In reading Alan Hirsch’s material on missional communities, he asks the question: “What is a church?” Here are the key elements of his definition:
- A covenanted community – a church is a group of people bound together in a distinctive bond.
- A covenanted community centered on Jesus – Jesus is the new covenant with God and he thus forms as the true epicenter of an authentic Christ-ian faith. But, more is required to truly constitute a church. A true encounter with God in Jesus must result in…
- A covenanted community that worships, defined as offering our lives back to God through Jesus.
- A covenanted community that practices discipleship, defined as following Jesus and becoming increasingly like him
- A covenanted community that is on mission, defined as extending the mission of God through the activities of his people.