The Use of the Term “DNA” as a Missiological Metaphor in Contemporary Church Narratives

Missiologists propose that the Church and mission are inseparable as the Church has its very
being because there is mission, and it is the Missio Dei which constitutes the Church. In recent
history the Anglican Church has interpreted this as the essential ‘DNA’ of the local church
which is to be a missional community. The church’s mission therefore is presented as the gift
of participating through the Holy Spirit in the Son’s mission from the Father to the world. In
other words, it is proposed that the Church is both the fruit of God’s mission and the agent of
His mission. But, in order to communicate this relationship between Church and mission in a
postmodern context, the use of new metaphors and new terminologies, which are derived
from our contemporary context, is shaping new ways of thinking. An exploration of the
development of missional churches considers the significance of developing and embedding
what has become referred to as missional DNA or mDNA at every level of the organisation of
the Church. This mDNA is the outward model of missional behaviour that compels the whole
church to reach a lost world. It can be seen from evidence-based, case study research amongst
large churches in the UK that there is consistency in the adoption and use of the term DNA by
its leadership in reference to the local church’s values and its attitude towards mission. This
article explores the hypothesis that the term DNA is commonly accepted amongst local
churches as a contributor to a contemporary language that forms the narrative of the Church
and explores its feasibility and shortcomings as an adopted missiological metaphor.