We are glad to welcome you to our basecamp in Geylang during a time of great transition for many in the body of Christ. As a famous pope once noted, this is not just an era of change, but a change of era. The way God has led you thus far is a testimony to this. Everything has changed, yet nothing has changed. This change is discontinuous, as missional leader Alan Roxburgh has observed. The pandemic has forced a distinction between what is superfluous in church life and what is necessary and essential in the ecclesia, as well as between what is elemental in your gift and what is consequential to your call.

During the 2020 contagion, when big science shut us down, the church went underground for a season. Over the course of a few short months, much of the ecclesia made the switch to online platforms. What was once residential, in-person, and face-to-face migrated over to Zoom and other e-learning instruments. This shift repurposed church property: the sanctuary became a recording studio and the foyer a production room when the physical building was shuttered.

Mods Reference Library (Video)

There have been three observable shifts in the ecclesia: a generational shift, a corporate shift, and a narrative shift.

(1.) Generational shift - Bagehot put it succinctly: “one generation succeeds another almost silently. At every moment, men of all ages between 30 and 70 have considerable influence. Each year removes many old men, makes all others older, and brings in many new.” This is also true of the ecclesia. A line was drawn in the sand, and Moses climbed Mt Pisgah for the last time. The changes came in like a flood, and a new standard was lifted up. This was what the Spirit was saying all along to the churches, but very few were hearing it or misinterpreting the prophecy of a change of era.

(2.) Corporate shift - by ‘corporate’, I mean in a dental sense. The new tooth arrives, and everything changes accordingly. The new has come and sets aside the old for something better, more dignified, and efficient. Analogous to orthodontics, the whole has to be straightened, not only one or two teeth. Before the pivot, one or two were at the helm steering the whole ship. After the pivot, an entirely new expectation surfaced in the body: a desire for self-organized leadership and an ecosystem that nurtured missional imagination in every member, not just those at the top.

(3.) Narrative shift - walking in the reality of the story God is telling, beyond the local context. This shifts our appetite from all things ‘local’ to all things ‘kingdom’.

There is a de-emphasis on the denominational structure to elite ministry bubbles that make an impact as salt and light. Those who recognized the shift stopped counting apple seeds and started imagining possibilities in each seed.

The narrative of “the bigger, the better” morphed into a focus on individual giftedness within the context of community flourishing. In short, every soul is ordained for greatness, and every community can bless God and flourish.

So, congratulations on your decision to join us at this historic time. Remember: don’t count the apple seeds; use your missional imagination to count the number of apple trees in each seed. The tide has come in, and many old have been swept into the ocean of His love. Many younger have been positioned into the conversation of life, learning, and futures. You are riding the wave, learning the ropes, and we at King’s College are privileged to facilitate this journey.