Member Mission Newsletter #14   

More learning by doing . . .
• A way to introduce the member mission vision: "Many comment that Christians are indistinguishable from non-Christians in today's world.  Where is this true?  Why is it true?"  During the discussion, offer, "Could it be that most congregations do not focus on how their members live from Monday to Saturday?  They focus on what the congregation does as a body and assume that the daily living of individual members ‘takes care of itself.'" Where this is true, all bear responsibility.  Leaders need to plan ways to connect with the daily lives of members.  Members need to ask for help – for example, help in discerning how God might be at work in specific situations and Christian decision-making.
• "Leading" and "managing" are separate functions (see Ch. 17 of WTMATM).  Not all clergy are skilled in both.  The Rt. Rev. David E. Richards, past Pastoral Development Officer for the national church, advises the single-pastor church: "Perhaps the only way this duality can be handled within the average church organization is to be sure that vestries see their task as BOTH management and leadership...and the tough job of the rector is to not let the vestry off the hook...[Leader] type can be used as a pathway to growth – to reach to the other side...It may require more effort and it may be harder, but it can be done."
• "Mission" and "ministry" synonyms?  Probably not.  "Ministry" connotes "service" with God-talk not expected from the servant.  "Mission" connotes word and deed together.  "Ministry" can inappropriately encourage the minister to avoid talk of God's role in what the minister is doing.  Another way to relate them is to use "ministry" as a broad area of living in which one has "missions" – specific tasks of love and justice that always include readiness to talk of God and God's mission.  In one's ministry at home, a parent may have the mission of daily exercises with a child with a learning problem.  In one's ministry at work, a supervisor may have the mission of helping the workers to be on time for work.  In brief, missions arise as specific tasks in a ministry.

 

Family-centered Christian education – mission in church life and outreach
     Peter Steinfels,"Family-centered programs...aim at enabling parents to form their children's faith not by formal lessons but by the art and symbolism in the home; by children's books, bedtime prayers, and entertainment; by family rituals at mealtimes, on holy days, saints' days, or in the liturgical seasons of Advent and Lent; by service to others carried out together by parents and offspring; by family conversations about religious questions; by deliberate exposure to the motives and morals involved in adults' everyday working lives."  Peter Steinfels' comments point to a mission any parent can carry on – from A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America (Simon & Schuster, 2003, p. 234).

 

Deciphering The Da Vinci Code
     For a critique by a thoughtful reviewer and an Episcopal priest's report of a Wednesday night discussion that drew six hundred people: www.explorefaith.org/daVinci/1.html.

 

Preaching faith in an urban world – mission in the wider world
     We need to believe urbanization can be of God.  Let preaching be much more positive about the city.  That will mean proclaiming God's victory in Christ over all that oppresses people in our cities, whether it is economic injustice or institutional racism.  Simon Barrow in Street Credo –  writes, "The purposes of God are not restricted to individuals, but extend to the flourishing of a corporate life that guarantees, and affords meaning to human persons.  This is why the final biblical vision is the coming of a ‘new Jerusalem' – a metropolis of healing, justice, and peace in which alone, God is rightly discovered."  [See Amos 5:21-24; Isaiah 1:2-17 and 65-66; Matthew 6:33; and Revelation 21-22.]  "Increasingly, I have come to believe the ‘Good News' must include as a priority the desire for social transformation at both a local and global level."  – From Roger Sainsbury, Bishop of Barking (England), D. Min in Preaching; in OPEN, Fall 2003.

 

The Easter Vigil and member mission
     When do you schedule the Easter Vigil so more of the missionaries can participate?  Three years ago, we recalled a Living Church article had suggested doing it "when they can come."  For us in Essex, NY, that meant at the time of the regular Easter Sunday celebration, 9:15 am.  We did Lighting of the Candle, The Story of Salvation, Sermon, Holy Baptism of seven children and youth, and the Eucharist in just over an hour.  The Vigil was followed by a breakfast with each household bringing one of its own traditional Easter breakfast dishes.  This family size church filled with over 100 for the Vigil with 75 staying for breakfast.
     The readings chosen for The Story of Salvation reflected the call of all to join God's mission.  They were:  God creates the universe (Gen 1:1, 2, 31); God frees the people from slavery . . . (Ex 14:21-23,25-26,28-29);  . . . and makes a covenant with them (Ex 20:1-2, 24:3); They do not obey and God sends Amos to correct them (Amos 2:6-7); God calls them to change (Amos 5:14-15); They still do not change and God sends Jeremiah with the promise of a new covenant (Jer 31:31-33); and God keeps that promise in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus (Luke 24:1-10).  Each of the readings began with an explanatory introduction and the passage was read by the one of the youth candidates or one of the sponsors.
     Note: omitting Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac which is so difficult to interpret; adding the prophets' call to justice; and including the Easter story to bridge into the Liturgy of the Word in the Eucharist.  Placing the sermon between the readings and the Baptism comes from Louis Weil.  Thus, the readings announce that the candidates are being baptized into the resurrection faith and its call to join the mission of Jesus Christ.  The sermon easily draws on the Word and Sacrament as the guide and power to live out the mission of love and justice in each of our daily mission fields.
     Contact:  The Rev. A. Wayne Schwab, membermission@aol.com; RR 1  Box 6, Essex, NY 12936; 518-963-7541.

