Bringing all this to a practical level raises the very real problem of dealing with change how the church in its broader sense deals with changing cultural expectations, differing interpretations of what is ‘normal’, increasingly powerful advocacy on the part of minority groups, rapidly moving patterns of socialisation, radical economic and political swings, and much more. When tied in with the challenges that are brought with new theological approaches to old problems, changing expectations of how the church should look and feel, constant change in how professional ministers are trained, demand for greater participation in leadership, to mention just a few current topics of conversation it becomes clear that a point of liminality has been reached that cannot be ignored.[1] The impact of this upon the church in terms of church planting is to cast doubt on how things have been done in the past and to raise questions about what the church might have to offer to society both institutionally and socially.
[1] Alan J. Roxburgh, The Missionary Congregation, Leadership and Liminality (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1997), 38-9. Roxburgh develops the idea of liminality in relation to society as a whole, that there is no longer any fixed point of reference, of a central point that can be used to gain meaning.
