Comments on: The Marks of Mission: defining our call http://www.ministrymatters.ca/settingsail/the-marks-of-mission/ Inspiration for Canadian Anglican leaders Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:09:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: brian http://www.ministrymatters.ca/settingsail/the-marks-of-mission/comment-page-1/#comment-179 brian Wed, 14 Apr 2010 02:03:41 +0000 http://www.ministrymatters.ca/?p=993#comment-179 Where there is no fuel, the fire dies. What is the fuel for mission? The answer is worship. Our God is worthy of worship, and mission exists expecially in those places and to people who do not yet worship God. Once earthy life is over, there will be no mission. God will have completed the collection of people who will worship him. We take clear motivation for this by visiting God's own picture of what he thinks highly of. Revelation 7:9 captures it nicely. People from all tribes and peoples gather before the Throne of God to declare God's heart back to Him: "Salvation belongs to our God, and to the Lamb." referring to Jesus. Biblical mission is most clearly understood in the first two marks of mission. Declaring Good News of salvation in Christ Jesus, and the development of disciples resulting in new churches: this is what please God best about mission. Where there is no fuel, the fire dies. What is the fuel for mission? The answer is worship. Our God is worthy of worship, and mission exists expecially in those places and to people who do not yet worship God. Once earthy life is over, there will be no mission. God will have completed the collection of people who will worship him.

We take clear motivation for this by visiting God's own picture of what he thinks highly of. Revelation 7:9 captures it nicely. People from all tribes and peoples gather before the Throne of God to declare God's heart back to Him: "Salvation belongs to our God, and to the Lamb." referring to Jesus.

Biblical mission is most clearly understood in the first two marks of mission. Declaring Good News of salvation in Christ Jesus, and the development of disciples resulting in new churches: this is what please God best about mission.

]]> By: Fr Meaker http://www.ministrymatters.ca/settingsail/the-marks-of-mission/comment-page-1/#comment-151 Fr Meaker Wed, 24 Mar 2010 20:45:04 +0000 http://www.ministrymatters.ca/?p=993#comment-151 I agree. Our duty to the care for souls demands such sober honesty. We must have organic unity in the Body of Christ, towards being clear about who we are and what we believe. Without such coherency, our mission will be flawed on so many levels. If we care about mission, then we must put our house in order; and by order I mean the reawakening of doctrinal certitudes and trust in the graces arising from Holy Scripture and Tradition. We owe it first in love to God, and from this foundation we can properly speak of the love of God. If the ship is sinking, then it means it is not being true in it's given (militant) moment, to the Church of Christ (one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic), this can be concluded so, because the Ship given vision to by holy tradition is the Church of Christ that is unsinkable-even the gates of hell can not prevail against it. I agree. Our duty to the care for souls demands such sober honesty. We must have organic unity in the Body of Christ, towards being clear about who we are and what we believe. Without such coherency, our mission will be flawed on so many levels. If we care about mission, then we must put our house in order; and by order I mean the reawakening of doctrinal certitudes and trust in the graces arising from Holy Scripture and Tradition. We owe it first in love to God, and from this foundation we can properly speak of the love of God. If the ship is sinking, then it means it is not being true in it's given (militant) moment, to the Church of Christ (one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic), this can be concluded so, because the Ship given vision to by holy tradition is the Church of Christ that is unsinkable-even the gates of hell can not prevail against it.

]]> By: Debbie http://www.ministrymatters.ca/settingsail/the-marks-of-mission/comment-page-1/#comment-150 Debbie Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:33:16 +0000 http://www.ministrymatters.ca/?p=993#comment-150 Something that doesn't seem to have been realized is that the decline in membership and the seeming lower energy or lack of response for mission may be for the same reasons. I use the metaphor of sinking ship. Some people are trying to evacuate, some may be trying to bail some of the water from the ship and some remain elusive or purposely ignore the issue insisting that everyone is making too much of a fuss. Imagine now that there is a person standing on the deck trying to get people to come onto the ship. And not meaning to sound super drastic, this is almost how it feels trying to evangelize for the Anglican Church. We need to solve the disagreements and large issues of our community before we try to evangelize and bring more people aboard. Who you want to board a sinking ship? Something that doesn't seem to have been realized is that the decline in membership and the seeming lower energy or lack of response for mission may be for the same reasons. I use the metaphor of sinking ship. Some people are trying to evacuate, some may be trying to bail some of the water from the ship and some remain elusive or purposely ignore the issue insisting that everyone is making too much of a fuss. Imagine now that there is a person standing on the deck trying to get people to come onto the ship. And not meaning to sound super drastic, this is almost how it feels trying to evangelize for the Anglican Church. We need to solve the disagreements and large issues of our community before we try to evangelize and bring more people aboard. Who you want to board a sinking ship?

]]> By: Canon C Hall http://www.ministrymatters.ca/settingsail/the-marks-of-mission/comment-page-1/#comment-135 Canon C Hall Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:03:13 +0000 http://www.ministrymatters.ca/?p=993#comment-135 Two comments from England: In the Oxford Diocese we re-branded the 'Marks' as 'Strands'. 'Marks' are on the surface; 'Strands' are integral, intertwined and interdependent. The definite article has crept into the Fourth Mark; it was not in the version adopted at Lambeth in 1988. A philosophy professor pointed out that to say 'the unjust structures of society' means that structures of society will always be unjust even if they are transformed. Two comments from England:
In the Oxford Diocese we re-branded the 'Marks' as 'Strands'. 'Marks' are on the surface; 'Strands' are integral, intertwined and interdependent.
The definite article has crept into the Fourth Mark; it was not in the version adopted at Lambeth in 1988. A philosophy professor pointed out that to say 'the unjust structures of society' means that structures of society will always be unjust even if they are transformed.

]]>