that we are in a spiritual battle; we have been given spiritual weapons to strengthen ourselves spiritually and pray for the kingdom of God to come on earth as it is in heaven. So, I am offering an understanding of how these areas of our Christian faith have become distorted and how God is beginning to show us how to follow him in fresh ways.
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