2. Forming the Remnant
Presented at the 2024 Remnant Mission Retreat
This Remnant Mission retreat focuses on the spiritual formation of the most committed people, contrasting with advertising and marketing. However, the Remnant approach is often misunderstood. Many traditionalists mistakenly equate their “old guard” with the Remnant, implying an endorsement of non-missionary attitudes and spiritual immaturity. This is wrong. The current committed core isn’t necessarily the missionary Remnant.
The primary Remnant Mission reorientation prioritizes long-term spiritual formation. The Remnant comprises those committed to a life of prayer in community, aiming for personal and communal spiritual growth to maturity. The key shift is focusing on their own spiritual growth rather than solely on attracting others or changing the world outside the church. Spiritual growth is evaluated morally – decreasing sin and increasing virtue, ultimately growing in agape love.
As traditional Anglicans, we often define ourselves by theology or liturgy. Yet, this emphasis hasn’t always produced holiness and communal love. The Remnant reorientation around spiritual formation moves beyond high church vs. low church debates, focusing instead on teaching prayer and evaluating our growth in communal love. Jesus said, “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Our liturgy and theology’s credibility hinges on producing visible communal love. Without it, our faith lacks persuasive power.
This has been a major issue. The focus on theology and liturgy hasn’t yielded a widespread manifestation of love. Many clergy and parishes are known more for online disputes or internal conflicts than for love for each other and the lost.
We grow in love through growth in prayer, deepening our relationship with God. Experiencing God’s love increases our impulse and ability to love others similarly. Jesus said to love as He loved. Without experiencing Christ’s love through prayer, we lack the power to love.
The reorientation toward prayer and spiritual formation is rooted in Martin Thornton’s Remnant thesis. A key quote from Pastoral Theology highlights the issue after the Oxford Movement: doctrinal reform led to liturgical revival, missing the “obvious child” of ascetical practice. Had asceticism been rediscovered, the High Church-Low Church controversy might have been avoided, and Anglo-Catholic liturgy would have evolved naturally.
Ascetical practice emphasizes embodied prayer in community. The Remnant reorientation shifts focus from liturgy as form to liturgy as part of our total prayer life, and from mere theological apologetic to applied theology, where theology is expressed through our prayer.
This reorientation isn’t easy. It requires determined, protracted effort and will face challenges. Simply making it a sermon or Bible study topic won’t suffice, especially if you try to “sell” it. Reorienting a church around the Remnant approach involves specific steps.
First, develop a way to form your Remnant. This formation must address: how to train people in prayer (including fasting); how to evaluate prayer in terms of spiritual and emotional maturity (focusing inward); and how to understand that mission begins in personal transformation. This formation program should be substantial, requiring a significant time commitment, ideally a year initially, leading to ongoing opportunities for growth.
Second, build your Remnant in two stages. First, identify those who attend church every Sunday (unless sick or away), contribute financially, are involved in ministry, and are not divisive. Second, invite this group to a program of spiritual formation. Your actual Remnant comprises those who respond and follow. The size doesn’t matter; a Remnant can be small. Focus on the faithful: the Remnant is formed from the committed, not by engaging the marginal.
Some committed individuals may not participate due to time constraints, and non-participation doesn’t make them bad. They might be “Remnant adjacent.” Continue to love and not ignore them. However, without intentionally working with those willing to commit to spiritual formation, you cannot embrace the Remnant approach. Moving away from selling it to the whole church and inviting the committed is key. Selling is a consumer approach.
Objections arise, especially in small churches: how do you invite some to the “main thing” without excluding others? You invite everyone who is faithful in worship, giving, and conduct. The shift is catering to the committed. Tell complainers they can join the Remnant by becoming committed.
A pastoral secret: those who complain most, disagree often, and don’t participate typically give the least. Yet, clergy often focus their energy on them. The Remnant approach says, “Stop it!” Stop catering to whiners; start forming disciples. If complainers leave, it brings peace and less distraction. Clergy fear this due to people-pleasing expectations. We need to cater to faithfulness, not murmuring. Jesus didn’t recruit volunteers: He said, “follow me.” He didn’t chase those who refused. Our call is to discipleship, not pleasing everyone.
A crucial point about mission: those in our mission field seeks something to live and die for in a culture of meaninglessness. Consumer religion and typical traditional Anglican approaches have failed. People don’t attend church because they see nothing different. American church culture’s compromises have been rejected. True mission requires doing something different.
The good news is that the full ascetical and spiritual life of the Anglican tradition, rooted in the Book of Common Prayer, is something people hunger for. But we must live it first. Calling people to a new way of faith witnesses that the church offers a life worth sacrificing for, attracting those seeking God.
We began this reorientation at St. Matthew’s Church a decade ago out of frustration. People weren’t changing, and those sent on mission faltered. Deeper formation and higher expectations were needed. We started a year-long Pastoral Ministry Program for committed individuals, which has grown to a three-year program that today has 150 participants and 77 graduates, including many our parish.
Other churches can participate by sending leaders and committed members to join a year-long class. This saves you from reinventing the wheel, and after a year, you can adapt it locally. We are also recording the program for independent use.
In conclusion: to embrace the Remnant approach, reorient your ministry around spiritual formation. Stop trying to sell it to everyone; instead, invite committed people to discipleship, prayer, and personal growth. It’s not easy, but if you persevere for the next decade, it will bear fruit.
Discussion Questions
What are your thoughts about the presentation? Go around the group and give everyone 1-2 minutes to answer.
What is your current approach to spiritual formation in your church or mission?
How might you move your church or mission towards a Remnant approach?
Discuss the challenge of forming a Remnant group that not all people will be invited to join.