We are a Church Planting Network dedicated to fostering a new kind of church in post-Christendom contexts.
We are a Church Planting Network dedicated to fostering a new kind of church in post-Christendom contexts.
Mission Anabaino emerged from a thirty-plus year post-Christendom context in North America, specifically New England - arguably the "least religious region of North America." In this environment, our deepest convictions are often not acknowledged or respected. The words "God" and "Church" are frequently treated as relics of the past.
Yes, like other post-Christendom places, our birthing grounds of New England are desperate for more churches. But even more so, post-Christendom places need a "new kind" of church! This has become MA's area of expertise. Over the years, it was discovered that the Christendom-model of planting churches most common in our denominational contexts was just not adequate. It often led to disillusionment and false expectations for our church planters. It also failed to reflect a strategy suitable to truly "scratch" plants.
We recognize the need for not just more churches, but a "new kind" of church that can effectively engage with and minister to a post-Christendom society. We aim to rediscover the sacred first principles of the apostolic missionary church. We translate these principles into social liturgies that address post-modernity challenges. We reconstruct the pre-modern, apostolic church for a post-Christendom context.
We are a comprehensive planter-support community. Developing theological vision for the long-haul of planting and leading a church. Cultivating and allocating financial and other fiscal resources, going beyond typical network activities.
Rather than just "rethinking" strategy, forms and so called "philosophy of ministry," we believe our task is to do the much hard work of first deconstructing the Christendom-modernist "church" such as to then reconstruct the pre-modern, apostolic church in a way that can faithfully be translated into a post-Christendom context.
Our theological collaborative is focused on re-discovering the nature of the church by exploring the relationship between Christ as our covenantal head and our temple presence in the local church. We are committed to our Total Christ, Five Marks vision in missional ecclesiology, which guides our understanding and practice of planting and leading churches in a post-Christendom context.
We recruit, assess, and develop church planting apprenticeships to build a strong foundation.
We encourage, coach, and support church planters throughout their journey.
We foster a church planting culture in our MA affiliated anchor churches and planted churches.
Mission Anabaino (MA) seeks to fulfill the "greater things" in relation to Christ's great expectations regarding his ascension ministry today. It involves participating in the real and personal advent of Christ through church planting and the ecumenically-oriented rediscovery of missional ecclesiology.