The Washington Theological Consortium posted an article written by Jane Mellinger titled, Yves Congar and Stanley Grenz on the Work of the Holy Spirit in the Church - "Yves Congar argued that the Spirit is given to the church as the Body of Christ, calling the Spirit “the personal and living principle of the communion of the church. Speaking in temporal terms, the Holy Spirit worked an initial unity among the apostles before the day of Pentecost, so that they would be morally united in preparation for his coming. At Pentecost, then, the Spirit descended upon the gathered community of apostles and disciples, inaugurating the new people of God. In addition, the Holy Spirit continues his work within the church as an organic whole, sustaining communion, continuing to build the church in the present. Congar reminded his readers that the church is not static but dynamic, not a completed edifice but a living organism that requires the Spirit both to evoke and to respond to continual epiclesis. Hence, the Holy Spirit makes the church one Body of Christ in a mystical sense."
The ministry of the church is always strengthened by a commitment to the transformational power of the Holy Spirit within its community. It confirms the truth that witness is never complete without a community of believers who give illustration to what life is like in the shared life of love and faith.
Walter Brueggemann identifies an attitude that I see in my own neighbourhood, "Ezra is the great "new church start" leader. A
new church means reformulating the faith in radical ways in the midst
of a community that has to begin again. For Ezra, as for Moses, new
church starts do not aim at strategies for success, but at strategies
for survival of an alternative community. What must survive is not
simply the physical community; what must survive is an alternative
community with an alternative memory and an alternative social
perspective rooted in a peculiar text that is identified by a peculiar
genealogy and signed by peculiar sacraments, by peculiar people not
excessively beholden to the empire and not lusting after domestication
into the empire..."
May I say that we are a witness to the transformational nature of the gospel in both word and deed. We offer sacrificial compassionate service. This is the church at work, representing the reign of God among its neighbours near and far. These thoughts, along with the power of the Holy Spirit will enable us to understand mission.
http://www.nextreformation.com/wp-admin/articles/cadences1.htm
