The author explores three images of the church in mission: the church as a foretaste of the kingdom of God; the church as body of Christ; the church as movement of the Spirit (p.54). It is concerned with the church’s participation in God’s mission to and in the world (p.40). The article attempts to look at mission through the lenses of social, cultural, economic and political contexts (p.41). The church cannot be separated from mission because it only exists for the mission.

This article has affected my own understanding of mission by providing a welcomed reminder that the church is intended to demonstrate alternative ways of organization and living to those that prevail in society (p.44). Church growth is up to God, not the church (p.45). The success of the church’s mission work is not determined by the number of people in the pews but is determined by the engagement of the church with the wants and needs of the community in which it exists. I appreciated this line “If we Christians are unaware of our disunity, hypocrisy and sinfulness, then our secular neighbours and neighbours of other faiths may point it out to us.” A church which does not serve its neighbors will not be spoken well of in its community.

A church that is not engaging in mission and instead is focusing only on its survival will cease to exist. As the author points out so well, the broken liturgical communion between the churches is a cause of suffering to the body (p.50). The UMC is suffering right now because it is seeking uniformity rather than unity. My understanding of mission is that we must shift our focus to the promotion of that which binds us together as a body with many parts working toward one mission.

Kim, Kirsteen. 2010. “Mission Theology of the Church.” International Review of Mission 99 (1): 39–55. doi:10.1111/j.1758-6631.2010.00035.x.