This project seeks to answer the research question: What does it mean for the church to be a learning community, and how does this relate to mission? along with the sub-question: How can a learning community be embodied locally? The concept of the learning organization, found in business literature, has three broad characteristics. The first is that it is proposed as a method of generative change in contrast to top-down directed problem-solving methods of change. The second is that groups can learn, and that group learning arises out of the interrelationships and dynamics cultivated in the group. Finally, such interactions can foster a group mind or social imaginary that can lead to metanoia in those that encounter the group. These aspects of a Learning Organization make it a rich field of investigation concerning the church and mission; however, surprisingly little missional literature discusses the church as a learning community. This study investigates the idea of the church as a learning community and the associated ecclesial and missional implications.

This project develops a hypothesis on the relationship between learning, inquiry and change on the one hand and missional ecclesiology on the other. The idea of a learning community is anticipated to theoretically offer the church a generative space for organic and emergent transformation and comprehensive integration of evangelizing, discipleship, and mission. What this means for the church will be investigated in two ways. The first is to explore a posture and practice for the church in depth. The posture is one of the church being a convenor, that is, to be a platform that holds space for the practices to happen. The practice is reading in communion. The second way of investigation is to take the theoretical consideration and propose a practical expression and embodiment in the local neighbourhood and broader structural context. In particular, the project will consider the relationships between the church and academic institutions as learning moves into a platform for networked, peer-to-peer, participatory learning communities away from the professionalized clergy model. While adding to existing knowledge by connecting the idea of learning community with ecclesiology, the expected outcomes of this project will be a theoretical justification of learning communities as a way for congregations to engage in local mission, and guidance on how this can be practically embodied.