the antioch tradition

The key motivation behind Antioch Initiative AU is an attempt to return to 'The Way of Christ and His Apostles'. We are seeking to recapture the missional drive, enthusiasm and vision that were evident in the local church at Antioch as they launched and sustained a substantial gospel ministry to many of their neighboring regions and countries. This resulted in people being saved, churches planted and established, and leaders appointed.

The Antioch tradition includes a number of things that are not particularly evident in the overall church of the 21st century. Some of these differences include:

The believers were missional from the beginning - the church formed out of mission, not out of a desire to 'church plant' or the structural organisation of a church planting movement.
The leaders were prepared to go out on a limb. This was the first gentile church and something 'new' to all involved and it was bound to create opposition.
The churches in both Jerusalem and Antioch were not protective of their leaders. Significant church leaders were sent out on missions and moved from church to church as needed for the furtherance of the gospel and the establishment of the believers. No church saw their mission efforts as particularly their own, but rather as a part of an overall endeavour.
Leadership training encompassed the entire life and character of every gospel trainee. The curriculum Paul used for leadership training could be summed up in the short phrase from Acts 16 "Paul wanted to take him along on the journey". Leaders in training were to live alongside him, submit to the authority of church oversight, accept persecution, work tirelessly, run errands, flee immorality, build their marriages and families strongly, and to watch their lives and doctrine closely. Leadership training was high on the agenda.
Mission was definable. They had clear goals and knew when these goals were achieved. Mission not only included converting new believers but also planting and establishing churches. These churches became secure bases to take the gospel even further.

The following is an attempt to briefly recount the birth and life of the church at Antioch.
Luke's record in the book of Acts gives us a rapid account of this new 'gentile phenomenon' as he follows the spontaneous expansion of the 'unstoppable' gospel into the gentile world.

The church began through the conviction of mission minded believers from Jerusalem. These believers had been scattered because of persecution (Acts 8:4) but as they took up residency outside of Jerusalem they continued to share their lives and their faith with the local residents. By Chapter 11 this had happened in the city of Antioch (Ch 11:21). But the Jewish believers were somewhat selective about which 'locals' they shared the gospel with. Even considering the precedent of Peter going to Cornelius the gentile in Ch 10 and the resulting Jewish leadership discussions in Ch 11 and the 'persecuted/scattered among the gentiles' situation they were in, the believers were still speaking the gospel to Jewish people only ... until Antioch (Acts 11:19-21). Here in this city some of the believers dared to speak the gospel of the Lord Jesus to gentiles also. This was a particularly new thing for Jewish believers to do. News of this new and daring mission reached the church at Jerusalem and they chose to send Barnabas to investigate the situation. Barnabas was tuned into the grace of God and was glad at the sight of a gentile church forming. Having collected Saul from Tarsus they consolidated the church for a considerable period of time, by teaching the believers (Acts 11:26) and overseeing the expansion of the gospel throughout the city and region.
By Ch 13 (probably about 6-8 years after the first believers came to Antioch) the church at Antioch was a significant group of believers with a remarkably high calibre group of leaders. From this group of leaders two of their best were selected by the Holy Spirit and commissioned by the other prophets and teachers to the mission field. Barnabas and Saul were sent out with a clear mission in mind. That initial mission was simply to speak out the gospel message, to gather the believers together into local churches, to strengthen and encourage them to remain true to the faith (teaching), to appoint leaders over them and to commit them to the grace of God. (See Appendix 1: Paul's Mission Methods) This is what they consistently did from town to town throughout Galatia (Acts 13-14 especially 14:21-23) and having returned to Antioch after their short - about 2 years - trip they were able to say that this initial mission was completed (Acts 14:26). Paul continued to strengthen and establish these churches through letters and visits from either himself or his trainees. (See Appendix 2 Paul's Method of Establishing) Throughout the remaining biblical history of this church, mission remained high on the agenda. Sending, supporting and receiving missionary parties and the sharing of leaders among the churches for the sake of the gospel were all part of the natural life of this church. (See Appendix 3 Leaders in the Early Church)