On the Church: The Five Marks of Mission
As the Rector of a growing Episcopal church, I've found myself increasingly troubled by the state of Christianity in America as realized in church participation. I've witnessed firsthand the decline in church attendance and the closure of many congregations within the denomination that I grew up in. For the last 15 years in ministry, I find I am having the same conversations that range in topic from who is involved, whose job is whose as it relates to nurture of children, scarcity, various business model questions and so forth.
Perhaps at this moment I am having my own spiritual awakening or crisis only time will tell!! When I feel this way I find that reading and writing really help me grow in my own journey. So, enter a new series I am calling “On the Church”. This series is based on many writings in the very early days of the church by the same name and for the same purpose. My hope is to answer the fundamental question: What is the church for today and how are we or are we not realizing that? On the way, I will explore my own context at St. Francis while looking back over the last 15 years to see if I can humbly point us in a direction as a body of readers.
What is the purpose of the church? To answer this question, I've turned to a relatively new recasting of an old image: The Five Marks of Mission. This is a set of principles approved by the Anglican Communion in 2009 that offer a compelling framework for understanding the essential nature and purpose of the church.
The Five Marks of Mission are:
To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God.
To teach, baptize, and nurture new believers.
To respond to human need with compassion and justice.
To strive for unity among all Christians.
To work for the preservation of creation.
First, these five marks remind us that the church is not merely a social club or a place to gather for worship. Rather, it is a community of believers called to proclaim the Gospel, nurture and train new believers, serve the needs of others inside and outside the walls, foster unity among Christians, and care for the planet.
Scripture offers rich insights that support these marks of mission. Throughout the Bible, we find countless examples of the church as a community of faith that is called to serve God and others. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus commands his disciples to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you." This passage clearly articulates the church's mission to proclaim the Gospel, baptize new believers, and disciple them from the very beginning, or as we say in south Georgia from the horses mouth!
In Acts 2:42-47, we see an early example of the church in action. The believers were devoted to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to breaking bread, and to prayer. They also shared their possessions with one another and cared for the needs of the widows and orphans. This passage demonstrates the church's commitment to spiritual growth, community, service, and generosity.
To be a church is no small tasks. To do church is much easier. We live in a world of instant gratification, where each generation looks back on the “Good Ole Days”, our perceptions are reality, and reality is something debated in many circles. We stay busy with tasks to promote our own worth, while judging those unintentionally or intentionally who did not do it our way. Judgment and hypocrisy run rampant and as long as my judgement and hypocrisy are the same as yours we can talk to one another. The list goes on and on and these exist with in the institutional church.
Yet, despite our missteps and failures to be the Body of Christ made up of selfless workers, God meets us, holds us, and invites us back outside of ourselves and into the mission field.
This week lets think about this image of church and perhaps these questions.
What is my role in this work?
Where am I frustrated and why?
What are the challenges that keep the church from being like the image presented in Acts?
Most importantly, what do I need to bring into the forefront of my prayer life right now to start imagining and being a different model of discipleship?
In future posts, I will delve deeper into the Five Marks of Mission and explore how they can guide us in reshaping our minds as Christians and churchgoers. I will also bring to the forefront my own observations from within the Episcopal Church, all 40 years. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if I have inspired you, you feel the same, or if you blatantly disagree. It is in conversation that we will grow as a Body pursuing the kingdom.