Editorial Matters: ministry, enemies and honest questions

Three concerns meet in this issue: how ministry is shared, how Christians treat those who oppose them, and how the church speaks with people who cannot join it.

Collaborative ministry

Team ministry is now commonplace, yet it is often defended only as a practical response to shrinking resources. The opening article asks what Scripture and current theology actually say about leadership that is shared, and whether the case is stronger than pragmatism.

Loving enemies

The second contribution in our series on loving enemies turns to the book of Acts, where opposition to the gospel came from religious quarters as well as political ones. The argument is that love is shown most clearly in the preaching of grace, and that opponents are better understood as people who need saving than as enemies to be defeated.

Listening to agnostics

A further article presses a harder point. If mission is only the confident restatement of orthodoxy, the church will talk past many of its neighbours. Genuine dialogue with those who are committed to spiritual questioning but cannot belong to a congregation may teach us something we need to hear.

The issue closes with a theological reflection written from a hospice placement, on time, presence and prayer.