When Technology just doesn't help

I have spend the first part of the day so far (150 minutes) telephoning people and having conversations and arranging stuff and it's been sublime (thus far). I've heard happy things, sad things and generally found out so much more than I would have done had I merely engaged in the usual run of the mill email exchanges that have become the norm' in the wonderful world of ministry.

In addition to this I found myself clearing some seventy emails - most of which required a 'Thank You' or 'noted' or 'in the diary' comment to render them 'dealt with'.

When in conversation with people, especially clergy and others whose life is full of engaging with people, the day-to-day reality is that we are finding ourselves shuffling more and more virtual paper and engaging less and less with people in real 'flesh and blood' settings - but this was not always the case.

Talking to a man who was ordained around the same time I was born I heard of the days when the clergy would get on their bike and be out there visiting the people in their patch. There were few telephone calls to be handled and what needed to be done was done with the people when and where the need was (and they had a good idea where and when the needs might arise because they knew their people!). He spoke lovingly of the days when every day was a 'drop-in' and a day to drop-in on those he served and paperwork was a small part of the job and never in the way of being the Vicar the people needed. Rose-tinted glasses? Perhaps - but a more idyllic picture than my mountain of emails, texts and voicemails :-)

The problem is that we appear to be living our lives remotely. People send me an email and assume because they've sent it the job is done and that's whatever it was about is sorted. I had email problems and found that much of what I sent vanished (or worse still, turned up some weeks later - which caused chaos) and so I began to contact people on the really important stuff and it has paid dividends in terms of relationships and local knowledge - and considering I'd rather have a meeting than a message I wonder how much truer this might be for some of my friends and colleagues?

So here's a challenge for me (and you can join in if you like):

1. I'm going to try and telephone five people every day to touch base and see how they are,

2. I'm going to engage with people on a face-to-face basis wherever the need is found, not by mail, message, text or other means that stop me being relational, wherever I can.

3. I'm going to try and cut down the 100+ work emails by better communications practices, and

4. I'm going to engage with people over diary items rather than just click the mail and assume that the link will create (and pass the thing on to all my devices) the event because there's a free slot.

I've had eleven calls out and five in thus far today and it's wonderful.

Tea drunk  and ten-minutes on soapbox away,

Happy Monday

Mission-Shaped Church - Blessing or Curse?

I think Mission-Shaped Church (MSC) is a good thing and I base this on the 1994 CofE report of the same name and my experiences of same.

MSC, as I recall, has roots in a great book by George Carey and Charlie Cleverly and I see nothing sinister in the name or the reality. In fact the five values for a missionary church are exemplars of what Church (and church) should be (for the official words see 'Mission-Shaped Church p. 81 onwards).

A missionary church is:

Trinitarian  - A relationship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit that brings forth prayer, praise and action with, and and through the three members of the Trinity is our goal and purpose.

Incarnational  - It makes visible the invisible God in the communities in which it is called to serve in such ways that whilst remaining counter-cultural is also a part of that community.

Transformational -  It changes the community by preaching the Gospel in word, action and intent by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the example of Christ and the Love of God the Father.

Discipling - It draws people to Jesus, the Christ, and helps them, individually and corporately, learn to follow Him on the faith journey that leads to the Cross.

Relational - It builds relationships with others by being open and welcoming not rigid and restrictive. An inclusive (yet not permissive) approach to those who come in from outside; a structure free for cliques and power groups.

These are what I see as the basics of being a Mission-Shaped Church - are there other outworkings of this that I do not understand?

Pax

Being a Missionary Church

I hear so much about 'missionary churches' these days and it seems that so many of the people who are speaking about them have almost as many ideas about what they are as there are people with the ideas! They range from putting on Alpha and other evangelistic stuff through to going outside the doors to bring people back and leafleting (telling them that the big pointy building at the end of their street is a church!).

Following a conversation today I thoughts I'd re-ignite the round that is Mission Action Plan (MAP) writing for the APCM (the Annual General Meeting of a church) where the MAP is supposed to be part of the proceedings by bringing people back to the five ‘Mission Values’ of the Church of England an a definition (of sorts) of 'missionary church'.

The 'mission values are

To proclaim the good news of the kingdom (Evangelism and Outreach)

To teach, baptise and nurture the of new believers (Teaching and Nurture)

To respond through 'loving service' to the (human) needs around us* (Justice and Care)

To transform unjust structures of society by our engagement (Justice and Care)

To work to safeguard creation and sustain and renew the earth (Justice and Care)

These are the five Marks of Mission of the whole Anglican Communion - in them we find three of the four 'Primary Purpose' groups, the only one missing being 'Worship and Prayer' which should be the hallmark, driving and responsive force for all that we do (so I will forgive them).


A 'missionary church' has five characteristics. A missionary church is:

Focused on God the Trinity
Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the orthodox understanding of the Trinity! It is therefore concerned with the Word, with keeping the laws and honouring God and celebrates the things of the Spirit (in a balanced and positive way).

Incarnational
Just as Jesus is God incarnate, so too are we to become, as Luther succinctly put it, 'little Christs' in that we take God into engagement, taking the initiative, with those who are 'not Church'.

Transformational
Romans 12 tells us: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." we need to be transformed and from that position lead others into being transformed that they might have the mind of God, for from that comes the heart of God and from that the actions that take Christ into all places.

A disciples-making church
Matthew 28: "Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them ina the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." We go in obedience and reach out, celebrating God where He is to be found in the lives of those who are not 'Church' and we lead them, by example and by love, into a place where they come to know God and become followers of Christ, taking up their own cross and, denying themselves, follow Him.

Relational
as I understand this, we bring together God (and the Church), the world (all creation including humans) and 'self'. We are concerned with how these and 'I' connect. We seek to show how none of the elements exist in isolation but in relationship with each other and with God throughout creation celebrating the reality that 'man is most certainly not live alone'.

So here's a bit of an outline for some future thinking. There are so many buzzwords and so many interpretations and fine sounding theological considerations but the reality is this:

That we know God, three-in-one, and taking Him into places where He is perceived not to be see lives transformed such that they follow Christ and see Him entering into all of their realities such that they can know Him, three-in-one, and taking . . . .

Pax

* I love the way 'human' is stipulated, guess it stops us going off at a tangent and doing animal rights stuff though!