Rhubarb, rhubarb,rhubarb all the way down?
Which "church" is Sells talking about when he claims/pretend that "the church" needs to counter the claims of atheism?
Depending on how you define individual demoninations, sects and sub-sects there are now over 30,000 separative and separative churches, each in their own peculiar way claiming to have a (or the) "correct" or even only understanding of the nature of Truth & Reality.

But do any of them have anything to do with Truth & Reality or is "the church" just the historically dominant Western "religious" cult.
And "where" is the "kingdom of 'god'"?
And what if both atheists and the usual dreadfully-sane exoteric religion share the same fundamental mis-understanding about the nature of what we are as human beings, our relationship to the World-Process and to The Living Divine Reality?
And what if the ideology of scientism and conventional exoteric-religiosity are both part of a very powerful humanly created SCAPEGOAT "machine" (of death)
These 6 references address all of these points.
http://global.adidam.org/books/religion-reality
http://global.adidam.org/books/gift-of-truth-itself
http://www.adidam.org/teaching/aletheon/legitimacy-science
http://www.dabase.org/up-5-3.htm
http://www.beezone.com/AdiDa/Aletheon/three_great_myths.html
http://www.beezone.com/AdiDa/Aletheon/there_is_a_way_EDIT.html

Sells

If you are confused then may the Lord help your Anglican taxpayers.

You say " .. the problem of the missiology of the Church in late modernity. How does the Church speak to these people .."

"Christians are not supposed to be religious at all. .. Religion is not the answer but faith is, even if it is something we cannot do."
-
Missiology ? " Today missiology is taught at many Christian theological schools.." Rocket man knows what he's talking about, at least he's logical.

Here we go:
"And no, I didn't bother to take missilology.
But were there missiles that could go mach4 with the accuracy to take down an sr71 all the way back in 1966 and the 70s

Rocketology
NASA's Space Launch System
- Someday, the story will be told of humanity's greatest endeavor, the bold stretch across the harsh void of space to reach for another world, ...

- the globe of the eye - is not included, per se, in the subject of orbitology.. But we know that a general ophthalmologist is not automatically also an orbitologist; for, to be such, he/she must also possess those additional medical and surgical skills and knowledge that pertain to the intraorbital process with which he/she is dealing.
Orbitology. is the study of planetary motion and its applications to satellite programs".

Dear Peter,

Thank you, I was relieved by your response:

While some might technically consider me an atheist, I do know too well that I am a sinner.

While I understand and acknowledge that nobody can wilfully escape sin on their own altogether, I also believe that with effort, one can reduce their level of sin, turning from a big sinner into a smaller sinner. The final bits of sin, however, can only be removed by God's grace. One way to look at it, is that God, by His mercy and grace, inspires us to seek Him and become a better version of ourselves.

Yes, absolutely, we could live on faith alone, but how many of us actually do? You just mentioned that we cannot force faith to happen, so what good news have you for all others? Should they become despondent? While for the best among us, total faith produces immediate salvation, a combination of partial faith along with other components of religion can still bring us to God gradually.

Perhaps Christianity is the end of religion, but how can you become a Christian? A true Christian is rare indeed!

A Zen story: http://users.rider.edu/~suler/zenstory/wantgod.html

==-==-==-==
Wanting God
==-==-==-==

A hermit was meditating by a river when a young man interrupted him. "Master, I wish to become your disciple," said the man. "Why?" replied the hermit. The young man thought for a moment. "Because I want to find God."

The master jumped up, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, dragged him into the river, and plunged his head under water. After holding him there for a minute, with him kicking and struggling to free himself, the master finally pulled him up out of the river. The young man coughed up water and gasped to get his breath. When he eventually quieted down, the master spoke. "Tell me, what did you want most of all when you were under water."

"Air!" answered the man.

"Very well," said the master. "Go home and come back to me when you want God as much as you just wanted air."
==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==

Dear David,

«Most of us have been brought up within the rather narrow confines of one of the diverse Christian denominations, but have come to realize that it is all based on fiction.»

If you are happy to enjoy reading fiction books and watching fiction movies just for the fun of it, surely you would not object to benefit from fiction when it comes to serious matters.

What's wrong about adorning God with fictional attributes so long as it helps people in both their life and worship?

You may legitimately argue that this-or-that denomination does not truly help people, neither to become better versions of themselves nor to keep their attention on God, but then the blame rests on the denomination's leadership rather than on the useful technique of fictitious attribution.

"What's wrong about adorning God with fictional attributes so long as it helps people in both their life and worship?"

You probably make a good point there, but the following reference shows just how misconstrued religion can get.

http://churchandstate.org.uk/2017/06/the-catholic-church-hierarchy-a-cabal-of-power-that-moves-under-the-guise-of-benevolence/

David