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Moynagh, Michael. 2017.

Church in Life: Innovation,  
Mission, and Ecclesiology.
London: SCM Press.

ISBN: 978–0-334–05451-1

Reviewed by Patrick Todjeras
University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany 
patrick.todjeras@uni-greifswald.de

Church in Life can be understood as the sequel to an earlier book 
called Church for Every Context (2012) by the Anglican theologian 
Rev. Michael Moynagh. Moynagh, based at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, 
UK, has served as a theologian and consultant for the fresh expres-
sions of Church movement in Britain since its beginnings in 2004.

Moynagh follows a “see–judge–act” methodological struc-
ture in this book following the lead of Joseph Cardijn. In part one 
he “sees” new ecclesial communities emerging, using his “inno-
vation framework” to describe the processes involved (17–140). 
Part two “judges” these new communities in light of the church’s 
theological identity (141–294). Part three “acts” in the sense of 
describing dynamics and practices that founding teams can attend 
to and encourage to fan the flames of innovation from which new 
ecclesial communities emerge (295–415).



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In his previous book Church for Every Context, Moynagh 
discussed the theology of new contextual churches, like fresh 
expressions of Church, and how missional thinking developed 
new forms of church up to and since the publication of the in-
fluential Church of England report “Mission-shaped Church.”1 In 
Church in Life he develops a model of innovation for new forms 
of churches, which he calls new ecclesial communities. Moynagh 
combines complexity and entrepreneurial theory through which 
he examines the process of innovation in the church. He explores 
a theology for change and within it a theological understanding of 
innovation and invention.  He draws deeply from ideas which are 
emerging in business, technology and social science and is always 
looking for a theological angle to what he is seeing and learning 
by the examples he interprets. He also includes practical examples 
illustrating his points and draws out his theory through data from 
informal interviews conducted with practitioners.

Moynagh envisions three audiences for this book: those who 
reflect on the church’s life, people who lead and encourage new 
forms of church, and traditional church planters (6).

Moynagh’s work assumes a British society in which the lo-
cal church’s presence has decreased and the Church in general is 
in retreat. Through the process of innovation new ecclesial com-
munities are being established among the unchurched. Although 
Moynagh calls them “ecclesial communities” due to the fact that 
he wants to highlight the relational aspect of these new forms, 
Moynagh understands them as being or becoming church. They 
ought not to be stepping stones to traditional, inherited churches 
but be fully church on their own. This focuses the discussion on 
the relationships within the ecclesial community rather than the 
practices or structures of it. The models that he advocates are or-
ganic, making space for complexity and change, and have a narra-
tive structure that is self-involving (19).

The strategy for establishing new ecclesial communities is 
a “serving-first journey.” Entrepreneurial teams would serve a 
certain segment of society, share its concerns and joys, becoming 

1. Editor’s note: see the article from Sabrina Müller elsewhere in this issue.



Patrick Todjeras—Church in Life

115

truly incarnational. Through the offering of friendship, a commu-
nity builds around common questions and interests. Together they 
explore what it means to be disciples. Here it is obvious that the 
first step is not establishing a worshipping community but build-
ing relationships and contributing to the needs and aspirations of 
people in a certain context.

The re-occurring framework through which Moynagh under-
stands the future of the church is innovation. He boldly declares, 
“Through innovation eternity takes root in the midst of history” 
(8). He proposes using the innovation framework of dissatisfac-
tion, exploration, sense-making, amplification, edge of chaos, and 
transformation, and encourages the reader not to think of church 
development in terms of a linear progression.

These can be useful paradigms for a founding team as they 
analyze what has brought them to start a new initiative (dissatisfac-
tion with the existing state), explore new possibilities, make sense 
of them theologically and contextually, draw others in (amplifica-
tion), tread the fine line between seeking stability and continual 
innovation (edge of chaos), and gradually see transformation in 
the people or cultural landscapes in which they are operating.

Moynagh opens up some new ways of thinking about the 
church today regarding its nature, its purpose and its identity. He 
founds his ecclesiological thoughts on what he calls the “essence” of 
the church, by which he understands four dimensions of relation-
ships which need to be fostered: relationship to God, relationship 
to the wider Church, relationship to the community, relationship 
to the context. He differentiates the essence from the “essentials,” 
which would include practices such as baptism, scripture, eucha-
rist and so on. For Moynagh such an approach is the new work of 
the Holy Spirit, as he mentions, “The coming kingdom contains 
possibilities for natural and human flourishing. Imagining these 
possibilities creates dissatisfaction with the current state of the 
world. Through the Spirit, this dissatisfaction breeds a desire to 
bring the kingdom closer” (63).

As concerns leadership, Moynagh’s advice is provoking. Lead-
ers are to be entrepreneurs rather than managers. Leadership is 



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supposed to be exercised dispersed among the community. Lead-
ers are to be “hosts” not “heroes” who do not centralize control 
and therefore reduce reflexivity (i.e., self-critical and exploratory 
thinking) and flexibility (fast response to changes). These leaders 
host ideas and talents. 

Other provoking thoughts are, for example questioning the 
idea of sustainability of new ecclesial communities. He critiques 
that the emphasis on longevity which has become a dominant 
paradigm instead of the quality of a new church’s existence. 
Moynagh says, “What matters is not the durability of new ecclesial 
communities, but their fruitfulness. . . . It is not difficult to think 
of congregations that have existed for many years but no longer 
appear fruitful” (375). 

Besides the enriching thoughts Moynagh proposes, there are a 
few concerns one might have when placing Moynagh’s book in the 
broader discussion on missiology and ecclesiology. First, Moynagh 
is little concerned with so-called “inherited churches” (those that 
have historically existed in parish contexts) and only focuses on 
the newly established ecclesial communities. He suggests that in-
novation only (!) comes from these new forms. That might be an 
arrogant statement in light of church history. Furthermore, the 
tenor of this book is that fragmentation is the future of the church, 
which raises the question of how the unity of the church will be 
put into practice in embodiment. Second, it seems that Moynagh 
has a strong belief that all new ecclesial communities are innova-
tive, are “expressions of God’s reign” (7), and are church without 
ever discussing how right beliefs, doctrine or right practice might 
relate to that. These observations might trigger discussions which 
add to what this book has to offer the interested reader.


