The Two Structures of God's Redemptive Mission - by Ralph D. Winter

Ralph Winter, a Presbyterian missionary to Central America, a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary and the founder of the U.S. Center for World Mission in Pasadena, California has written what many consider the basal work on the subject of church and mission structures.

There is a lot of talk today, especially among independent and mega churches, about the place of "para-church" organizations in the Kingdom of God. Ralph Winter, in my opinion, does an excellent job in attempting to resolve this debate by declaring that the local church and para-church dichotomy is not a dichotomy at all but is simply a two-fold expression of "THE CHURCH."

Pastor Rick Warren and other well-known Christian leaders have recently visited the subject, and I have had personal involvement with the dialogue for nearly 30 years among independent charismatic church leaders. Winter wrote his article in 1973, in the earlier days of some of the renewal movements that were re-inventing the way church and mission were being done. It could be argued that renewal was needed in some denominations and structures. Winter was concerned that the pendulum was swinging too far in the opposite direction.

Winter gives names to the two expressions of the church: Modalities and Sodalities. Modalities are structures primarily focused on nurture and fellowship, the local church. Sodalities are structures primarily focused on task, mission societies and other "para-church" organizations. Para-church is a mis-nomer because it implies a structure that is not church, but exists along side the church.

Winter uses scripture and Jewish history as his exegetical basis. The early local churches (modalities) were built upon the Jewish synagogue model in the Jewish diaspora. Paul's apostolic band, was sent from Antioch yet functioned as a separate structure. It was the forerunner of modern sodalities, and was the church doing a task, from Winter's perspective.

You can read Winter's entire article at the US Center for World Mission Website: http://www.uscwm.org/mobilization_division/resources/web_articles_11-20-01/Two%20Structures%20for%20Mob%20/two_structures.html

Winter insists both modalities and sodalities are legitimate expressions of the church of Jesus Christ and are necessary to complete God's redemptive purpose on the earth. I heartily agree!

There are detractors. Some leaders declare: "If the church was doing its job, we would not need para-church organizations." Others assert the opposite: "If the church were doing its job we would have MORE of these kind of structures, because more people would be released to do what God has called them to do."

It is my belief that both structures are here to stay, both because of God's design and because of the nature of man. Below is a visual aid I created to help us think more accurately about the relationships between the Agency, the Local Church, the Missionary.