EP#24 - Missional: Newbigin and our unravelling

Al Roxburgh and Jenny Sinclair talk with Martin Robinson, a leading thinker and guide in missional practice and theology. Together they explore what the word “missional” meant for Lesslie Newbigin in contrast to what it is often taken to mean now - a strategy to save the church. Martin explores the impact of modernity and its current unravelling which has brought many, especially the young, to a place of despair and pessimism about the future, relationships, economics and the environment. Yet, through the many church planting stories he is witnessing, he is identifying signs of hope. Martin sees something stirring in those who can come with openness and responsiveness; those who bring a desire for personal encounter with God. Recognising that some institutionalised churches have had a tendency to fossilise the divine, Martin believes we need to recover a culture of expectation - that God is active and at work in our lives.

Born of missionary parents in India, Martin returned home to the UK where he grew up in Scotland and then moved to England. After settling in Birmingham, he followed in his father’s footsteps in church planting while completing a PhD in history with a focus on Pentecostal movements. He later joined the Bible Society where he was the Director of Mission and Theology. During this time, he worked with Lesslie Newbigin especially in the shaping of conferences (Swanwick, 1992) and the conversations that emerged from that event in terms of the Gospel and our Culture movements. Later, Martin, along with his wife, Lynda, developed and formed ForMission College to equip leaders in the transformation of their communities. Martin is Moderator Emeritus of the Fellowship of Churches of Christ denomination, co-founder of Rowheath Pavilion Church, and co-founder of the Journal of Missional Practice. 

Currently, Martin works particularly closely in the fields of church planting, and is part of the expert church planting team at Engage West Midlands, working especially among immigrant communities in the UK. He continues to resource the work of missional theology and challenge the churches in this era of vast social transformation. He is the author of many books.

- Links -

For Alan J Roxburgh:

http://alanroxburgh.com/about

https://www.themissionalnetwork.com/author/alan-roxburgh/

https://journalofmissionalpractice.com/alan-roxburgh

X.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/alanjroxburgh?lang=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alan.roxburgh.127/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecommonsnetwork 

Selected books:

Joining God in the Great Unraveling 

Leadership, God’s Agency and Disruptions 

Joining God, Remaking Church, Changing the World: The New Shape of the Church in Our Time 

For Jenny Sinclair:

Website: https://togetherforthecommongood.co.uk/from-jenny-sinclair

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-sinclair-0589783b/

X.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/T4CG

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TogetherForTheCommonGoodUK

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/t4cg_insta/

For Martin Robinson:

https://www.engageuk.org.uk/

https://the-fcc.org/about/

https://www.pavilionchurch.org.uk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-robinson-78a55ab/?originalSubdomain=uk

https://togetherforthecommongood.co.uk/stories/from-space-to-place

https://togetherforthecommongood.co.uk/stories/pavilion

Selected books:

The Place of the Parish

Practices for the Refounding of God's People: The Missional Challenge of the West (with Alan Roxburgh)

Invading Secular Space: Strategies for Tomorrow's Church

The Faith of the Unbeliever: Grappling with the Beliefs and Unbeliefs That Shape Our Society

Planting Mission Shaped Churches Today

Planting Tomorrow’s Churches Today 

To Win the West

Rediscovering the Celts

Sacred Places, Pilgrim Paths