SEARCH Journal

JOHN V. Taylor, theologian and Bishop of Winchester between 1975 and 1985, describes mission as, ‘an adventure of the imagination.’ Adventure implies risk and daring. An active and intentional quest with the potential for failure, as well as success. We think of Paul’s missionary journeys in Acts. The shipwrecks and the beatings. But, also, the visions, the miracles and the joy of new Christian communities taking shape in threatening and hostile environments. Similarly, imagination requires a willingness to be vulnerable; to observe what is, trust in a hope for what could be and experiment in the discomfort of the unfamiliar in order to discern the new thing God is bringing about by the Spirit. This has been my experience of mission as I have sought to articulate and model the Christian faith to those who might describe themselves as spiritual but not religious. Here, I describe how theology has been challenged and better understood by practice, and how subsequently theology, in turn, reshapes practice.