Modality, in

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

and

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Christian theology Christian theology is the theology – the systematic study of the divine and religion – of Christianity, Christian belief and practice. It concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Ch ...

, is the structure and organization of the local or universal church. In Catholic theology, the modality is the universal Catholic church. In Protestant theology, the modality is variously described as either the universal church (that is, all believers) or the local church. By contrast,

parachurch organization Parachurch organizations are Christian faith-based organizations that work outside and across denominations to engage in social welfare and evangelism. Parachurch organizations seek to come alongside the church and specialize in things that indi ...

s are

sodalities In Christian theology, a sodality, also known as a syndiakonia, is a form of the Universal Church organized in a specialized, task-oriented society, as opposed to a local, diocesan body (a ''modality''). In English, the term ''sodality'' is most ...

. These include missionary organizations and Christian charities not linked to specific churches. Some theologians consider denominations, schools of theology, and other multi-congregational sodalities. Catholic sodalities include orders, monasteries and convents.

The modality versus sodality parachurch dispute

In some Christian circles, particularly among non-denominational evangelicals, there is conflict over whether parachurch, including Christian not-for-profit organizations are a biblical model for ministry. A minority of pastors and theologians assert that ''only'' the modality is a valid model for ministry, and they typically equate modality with the local church structure. Central to the dispute is whether the missionary travels of

Paul the Apostle Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

should be categorized as an expression of modality or sodality. A practical consideration in the modality/sodality dispute is that certain Christian efforts, like translating the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

into different languages, are difficult to organize and fund solely by local congregations in the absence of parachurch organizations. Ralph D. Winter of the US Center for World Mission has argued that modes of modality and sodality are both necessary and will be most effective if they are supportive of one another.

References

R. D. Winter: The Two Structures of God's Redemptive Mission
Types of Christian organization Ecclesiology {{christian-theology-stub