 

A Spanish version of WTMATM?
     There is interest in a Spanish translation of Part Two.  Part One probably needs to be redone with stories from our Hispanic communities.  A great idea but real work!  Anyone interested in helping to make it a reality?  Contact membermission@aol.com or Wayne Schwab at 518-963-7541.

 

Cornerstone picks up member mission
     The Cornerstone ministry of The Episcopal Church Foundation has just published a guide for mutual ministry that grows out of a need for ministry review to be based on the ministries of both the clergy and the laity.  Entitled Living into Our Ministries: The Mutual Ministry Cycle – A Resource Guide, the guide sees three basic categories of ministry – the community as we work together to build up the body; individual Christians as the fundamental ministry to all the people around us; and designated leaders as they fulfill their leadership roles.  The "Six Arenas of Daily Life" of the member mission vision appear as one of the models for reflecting on the fundamental ministry of the each of the baptized in their daily living.
     Contact:  The Rev. Ann Hallisey at ahallisey@episcopalfoundation.org or 510-644-9941

 

Two sermons with homework
     Jim Gill (The Rev.) began his two weeks, 2/1 and 2/8/04, as "Sunday supply" in The Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Augusta, ME saying: "Since we are to be together for two weeks, I want to consider a two part sermon. Part One today and Part Two next week.  You only get credit if you are here both Sundays!  You get more credit if you help me by being in touch with me, by mail or email, during this next week, as I prepare for Part Two Sermon.
     Let me explain my primary emphasis in these two sermons: it is to highlight our Monday to Monday Ministries as individuals.  You have every reason to be proud of Prince of Peace ministries and missions, but I would like us to focus on you, as individual members of Prince of Peace, and your daily places of ministry."
     He went on to name our six areas of ministry and give his rationale for doing so; gave out a work sheet for home life; and moved from "Truly, I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown" (Luke 4:24) to call for being open to everyone and to put our lives on the line to live that way.
     The next week, Jim summarized his approach; then read excerpts from the dozen returns he had received "on doing ministry / mission Monday to Monday;" and moved from the calls of Isaiah, Paul, and Peter to our calling, unworthy though we are, to "catch" people.
     To see more of how Jim did it, go to Sermons on the Making the Vision Work menu of the website for "Two Sermons with Homework." 

     Contact: The Rev. James L. Gill at 37 Brunswick Ave., Gardiner, ME 04345; 207-582-8802; meamft2@aol.com.
                                        
Our daily mission fields for Lent
     St. Peter's Church, Cheshire, CT adapted the Lenten series from Newsletter #12 and used this flyer (format the content in your mind's eye) to announce it.
LIVE INFORMED BY FAITH
A LENTEN SERIES ON OUR DAILY MISSION FIELDS
February 29 – Our Daily Lives as Christians
March 7 – Can we Bring Christian Values to Our Daily work
March 14 – Does our Leisure Truly Recreate Us?
March 21 – Our Mission with Teens
March 28 – How Will You Decide to Vote in November?
April 4 – Who or What Needs Help in Our Community?
Sunday mornings from 11:15 to noon in the Parish Hall
Childcare provided
[This first in a long time adult education drew over 40 people on February 29.  Rework their idea for Eastertide.]
     Contact: The Rev. Sandra Stayner, 59 Main St. 06410; st.peters.church@snet.net; 203-272-4041;

 

Resources for member mission
[For the following, go to the Making the Vision Work menu on the web site.  All should appear by March 15.]
• Brown Deer Event on CD.  Its over two hours of length made it too big for viewing via the Internet.  First-time leaders will find it a useful demonstration of events in the workshop.  For an outline of its thirteen parts, go to Session Plans and Ideas on the Making the Vision Work menu.  Order CDs at $5 each from Member Mission Press, PO Box 308, Essex, NY 12936 or 518-963-7541 or membermission@aol.com.
• Seminary Intro. – Ch. Div. Sch. Of the Pacific.  The Celtic Cross, a group of students and faculty, cosponsored this workshop at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific on 10/24/03.  A student commented: "I learned as much here as in any seminary course."  A corporation executive said, "I never took mission statements seriously until tonight."
• Parish Weekend.  The St. Alban's Church (Washington, DC) Parish Weekend of 10/4/03.
• Orientation for Deacons.  The School of Deacons Workshop of 10/25/03 at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific.
• Basic Tools #16 – Introduction for Planners.  "Getting Acquainted with the Vision of When the Members are the Missionaries – An experiential introduction for congregational and diocesan planning groups" recognizes that the vision and approach of this book are so radically opposite to most visions and approaches to mission that special care needs to be taken when introducing it for serious consideration as a resource for mission and church life.  Without such planning, the book and its vision can be watered down to "more good stories of journeys in faith."