In late May I was in the UK and had the opportunity to spend an evening with Jonny Baker. It was the first time I'd met Jonny in person though we'd connected through his blog where I'd read a number of really insightful comments about the relationship between existing churches and some of the new expressions of church. Jonny is a bright, impressive younger leader in the UK church who is connected with the Church of England and its creative Fresh Expressions initiatives across the country.

We finally caught up with each other mid-evening in London. They had been unusually warm days in this amazingly busy city. Jonny had gracious agreed to meet but was involved in a birthday party for his teenage son. He'd jumped on the tube to join me downtown shortly after eight in the evening. We sat in my hotel room in front of the computer to record our conversation. I was struck by the easy ways Jonny engaged my questions. I had been in the UK for just a few days and had already met quite a number of church leaders in various parts of the country. I was struck by the ethos of partnership and participation across denominational and ideological boundaries that characterized this moment in the UK and was eager to explore with Jonny some of his perspectives on what was going on.

Jonny is a part the emergent tribe. At the same time he's a staff member of the Church Missionary Society (CMS). Founded in 1799 as an evangelical missionary organization, the CMS had its early roots in the Clapham Sect, counting among its founders William Wilberforce . Wilberforce's life has been captured in the recent film release Amazing Grace. The movie documents the how the deep evangelical commitments of Wilberforce and others engaged one of the worst elements of industrialization, the slave trade.

It was in this mix of images that I found the most interesting elements of church life in the UK. It struck me that Amazing Grace and emergent had discovered how to work together for the sake of the kingdom. Wilberforce and the Clapham Sect were at the center of the institutions of British society two hundred years ago. He was an English aristocracy, a member of parliament, and a member of the Church of England. Out of these long established institutions a reforming imagining came with an evangelical passion that re-shaped the life of England. That was more than two hundred years ago. The memories and imagination of Wilberforce and the Clapham sect have remained within the Church of England and its institutions. These memories may have at times been faint but they have been recalled. The CMS is engaging these memories of its founding in order to work within another radically disruptive moment in the life of the church in the UK. Now, in a post Christian context this venerable institution is again seeking to be cross-cultural in its mission.

I don't want to romanticize what is happening somewhere else and create some kind of an ideal image that bears little correlation to the reality of what is happening. At the same time, I was struck by the ways in which fresh expressions of missional witness and leadership were breaking out across a spectrum of churches and movements in the UK. In future Journals and video interviews I will explore some of these stories and the reasons that lie behind these developments. (See the netcast interview with Eddie Gibbs that explores some of the reasons why leadership in the UK is shaping a new moment of mission-shaped life). It seemed ironic, a part of God's great surprises, to realize that CMC is embracing the creative imagination of people like Jonny Baker to understand the missional challenges of our time. I reflected on how Amazing Grace and emergent imagination are embracing one another in that venerable organization. During my time in England I was struck by the extent to which mission-shaped leadership is crossing many of the boundaries and ideological divides that still exist in North America. CMS is a missions society that has sought to share the gospel of Christ in cultures around the world. Like many other institutions its history is complex. It's comprised of a mixture of inspiring stories of contextual mission that formed indigenous expressions of church as well as stories of a church shaped by a colonizing imagination. It's almost impossible not to create this mix. There is no pure organization whose motives and actions are above question or critique.

Today, Jonny Baker represents what is happening in numerous church organizations across the UK. As an emergent missionary in a postmodern context he's part of a team within CMS that encourages missional leadership and the formation of missional communities around the UK. They are helping to catalyze networks of entrepreneurial experiments in social, spiritual and economic life across the UK much like Wilberforce and the Clapham sect did two hundred years earlier. Through training networks, the formation of a missional order and on-the-ground engagements with emerging generations that have no memory or interest in the church, they are cultivating a new generation of mission-shaped leaders.

To learn more about Jonny Baker and the work of the CMS visit Jonny's blog.