October 2003
Time for some "member mission stories!"
A work place mission at school Seventh grader, Mike, spotted someone copying from his friend's paper during a test. To him, this was unfair because the one cheating would get a grade he did not work for. But how to handle what he saw? If Mike told the teacher, the word might out and he would be mocked as a "tattletale." Mike decided to tell his friend and, the next time, his friend simply covered his paper so that it could not be copied. Mike did run the risk that his friend might tell but the friend did not.
Some missions in the wider world of state government Keep following the story of Alabama's Republican governor Bob Reilly who rose to power on a strict tax-cut program. He read a doctoral study on the injustice of the state's income tax. When the income of a family of four rises above $4,600, the family has to pay taxes at the state's flat rate of 5% for all people. This means the lowest income people find the tax the hardest to bear. With a deficit this year of $675 million, Reilly is trying to raise the tax rate to 6% and raise the income threshold for taxes to $17,000 this year and to $20,000 in three years. Count the missionaries involved in this process: the governor, the writer of the doctoral study, the professor who agreed to the subject of the doctoral study, the representatives to the two houses of the legislature, and all the registered Christian voters in the state in their voting and in their informal conversations.
A church mission A small group calling themselves the Cambridge Consultation secured acceptance of a resolution by the recent General Convention of the Episcopal Church calling on congregations to give 0.7% of their income to development goals of the United Nations. The Rt. Rev. Jeffery Rowthorn, retired bishop of Europe and a founding member of the group, gave an address to Convention that helped acceptance of the resolution.
Practice that really teaches
At a parish weekend just ended, we practiced finding teammates to help us in one of our crucial daily missions. Working in trios, each participant took turns as the missionary seeking help, as the potential teammate, and the observer reflecting on what helped or hindered the team building. Each situation was built around an actual mission and an actual potential teammate. Learnings abounded! I recalled the familiar learning principle: learning is highest when your own behavior is out there for feedback from others. -AWS
Session Plans Coming:
The following formats await posting on the website http://www.membermissionpress.or. They should be available by October 15th.
"Living Our Baptism Monday Through Saturday" – a 15-minute introduction including some theological principles, a look at discerning a present mission, and the support system; offered as part of "The Ministry Faire" of the Diocese of Maine, 9/20/03
"Catechumens as Missionaries: Connecting Formation with Daily Life" – a workshop from a national conference of clergy and laity developing catechumenal formation in their congregations; based on the leader's conviction that "connecting God's mission and daily life" must be part of the process "from the beginning."
"Every Member a Missionary" – a four-hour workshop for a Parish Weekend with the morning spent on "Discovering our present missions" and the afternoon devoted to "Building a team for each mission."
Recent appearances of Member Mission resources
"Books for Congregational Clergy/Leaders" at the joint website of The Episcopal Church and The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for Ministry in Daily Life -- http://www.episcopalchurch.org/mdl/books.html.
The Call, September 2003, Divisions for Ministry and for Congregational Ministries, ELCA: Listed among new resources.
The Gospel and Our Culture, March and June 2003: listed in "Some Basic Literature of the North American Movement."
Lutheran Partners, September/October 2003, ELCA: "The author observes that those with leadership responsibilities have not always taught ‘that each of us is on mission to transform those parts of the world in which we move'" (p. 133).
Vestry Papers, September/October 2003, The Episcopal Church Foundation: "Easing the Load – Missionaries One and All," by A. Wayne Schwab (pp. 3-4).
Worship Planning Helps, General Board of Discipleship, United Methodist Church: References appear occasionally as resources for worship planning at http://gbod.org/worship.
PS: Do remember to share your own experiences in Member Mission with the rest of us. Send them to membermission@aol.com and they'll be part of the next newsletter.
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