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Parish Councils' Gathering
A Vision for Parishes in the Northern Region
Practical side to the
Vision | Notes from the meeting
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Photos from the Gathering
Welcome to
the Northern Region's commissioning of Parish Councils
Thank you for attending.
May this gathering be a blessing for us all!
Checking your vision
The lens of the Vision for the Northern Region is tri-focal -
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The Kingdom of God (from the teaching of Jesus) -
theological
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Each of the faithful baptised is gifted for mission and ministry by
the Holy Spirit - ecclesiological
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Mission is the heart-beat of the church -
missiological
Let's inspect each component of the lens of Vision:
The Kingdom of God was inaugurated by Jesus. All that Jesus taught,
enacted and was defined the nature of this Reign of God.
The Kingdom of God brings in God's priorities and presence - it is the
sphere where God's strength is experienced. Therefore, a sphere of
quality of life (eternal life).
The Kingdom of God has its own values - the priority of the least, the
last and the lost.
The Kingdom of God has a distinct ethic based on abundance of life -The
Beatitudes
The Kingdom of God discloses the nature of God - the socialising of
Jesus
The Kingdom of God is inclusive - the range of disciples
The Kingdom of God is not yet fully present - we live in the tension of
the now and not yet
We are invited to live the Kingdom now!
The task of the church is to be an advance-party of the Kingdom of God.
The mission of the church is to sight, signal, support and celebrate the
incursion of the Kingdom of God.
The constant prayer of the church is
God, bring in your Kingdom!
The vision of the Kingdom of God questions the church as to whether
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our values align with those of the Kingdom
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our priorities are Kingdom priorities
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our mission is to the least, the last and the lost
The second focus of our Vision is the dynamic impact of baptism upon
each member of the church
Baptism plunges the baptised into active mission and ministry because
the Holy Spirit gifts each member of the church for ministry.
The authority for this claim is:
Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4
The rite of baptism itself (completed in confirmation)
The missionary practice of Saint Paul
The experience of churches that live by Saint Paul's missionary
principles
Mission is dependent upon inspired people who understand that God as a
missionary God saves and loves the world through believable believers.
Mission requires people to be the message. Convinced believers are the
primary means of mission.
God has signalled through the ministry of Jesus that God works
incarnationally.
Each congregation (rightly understood) is a ministering community - all
have a ministry!
The third focus for our Vision is mission.
"Mission is God's way of loving and saving the world."
"Just as being sent lies at the centre of who Jesus is, so it lies at
the heart of who we are as Christians." -Lambeth Conference Report
1998.
Our priorities should be set for those not yet present.
The priority is we must go to them rather than they will come to us.
The report mission shaped church says,
"We are becoming invisible and unattractive ...people are unaware of the
'invisibility' because they live on the inside. It's the world they
know."
Let mission shape the church!
This is a move from self-concern to God's concern.
Learn the language of mission; use the language of mission.
For the language we use creates our reality.
Lean towards mission. Did you know that plants lean towards the sun, the
source of their energy?
Organizations lean towards the source of energy -whether the energy is
healthy or not.
Mission is local (contextual). Therefore, we must know our locality -
its needs, its dreams, its people.
What community-focussed ministries does your parish undertake?
Or is your parish a worship club rather than a missionary movement?
Vision gives focus and energy.
What we focus on becomes our reality.
See first the Kingdom of God...(Matthew 6:39)
Remember as we live from this vision that the church is always in need
of conversion, of being turned to God's priorities and God's mission.
+Brian
Farran
Revised webmaster
Thursday, 28 October 2004 |
