Centre for Missional Leadership
Encyclopedia
The Centre for Missional Leadership (CML) is a branch office of the London School of Theology
. It is based in Watford
, 20 miles northwest of central London
. CML teaches applied theology with the aim of equipping Christians for practical evangelism. Located on the Watford High Street, CML is an urban centre for Christian
learning in the fields of applied theology and Christian mission. The centre trains Christians for ministries that are both in and outside the church. Many non-church ministries have been developing over recent years.
.
CML rejects what it believes to be a false dichotomy and dualism
of the sacred and secular divides. An early proponent of this thinking was the theologian John Stott
who, through his seminal work with the Lausanne movement
, sought to affirm belief in the central calling to ministry and mission of all Christians, regardless of their field of work. Stott wrote: “Every honourable work should be seen by Christians as some kind of co-operation with God, in which we share with Him in the transformation of the world which He has made and committed to our care”. A particular expression of Stott’s thinking reached culmination in the founding of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC) in 1982, now led by Mark Greene who has been a visiting lecturer at CML. The aim of LICC is to encourage evangelical Christians to put all areas of their lives under belief in the lordship of Jesus Christ.
C. S. Lewis
is said to have spoken enthusiastically about William Tyndale
's rejection of the secular/sacred divide. This is based on the Puritan
ideals of leading an ordered and disciplined life that integrates both secular and religious aspects.
The Business as Mission Movement also aims to equip Christians in the workplace. The movement was inspired by YWAM
and aims to provide resources for Christians to live out their faith in all aspects of life and to have purpose, perspective and impact that glorifies the Kingdom of God
.
CML was also influenced by the "Seven Mountains Movement" that emerged after a meeting in 1973 between Bill Bright
, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ
(CCCI), and Loren Cunningham
, founder of Youth with a Mission
(YWAM). A consensus emerged from their meeting stating that if post-modern secular western countries where going to be re-evangelised, then the wider church needed to take seriously sending advocates into various secular spheres rather than encouraging them to leave such spheres of influence and serve the church. This was not a negative attitude towards the church, but it recognised that the church had retreated from cultural engagement and aimed to face the issue. Seven areas of strategic influence were highlighted, namely arts and entertainment, business, education, family, church, government and the media. These fields are seen as particular culture shapers that are especially influential within the post-modern era. As the Seven Mountains movement emerged, the church was encouraged to repent for its retreat from these places of influence and instead infiltrate and permeate these areas as strategic mission outposts.
There has also been criticism that the church is out of touch with the pressures that people in secular jobs face. There have been efforts to try and educate church leaders about this concern, such as the third Lausanne congress in Cape Town
2010.
CML is in the Evangelical tradition and non-denominational and works with people from a number of denominations
. It is part of the London School of Theology, the largest Evangelical theological college in Europe
. The Evangelical tradition places emphasis on personal conversion, sharing the Gospel, belief in the inerrancy of the Bible and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as being historical events. The college aims specifically to equip people for whole-life discipleship as reflected in courses such as Mission and Bible Overview.
, where Cardell was a member and Greg Downes was on staff as an associate minister.
In 2010 it was announced that WSOL was to merge with the London School of Theology (LST) under the new Centre for Missional Leadership name. This change took place officially on 1 September 2010. CML operates as the Watford campus of LST, the largest evangelical theological college in Europe.
, Charles Foster, Mark Greene and George Verwer
.
London School of Theology
The London School of Theology is an English interdenominational evangelical theological college based in Northwood within the London Borough of Hillingdon. A second campus is based in Watford, 20 miles northwest from central London, known as the Centre for Missional Leadership...
. It is based in Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
, 20 miles northwest of central London
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...
. CML teaches applied theology with the aim of equipping Christians for practical evangelism. Located on the Watford High Street, CML is an urban centre for Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
learning in the fields of applied theology and Christian mission. The centre trains Christians for ministries that are both in and outside the church. Many non-church ministries have been developing over recent years.
Workplace ministry
Movements that aim to equip people in the workplace are trying to create a shift in attitude from seeing work as a "necessary evil" to a vehicle for evangelismEvangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
.
CML rejects what it believes to be a false dichotomy and dualism
Dualism
Dualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...
of the sacred and secular divides. An early proponent of this thinking was the theologian John Stott
John Stott
John Robert Walmsley Stott CBE was an English Christian leader and Anglican cleric who was noted as a leader of the worldwide Evangelical movement. He was one of the principal authors of the Lausanne Covenant in 1974...
who, through his seminal work with the Lausanne movement
Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization
The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, abbreviated LCWE, is an Evangelical Christian movement that grew out of the 1974 International Congress on World Evangelization and promotes active worldwide evangelism. LCWE is also known as The Lausanne Movement...
