ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the nature of the church in a new and unfamiliar social context that of post-Christendom and post-secularism, and to sketch a possible polity for the church as it enters this new era. The chapter provides the context in which the Church of England finds itself and to which it is reacting both consciously and unconsciously. It echoes the earlier research of Grave Davie on believing without belonging. The virtuous church, however, the church that has concentrated on its inner constitution and on the practices that form its character, realises that it is its very inner life that is its primary tool in mission. Within the microcosm of the church the challenges of life can be played out in an environment that is committed to love, compassion and justice. The church is predicated on the belief that from death new life emerges.
