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Preface

It is our hope that those people presently exercised about mission and the spread of the Christian gospel in our post-Christian society will find these studies of scripture and the early Church pertinent to their thinking. Although the main chapters focus on biblical and historical material, the final chapter makes some attempt to draw out conclusions for the Church today; but the work is offered in the spirit of provoking reflection on potential parallels rather than offering ready-made answers. Insofar as we have any expertise, it lies in providing insight into the early history and the fundamental texts of the Christian faith, but in selecting the material we have been influenced by an awareness of the contemporary context within which the Church now needs to pursue its calling to participate in God’s mission.

In particular we focus on mission in the city. This is because the book began life as the Hugh Price Hughes lectures in 2010, delivered at Hinde Street Methodist Church in London during Lent, the context being the celebration of 250 years of Methodism in the West End and 200 years on the present site. The subject of ‘mission’ and in particular ‘mission in the city’ commended itself because Hinde Street is now the headquarters of the West London Mission Circuit, inheriting the work of notable leaders such as Hugh Price Hughes and Donald Soper at Kingsway Hall. We are pleased that the enthusiastic response to the lectures led Roger Cotterrell (a member of Hinde Street Church, Anniversary Professor of Legal Theory at Queen Mary University of London and a Fellow of the British Academy) to compile an appendix gathering together diverse voices from the audience, who spoke out of the experience of trying to live as Christians in the urban environment. However, the theological and practical issues we discuss are hopefully of far wider relevance.

Yet that original context is important, not least because it was the invitation to the two of us from Hinde Street which occasioned our first, much appreciated opportunity to collaborate with one another. We have enjoyed working together, and we hope that our readers will discern something of the interest generated by this project.

Morna Hooker and Frances Young

April 2010