, sought to affirm belief in the central calling to ministry and mission of all Christians, regardless of their field of work. Stott wrote: “Every honourable work should be seen by Christians as some kind of co-operation with God, in which we share with Him in the transformation of the world which He has made and committed to our care”. A particular expression of Stott’s thinking reached culmination in the founding of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC) in 1982, now led by Mark Greene who has been a visiting lecturer at CML. The aim of LICC is to encourage evangelical Christians to put all areas of their lives under belief in the lordship of Jesus Christ.
C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
is said to have spoken enthusiastically about William Tyndale
William Tyndale
William Tyndale was an English scholar and translator who became a leading figure in Protestant reformism towards the end of his life. He was influenced by the work of Desiderius Erasmus, who made the Greek New Testament available in Europe, and by Martin Luther...
's rejection of the secular/sacred divide. This is based on the Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
ideals of leading an ordered and disciplined life that integrates both secular and religious aspects.
The Business as Mission Movement also aims to equip Christians in the workplace. The movement was inspired by YWAM
Youth With A Mission
Youth With A Mission is an international, inter-denominational, non-profit Christian missionary organization...
and aims to provide resources for Christians to live out their faith in all aspects of life and to have purpose, perspective and impact that glorifies the Kingdom of God
Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...
.
CML was also influenced by the "Seven Mountains Movement" that emerged after a meeting in 1973 between Bill Bright
Bill Bright
William R. "Bill" Bright was an American evangelist. The founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, he wrote The Four Spiritual Laws in 1952 and produced the Jesus Film in 1979.-Early life:...
, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ
Campus Crusade for Christ
Campus Crusade for Christ is an interdenominational Christian organization that promotes evangelism and discipleship in more than 190 countries...
(CCCI), and Loren Cunningham
Loren Cunningham
Loren Duane Cunningham , is a co-founder of the international Christian missionary organization Youth With A Mission and the University of the Nations. Cunningham founded YWAM in the United States of America in 1960 with his wife Darlene Cunningham at the age of 24...
, founder of Youth with a Mission
Youth With A Mission
Youth With A Mission is an international, inter-denominational, non-profit Christian missionary organization...
(YWAM). A consensus emerged from their meeting stating that if post-modern secular western countries where going to be re-evangelised, then the wider church needed to take seriously sending advocates into various secular spheres rather than encouraging them to leave such spheres of influence and serve the church. This was not a negative attitude towards the church, but it recognised that the church had retreated from cultural engagement and aimed to face the issue. Seven areas of strategic influence were highlighted, namely arts and entertainment, business, education, family, church, government and the media. These fields are seen as particular culture shapers that are especially influential within the post-modern era. As the Seven Mountains movement emerged, the church was encouraged to repent for its retreat from these places of influence and instead infiltrate and permeate these areas as strategic mission outposts.
There has also been criticism that the church is out of touch with the pressures that people in secular jobs face. There have been efforts to try and educate church leaders about this concern, such as the third Lausanne congress in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
2010.
CML is in the Evangelical tradition and non-denominational and works with people from a number of denominations
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition, Churches are divided often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and...
. It is part of the London School of Theology, the largest Evangelical theological college in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The Evangelical tradition places emphasis on personal conversion, sharing the Gospel, belief in the inerrancy of the Bible and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as being historical events. The college aims specifically to equip people for whole-life discipleship as reflected in courses such as Mission and Bible Overview.
History
CML was started as the Watford School of Leadership (WSOL), opening its doors in September 2009. Steve Cardell, a businessman, along with Greg Downes, an Anglican priest, theologian and evangelist, started WSOL. The college emerged relationally from St Andrew’s ChorleywoodChorleywood
Chorleywood is a village and civil parish in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. It had a population of 6,814 people at the 2001 census. The parish of Chorleywood as a whole has a population of 10,775. The town lies in the far south west of Hertfordshire, on the...
, where Cardell was a member and Greg Downes was on staff as an associate minister.
In 2010 it was announced that WSOL was to merge with the London School of Theology (LST) under the new Centre for Missional Leadership name. This change took place officially on 1 September 2010. CML operates as the Watford campus of LST, the largest evangelical theological college in Europe.
Courses
CML offers a Certificate in Missional Leadership, a one-year programme that provides a Bible overview, training in evangelism, mission and leadership skills. Everyday practitioners of these areas serve as lecturers of the course including: Mark Stibbe, William Challis, Gerald CoatesGerald Coates
Gerald Coates is the founder of Pioneer, a Christian community established to "develop new churches across the UK and engage in mission globally." The Pioneer network is a neocharismatic group of evangelical churches. It is part of the British New Church Movement and can also be described as...
, Charles Foster, Mark Greene and George Verwer
George Verwer
George Verwer is the founder of Operation Mobilisation , a Christian missions organization. Verwer has written several books on various Christian themes...
.