Alfred Stephen
The urgency of the Church and preaching to dream an Open Church is evident within the Envisioning Together present context of the global socio – political and economic realities. A combination of religion, politics and the economy has resulted in social issues that threaten human rights and the rights of the earth. Migrant communities all over the world have been the most vulnerable group, struggling to live wholesome lives in the face of violence and death. Unexpected and unaccepted dislocation of people in the boundaries of helplessness and unaccepted relocation in a land not of their choice have led to maladjustments and loss of any feeling of worth sitting at the receiving end of hatred, ill treatment and discrimination. In India the brutal deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns announced by the government without giving any relief, confirm the perception that ‘India lives in her villages, works in her cities and dies somewhere in between.’ Forced migration and untold stories of ethnic cleansing, human trafficking and enforced labour are an everyday reality within and across the borders. The rise in suicide rates of young people due to unemployment and stressful work environment is noted in many parts of all over the world. The surge in violence against women, especially the girl child is a cause of concern. Discrimination based on colour, caste (in India), minority religion and gender are often normalized. Rape has become a political weapon of the dominant to silence and demoralize the vulnerable. People all over live in constant fear of some sort or the other. Those who have serious illness like HIV/AIDS in the midst of these social threats often remind us of the fragility and vulnerability of our lives as well as limitation of any human capacity. Cries of these people are proofs of their experience of separation and alienation from all their loved ones. God has forgotten me in my affliction is the cry that echoes the extremity of their suffering and profound sense of loss of the very presence of God. Those who live healthy with sustainable employment, and stable family environment are not exempt from the vigor of the raveling world. Present societies are filled with families of often unrevealed broken relationships, violence in the neighbourhood, in cities and remote villages, places of education on the basis of colour, caste, class, and gender, rape, killings and violence under the influence of drugs, abandoned children of unwed mothers thrown in the waste bins and young people searching for some ways to live. In the present context, if we extend our awareness of these realities to include the victims of international politics and economics, we are astounded with the existence of millions of victims of racism, classism, ethnicity, and discrimination of all types. People find themselves in broken relationships both within family and out in the society. Hatred towards strangers is an undisputed reality of many societies of nationalism and racism. It is also the daily experience of all the dislocated and helpless. On the other hand the global reality is the profound silence of these victims in the global public square as well as within the church. Silenced by the powers of domination, muted as impaired by physical assault, depowered by prioritization within the church, dispositioned because of their very identity, discounted of their physical presence, their voices are chocked to feeble whisper and over toned by the voices of the powerful. Can the powerless speak and be heard within the church of the powerful and can there be preaching from the perspective of the powerless?
Envisioning Together Greed of people has resulted in groaning of the creation in pangs of child birth longing for redemption and restoration. While there is no negation of an open world of possibilities, unexpressed hopelessness is the reality of many people.
Within this contextual reality of an open World of vulnerability, fear and hopelessness, there is an authentic call to dream, envision and strive missionally towards an Open Church of hospitality, welcome and hope.
I developed this theology of the Church to be Envisioning Together an Open Church in an Open World taking the mustard seed parable in Matthew 13 : 31 – 32 as basis. According to this parable, the Church is understood as the visible sign of the Kingdom of God on earth. The Parable reflects the contemporary nature of the Church. The Church has both local and global elements in terms of her Nature, Ministry and Mission and Composition. The parable presents also a new perspective of the Church. The Church must be locally rooted and globally open. Biblical rootedness leads to wider perception of the theology, ministry, mission and composition of the Church. The deeper the Church is rooted in the Bible, the wider and stronger she grows. This rootedness challenges the Church to be globally
i Open in welcoming, embracing, empowering, and encouraging the afflicted belonging to all strata of people,
ii Sojourning with those blindfolded with masks of oppression and discrimination and left without any direction, and
iii, Assuring them of hope of the future.
This rootedness leads to inward and outward perception of the nature and ministry of the Church. Inward perception facilitates
i. Knowing the truth of the Scripture,
ii. Knowing the self-identity of the Church,
iii. Knowing the image and nature of the Church,
iv. Knowing the reality and composition of the Church,
v. Knowing the functions and ministries of the Church,
vi. Knowing the growth and maturity of the Church.
The Biblical rootedness leads to the outward perception of theological rootedness which facilitates understanding of the theology, nature,
Envisioning Together ministry, mission and composition of the Church. It also facilitates the outward perception of
i. Knowing the purpose and ministerial functions of the Church,
ii. Knowing the horizons (often invisible) of the Church,
iii. Knowing the wide range of people who are seeking shelter (birds of the air),
iv. Knowing the need and capacity of the Church to accommodate the shelter seekers in the society,
v. Knowing the growth of the Church.
Biblical and Theological rootedness leads to the Ministerial perception of the Church which facilitates
i. Knowing the scope of ministerial locations of the Church,
ii. Knowing the intentions and thirst of the shelter seekers,
iii. Knowing the scope of openness extending the branches to the shelter seekers, iv. Knowing the unbiased hospitality which needs to be offered,
v. Offering possibilities to the birds of the air (the shelter seekers) to make their nests and sing their songs in their own voices and multiply.
This rootedness further leads to the understanding of the composition of the Church. The mustard shrub grows up to accommodate ALL the birds of the Air. People of all types, irrespective of anyone who is caught up within and out of any human made boundaries, must compose the Church Envisioning Together , because the Church is the visible sign of the Kingdom of God on the earth and in the Kingdom of God no one is left out. This possible only when the Pastor and members strive together.
Therefore my vision for the church is that we as the Church are called to “Envision Together an Open Church in an Open World”.
