It was like a strong hunger was being satisfied, a deep thirst being quenched. Indeed, when we reviewed the feedback on the conference, several attendees asked for more time to be given to teaching on and discussion about the Church, pointing to this strong hunger and deep thirst.
It may surprise some of us that a large group of students, creatives, and young professionals—most of them under the age of 30—were so eager to discuss ecclesiology after the upheaval of the last few years; even more, that they did so with little fear, and much joy. Much of our post-pandemic ecclesiology is tinged with fretfulness, anxiety, and—dare I say it—cynicism. That is understandable given the continued numeric decline of the Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand, our very public failures, and our continued wrestle with what it looks like to be the Church in faithfulness and fruitfulness in a pluralistic society.
So why the joy among this group? Let me venture a two-part answer. First, they encountered a confidence that God is at work within his Church. Second, they expressed hope for local church where one finds encouragement and help to grow as a disciple of Christ and to do so alongside others. If the confidence in God and hope for the Church that we saw at Summer Conference is a sign of what will mark the generations ahead—those who will increasingly take up leadership within the Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand—then we should be encouraged.
It’s the same confidence in God and hope for the local church that animates and unites the articles and offerings in our first edition of Common Ground for 2024. In our lead article “Holy Lives”, André Muller reminds us that as the Church we are not a “self-made people”, but rather a people called and made holy by God. Many of us shy away from talk of holy lives, preferring to emphasize, say, God’s love. With characteristic insight and sensitivity, André repositions us to understand better what it means to become a holy people called by a holy God. The implications for your daily life are, well, profoundly good. Ven. Dr. Lyndon Drake agrees. In “Why We Need the Church”, he reflects on the holiness, witness and unity of the Church. Lyndon’s remarks on the unity of the Church, which overcomes the human bias to divide on ethnic grounds, are worth lingering with at this juncture.
Our Field Notes interview is with husband and wife Ephraim Radner and Annette Brownlee. Ephraim has reflected deeply on the challenge facing the Church globally, and on the importance of Scripture within the life of the Church; Annette teaches Pastoral Theology at Wycliffe College, Toronto. Both have long been committed to the flourishing of God’s poeple, and we’re delighted at this chance to learn from their hard-won wisdom. Here, they reflect with John Dennison on the Church, on the centrality of Scripture for understanding our life together, and on their confidence in God’s purposes.
Alongside of these, you’ll find a compelling personal reflection by Lillian Murray about learning the joys—and good demands—of weekly gathering as Church. And we wrap this edition with an exquisite, quietly wise poem by Sarah Muller, “Good Creatures”.
Like those at this year’s Summer Conference, many of us have a strong hunger and thirst to renew our understanding, our love, and our hope for the Church. Those gifts arise from a confidence in God: in his character, his faithfulness and his good purpose for all creation. As we read and ponder together here, may God encourage and help us, and grant us his joy.
Ngā mihi nui,
Rev. Dr. Nathan McLellan,
Guest Editor, Common Ground
