Our MCN Dispatch — September 7, 2026
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Dear Missional Friends,
Missional Christianity — a perspective of Lesslie Newbigin
How is it possible that the gospel should be credible, that people should come to believe that the power which has the last word in human affairs is represented by a man hanging on a cross? I am suggesting that the only answer, the only hermeneutic of the gospel, is a congregation of men and women who believe it and live like it. . . .
Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989), 227.
As quoted by Bob Thun in The Gospel After Christendom (2025)
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Our local Regina Missional Church Network
We chose to name ourselves as a “Missional Church Network,” where we “missional“ (a variation on “missionary” ) means “sending forth.” But in this case, the sending-forth relates much closer to home, immediately beyond the walls of the local church—our local mission fields.
The meaning of “Church” within the Missional Church Movement definitely refers to the “local church,” but as we choose to define the word we think more generally of the broader Church of Regina.
Network, for us, is an interest in individuals who continue to be active in local church life but who desire to be especially prepared for missional action and witness in our larger culture and community. We choose to band together for both learning and effective collaborative action. We therefore are not into building another local church, nor another denominational structure. Rather we wish to build connections with others who sense a calling to bring the gospel and the healing community of the Church into the local community in new and creative ways.
Lesslie Newbigin, on returning to Britain after 40 years of missionary work, was dismayed at how British churches were failing to engage missionally within their own local culture and communities. In contrast to prevailing views that Western life was essentially Christian, Newbigin tended to define it as essentially “pagan.” In such ways, the Missional Movement has focused on preparation and creative engagement for ways to become more effectively engaged with the ubiquitous secular world.
In so doing, we attempt to promote critical reflection on:
- a common longstanding pietistic retreat from the world
- tendencies (particularly in the US) to align public Christian witness with political ideology
- the need to reaffirm biblical teaching on a holistic concern for both worship of God and care for Others
- the recovery of meaning of Evangelicalism, with its focus on the Good News (euangelion, or gospel), which offers meaningful help to people awash in a confusing world.
We recognize, in scripture:
- the need to address discipleship as a learning process leading to a maturing faith and readiness for effective evangelical ministry.
- the multiplicity of giftedness of all believers, enabling each to be missionally engaged in their own God-ordained ways.
- the valuing of wisdom, humility, and steadfast defense of the radical Christian message as defined by Christ himself. This implies a deeper understanding of the Kingdom of God within this life, and the importance of values that constitute righteous and service-oriented lifestyle.
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Broader expressions of the Missional Movement
We have been pleased recently to discover more initiatives that share both the name and emphasis of Missional Christianity.
A website, authored by Brad Bisco , in Kansas City, Missouri:
Missional Church Network
[https://www.missionalchurchnetwork.com/]
An online university in South Carolina:
Missional University | AcademicCenter
[https://academiccenter.missional.university/]
See also our ChatGPT quick search on this Missional University
For more on Lesslie Newbigin’s leadership in the Missional Church Movement, there are further insights and multiple resources identified here:
QS — The Missional Church Movement Leadership of Lesslie Newbigin – RRVista…
Location of our expanding web resources:
Missional Christianity — MCN Resources
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The Crisis of Evolving Meanings of Evangelicalism
There is an irony involved in recent Evangelical “conservatism.” While conservatism purports to champion retention of the best values and practices of the past, US political conservatism has chosen to refashion Evangelicalism to be at significant odds with historic and theological Evangelicalism. Recent articles below trace a progress of how this has occurred. The second article highlights reactions of some evangelicals groups to abandon the word entirely. These are disturbing, yet understandable, trends that continue to bring confusion and distortion within our Evangelical community.
1976 Was a Turning Point for Evangelicalism – Christianity Today
Also downloaded and reformatted for personal or small-group study here.
Why would an Evangelical group erase the word ‘Evangelical’?
Also downloaded and reformatted for personal or small-group study here.
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Local focus – Recovery Ministry
In June of this year, Kevin Vance and Nick Helliwell (both heavily involved in inner-city ministry at Gentle Road Church of Christ, attended a course at Regent College (Vancouver BC) on addiction ministries.
Kevin has offered to share his course assignments with the larger community here as he and Nick attempt to address the need for recovery ministry in North Central.
From Darkness to Light – Addictions Paper by Kevin Vance
VanceK Book Review: Reading the Bible with the Damned by Bob Ekblad
VanceK Book Review Recovering from Brokenness and Addiction to Blessedness… by Aaron White
MCN is keenly interested in ministry needs within inner-city Regina . In coming months we intend to share more insights on ministry attempts to address both spiritual and physical needs in our inner-city and elsewhere.
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Summer Activities of our MCN Inner Core
Book study: Winsome Persuasion
A local core group of individuals committed to Missional Christianity, and guided by our advisory team, frequently meet in-person and virtually to share perspectives and resources.
Currently we are in a book study on Winsome Persuasion by Tim Muehlhoff and Tim Langer. The authors here promote a biblically-oriented approach to our missional calling that stands in some contrast to the too-common political aggressiveness often associated with current media-defined Evangelicalism.
Yes, there is a need to hold firmly to our faith and convictions, but how do we do it with grace and careful attention to truth and respectful dialogue?
For a review, see:
Winsome Persuasion: Christian Influence in a Post-Christian World (Review by Sean Connable) | CCSN
Also find the downloadable author’s PDF version here.
Another book, named Winsome Conviction, by the same authors, is an important sequel. John Yates, a church leader much influenced over the decades by the evangelicalism of John Stott, writes:
After ministering in the nation’s capital for forty years, it is our conviction that this inability of believers to thoughtfully disagree and to carefully hear and understand the strongly held beliefs of others who see things differently is a shameful reality that must be acknowledged and overcome. The time is now. Muehlhoff and Langer have given us a wise and practical tool that can help all of us–especially in our churches.
–John and Susan Yates, former senior pastor of The Falls Church Anglican, Falls Church, Virginia
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A brief Coordinator’s report.
As my wife and I grow older, we are being reminded of personal limitations and the need to give priority to appropriately balance family support alongside other long-standing ministry commitments. One priority is our own extended family relating to our Indigenous daughter, chosen now more than 50 years ago, and her children and grandchildren. They are well-embedded in inner-city culture, experience common life-style issues, and profit from outreach ministries. We praise God for successes, for effective recovery methods, and the existence of local loving Christian communities.
We also give priority to a major refugee project that struggles through current problems caused by government policy changes.
For reasons of juggling such responsibilities, our MCN newsletters and related initiatives will appear more sporadically than we prefer.
As others of you in Regina might find common purpose with Missional Church initiative, let’s meet to explore what God would have us do to enhance our readiness to be effective agents of His Kingdom.
Here are some recent revisions of MCN documents that might help clarify our sense of purpose and commitments. We would love to hear from you and further explore ways to engage collaboratively on our common sense of local mission.
Our Purpose — Missional Church Network (Regina)
MCN Foundational Pillars [latest revision]
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Share and Connect
Views expressed above are those of the current coordinator/editor and do not necessarily reflect the views of our advisory team.
Our developing website can be accessed here: MCN Initiative – RRVista…
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We welcome your feedback.
Ron Richmond
Acting Coordinator
Missional Church Network
306.591.3936
Ronald.Richmond @ sasktel.net