The Centre for Missional Leadership (CML) was a theological centre specialising in applied theology. It was based in

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

, 20 miles northwest of

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. CML taught

applied theology Practical theology is an academic discipline that examines and reflects on religious practices in order to understand the theology enacted in those practices and in order to consider how theological theory and theological practices can be more full ...

with the aim of equipping Christians for practical evangelism. Located on the Watford High Street, CML was an urban centre for

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

learning in the fields of

and Christian mission. The centre trained Christians for ministries that are both in and outside the church. Many non-church ministries were also developed.

Workplace ministry

Movements that aim to equip people in the workplace are trying to create a shift in attitude from seeing work as a "necessary evil" to a vehicle for

evangelism In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are i ...

.conversation.lausanne.org/conversations/detail/10380 CML rejects what it believes to be a false dichotomy and dualism of the sacred and secular divides. An early proponent of this thinking was the theologian John Stott who, through his seminal work with the

Lausanne movement The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, more commonly known as the Lausanne Movement, is a global movement that mobilizes evangelical leaders to collaborate for world evangelization. The stated vision is "the whole church taking the whole ...

, sought to affirm belief in the central calling to ministry and mission of all Christians, regardless of their field of work. Stott wrote: “Every honourable work should be seen by Christians as some kind of co-operation with God, in which we share with Him in the transformation of the world which He has made and committed to our care”. A particular expression of Stott’s thinking reached culmination in the founding of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC) in 1982, now led by Mark Greene who has been a visiting lecturer at CML. The aim of LICC is to encourage evangelical Christians to put all areas of their lives under belief in the lordship of Jesus Christ.

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

has spoken about William Tyndale's rejection of the secular/sacred divide. This is based on the

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

ideals of leading an ordered and disciplined life that integrates both secular and religious aspects. The Business as Mission Movement also aims to assist Christians in the workplace. The movement was inspired by YWAM and aims to provide "resources for Christians to live out their faith in all aspects of life and to have purpose, perspective and impact that glorifies the

Kingdom of God The concept of the kingship of God appears in all Abrahamic religions, where in some cases the terms Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven are also used. The notion of God's kingship goes back to the Hebrew Bible, which refers to "his kingdom" b ...

." CML was also influenced by the "Seven Mountains" movement that emerged after a meeting in 1973 between Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ (CCCI), and

Loren Cunningham Loren Duane Cunningham (born June 30, 1935) is founder of the international Christian missionary movement Youth with a Mission (YWAM) and the University of the Nations. Cunningham founded YWAM in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1960 with his wife, Darle ...

, founder of Youth with a Mission (YWAM). A consensus emerged from their meeting stating that if post-modern secular western countries were going to be re-evangelised, then the wider church needed to take seriously sending advocates into various secular spheres rather than encouraging them to leave such spheres of influence and serve the church. Seven areas of influence were highlighted, namely arts and entertainment, business, education, family, church, government and the media. These fields are seen as culture shapers that are especially influential within the post-modern era. As the Seven Mountains movement emerged, the church was encouraged to repent for its retreat from these places of influence and instead infiltrate and permeate these areas as strategic mission outposts. There has also been criticism that the church is out of touch with the pressures faced by people in secular jobs. Efforts have been made to educate church leaders about this concern, such as the third Lausanne congress in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

2010. CML is in the

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

tradition and

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. Overview The term has been used in the context of various faiths including Jainism, Baháʼí Fait ...

and works with people from a number of denominations. It is part of the London School of Theology, the largest Evangelical theological college in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. The Evangelical tradition places emphasis on personal conversion, sharing the Gospel, belief in the

inerrancy of the Bible Biblical inerrancy is the belief that the Bible "is without error or fault in all its teaching"; or, at least, that "Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact". Some equate inerrancy with biblical i ...

and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as being historical events. The college aims specifically to equip people for whole-life discipleship as reflected in courses such as Mission and Bible Overview.

History

CML was started as the Watford School of Leadership (WSOL), opening its doors in September 2009. Steve Cardell, a businessman, along with Greg Downes, an Anglican priest, theologian and evangelist, started WSOL. The college emerged relationally from St Andrew’s

Chorleywood Chorleywood is both a village and a civil parish in the Three Rivers District, Hertfordshire, on the border with Buckinghamshire, approximately northwest of Charing Cross. The village is adjacent to the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Na ...

, where Cardell was a member and Greg Downes was an associate minister.

Courses

CML offered a Certificate in Missional Leadership, a one-year programme that provided a Bible overview, training in evangelism, mission and leadership skills. Everyday practitioners of these areas served as lecturers on the course including: William Challis,

Gerald Coates Gerald Coates (25 November 1944 – 3 April 2022) was an author, speaker, broadcaster and the founder of ''Pioneer'', a neocharismatic evangelicalChristian network of churches and forums, established to "develop new churches across the UK and eng ...

, Charles Foster, Mark Greene and

George Verwer George Verwer (born July 3, 1938) is an Evangelist and is the founder of Operation Mobilisation (OM), a Christianity, Christian Mission (Christianity), missions organization. Verwer has written several books on various Christian themes. He is a pa ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Centre For Missional Leadership Bible colleges, seminaries and theological colleges in England Buildings and structures in Watford Education in Hertfordshire Religion in Hertfordshire