Convention Workshop and EFM Group From The Rev. William D. Roberts

Building Stronger Ambassadors: an Introduction

[From The Rev. William D. Roberts, Rector, St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church, Deerfield, IL. Bill gave this workshop at the 2003 Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago.  Bill also used this material and the worksheets with his EFM Group as part of Common Lesson 5 for Year B.]

In his first letter to the church in Corinth, St. Paul writes:  “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”

In his book, When the Members are the Missionaries, Wayne Schwab distinguishes between “body-missions” and “member-missions.”  Body-missions are missions undertaken by the congregation as the body of Christ, either within or beyond the congregation, and most churches are organized around “body-missions.”

Body-missions within St. Gregory’s congregation, for example, include Task Groups, like the Vestry, Altar Guild, and Buildings and Grounds Management Team; Learning Groups, like the Sunday School and Education for Ministry [EFM] Program; Fellowship Groups, like the Better-Than-Evers for parishioners over 50 years of age, and the Bridge Clubs; and Support Groups for Daily Living, like the Brotherhood of Saint Andrew, the Daughters of the King, and the Thursday Morning Bible Study.

Body-missions beyond St. Gregory’s congregation include providing and serving meals at the Christ Church, Waukegan, Soup Kitchen, supporting the ex-offenders at St. Leonard’s House in Chicago, and leading worship Sunday mornings at Brentwood.

Member-missions are the missions members undertake in their daily mission fields.  The church as the body of Christ is not usually present where key social, economic, and political policies and decisions are made, but its members are.  Consequently, individual members of the body of Christ are sometimes better placed to transform not only other persons but also the communities, organizations, and institutions where they live and work.

The mission fields where member-missions happen include our homes, where we work, our local community, the wider world, where we relax or enjoy our leisure time, and even our own church.

Body-missions and member-missions need missionaries.  A missionary is someone who acts in each mission field because he or she is committed to doing the Lord’s work there faithfully.  A missionary is also someone who worships faithfully in order to receive the Word of God and the Sacraments of the church in the company of other sisters and brothers in Christ.  A missionary listens to the Word of God in scriptures and sermons for encouragement in the purpose and direction of the mission.  A missionary participates in the Sacraments of the church for power to carry on the mission.

Our missionary spirituality as Episcopalians is found in the service of Holy Baptism, beginning on page 299 of The Book of Common Prayer, and especially in The Baptismal Covenant, pages 304-305.  The inspiration for that missionary spirituality draws especially on St. Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. I have placed these two sources for our missionary spirituality in parallel columns.  Note the circumstances in which St. Paul is writing: he is in prison for his member-mission as an evangelist for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Two worksheets following this summary of our Episcopalian mission spirituality will help you identify your formation as a missionary, your mission fields, and your member-missions.

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