Look to the Margins: Hope for Leadership amid Liminality!
by Claude Nikondeha
According
to Alan Roxburgh, the North American church in late modernity is firmly
in liminal space; meaning that there is little that is firm or solid as
we transition into a post-modern or post-colonial era. In truth, the
North American church has been on the margins for some time now, but it
has been a comfortable arrangement. In recent years, the church become
aware that it is on the margins; the cultural quake got the attention
of many church leaders at long last. Many pastors, denominational
leaders and faithful disciples are trying to gain their footing in this
new decentered reality. They are surveying the aftermath of modernity
and see that they are on the margins, and they are not alone. And the
question of how to reimagine, retool and rebuild the church overwhelms
the most thoughtful among them.
These North American church
leaders have lost their point of reference. Like the tsunami that wiped
away entire villages leaving nothing standing in its wake, many of the
monuments of modernity have been taken out to sea. What is left is a
territory with no recognizable landmarks. No wonder so many of us feel
disoriented and at a loss. There are no longer any street signs to
follow; we need a compass, a remnant of a map or, truth be told, the
leading of the Spirit. Alert and thoughtful leaders are trying to chart
a new course; but with a very vague map and an atrophied sense of
direction. How can we find our way in liminal space? Who knows the
terrain of the margins?
There is a hint of direction in
Roxburgh’s text; look to the margins! He suggests that resources for
navigating liminal space for the North American church will include
reengaging Scripture and, to the current point, ‘... listening to the
voices of those Christian groups that have long lived outside the
center of culture.” He believes that the future direction of the church
will be discovered as we engage with ‘dissenting churches’ and ‘ethnic
groups.’ “They understand the position of the underling and the
outsider. Liminality requires us to listen attentively to their
ecclesiologies.” This is one of the most valuable insights gleaned from
a reading of Roxburgh’s treatment of liminality — there are leaders who
are capable of leading us and who know the terrain; because they have
been operating on the margins for years.
Around the world,
many denominations are struggling to survive. As regular church
attendance wanes, leaders are looking for strategies to bring people
back into the fold. Roxburgh would say that many of these renewal
strategies and church growth seminars are attempts to return to the
hay-day of modernity/colonialism which is not going to happen.
We
often wonder if there is anyone out there who has managed this
situation before, anyone who can offer insight born from seasoned
experience. There are those who can articulate the quandary with great
poignancy, but can anyone say that they have some ideas about what to
try next? We don’t need a new coach to help us to start new programs
(the preferred modern methodology), but we need a conversation,
suggestions, personal antidotes from churches around the world,
partnerships between churches/leaders to walk together through this
disorienting time. Friendships among missional churches/leaders could
be the greatest gift for this season, if we can take the time to be
together and listen.
In May 7 – 11th of 2007, many African,
and some non-African, Christian missional leaders will gather to
address these questions at the Amahoro African Gathering. These leaders
will meet together in Kampala, Uganda for several days of constructive
dialogue, planting seeds of thought and preparing the soil for new
partnerships. These hopeful and dedicated leaders will seek to define
and embody what it means to “be the church” in the emerging
post-colonial/post modern world. Through their conversations and
experiences, these African and non-African followers of Jesus will seek
His Kingdom together, allowing their conversation to become the
framework of long-term partnerships to enrich the work of the emerging
church worldwide. The Amahoro African Gathering is the beginning of the
conversation and we would like to invite you to consider traveling to
Uganda to be at this historic Gathering not as missionaries, but as
those seeking to learn together with brothers and sisters in Christ who
have been living on the margins from the beginning.
For registration information: Please e-mail Luke Miller at luke@amahoro-africa.com; for more information; visit www.amahoro-africa.com or call Claude Nikondeha at 623 217 3361. To support Amahoro Gathering in Uganda: Click here
