Speaking at the Faithworks conference over the weekend in Eastbourne, the founder of Faithworks, the Rev. Steve Chalke MBE, has called for a return to Christ-centred mission.

|TOP|The theme of the conference, which ran from Friday 4 to Sunday 6 November, was “iChurch: Intelligent Church in the 21st Century”.

Speaking to Christian Today, Rev. Chalke said, “an intelligent church is one that sees everything through the filter of who Christ is”.

“So we start with Christ; who was he, what did he come to do, how did he do it, how did we encounter God through him. What we decide about that must decide about the mission we have as the people of God," he said.

He continued: "And what we decide about the mission that we have as the people of God must inform and shape everything that we believe about what church should be and how our church should operate."

Rev. Chalke said that too often mission is driven not by who Jesus is but by where our church building is and what our traditions are. He said the conference was about returning the focus of mission to what was needed in the here and now.

The Faithworks founder also highlighted the need for faith to be integrated into the works that people are doing in their daily lives, particularly in mission works.

|QUOTE|He said that Christians need to learn how to talk about their faith in a more integrated way, instead of the usual “static and rigid way in which we understand our faith”.

The image of the church as an institution of power is also an issue that needs to be addressed, according to the Faithworks founder, who stressed the need for better relationships to be established between the church and members of the community

“We have got to overcome such an initial barrier that has been put there. But who’s it been put there by? I don’t think it’s been put there by anyone other than ourselves.

“Our problem is connecting with peoples’ sense of longing and explaining who Jesus is to them in terms that they can relate to and understand because he really is the answer to their needs.”

Rev. Chalke is also co-writer of the book Intelligent Church with Faithworks director Malcolm Duncan, which is due for release in the coming months. The book will also focus on the theme of the conference: how to put Christ back as the centre of missiology and church.