In breaking down the liturgy into essential elements it is possible to consider what is essential in our church practice. I don’t want to try and nut out all of the doctrine or theology here - but just ask the question - what do you actually need to do to be and function as a church?
I guess from my own experience, it is an important discussion as the answer(s) shape the way that you go about living.
So - in asserting a ‘non’ answer, I think that the most important endeavour is actually the discussion that needs to be had - for the individual, couple, family or church community.
What you should arrive at through this process is two distinctive aspects:
1) What you should do (theologically)
2) What you choose (could) to do
Obviously, there are the negative alternatives to these - what you shouldn’t do and what you choose not to do.
Once again, there is an interesting question that this raises in terms of tradition and the institutional church. Basically - how much of what churches do is a should a could. You might even find that there are shouldn’ts in there as well.
I think the real challenge in being involved in a missional church community is in fact working out the could. There are so many good things that you can do (individually, as a family or as a church community). Ultimately, filtering these through your goals or values is best practice, and needs to be continually revisited.
More to come… I guess ;)
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