During a particularly frenetic time personally and within the parish I have been dipping in and out of Stephen Cottrell's book "From the Abundance of the Heart - catholic evangelism for all the Church"
Two things arise from my reading:
Firstly, time and time again, I find great comfort and challenge from people who share an Anglo Catholic background within the Church of England and a commitment to being a missional Christian. I guess that for most of us it is easier to be challenged if we know that the challenge comes from some-one who knows where we ourselves are coming from.
Secondly how important it is to remind myself and others that mission is primarily about God and what the divine is doing in the world and not about how we invite people "to come to the Church". The Church is the consequence of people discovering God's purpose for their lives and the world - it is place of support and fellowship only to the extent that it prepares to engage with God and the world still more.
One of the great dangers of the Anglo-Catholic tradition is that Church becomes an end in itself. But I also see signs that this danger is affecting other traditions within the Church - particularly conservative evangelicals for whom the Church is a kind of temporary lifeboat until they gain their divine rewards at death.
One of the dilemmas which Stephen highlights is how "churchy" Christians can become. This was bought home to me at a workshop last week when I asked participants to list the groups they were involved with.
40% could not list a non-Christian or non-workplace group - when I suggested that they needed to do something other than work or be holy they seemed quite disturbed.
Theologically we are empowered to be " in the world but not of it". For some who were present they had never understood this to be an opportunity or a challenge - more a charter to be as much " not of it" and as little " in the world" as was possible.
To put it in anglo-catholic terms (which might resonance with Christians of other traditions) Stephen Cottrell reminds his readers that the climax of the Eucharist is not the receipt of the communion elements of bread and wine but the sending out into the world which ends the Eucharist or Mass. Mass of course has the same root word as mission - so mass and mission share a common purpose rather than being in some uneasy tension.
This idea of 'sending' has been intriguing me recently. To send others actively, to be aware that we are sending and being sent and that active sending is part of an ongoing relationship of prayer and commitment, seems to me to be a powerful support to community.
Strange, it's an idea that intrigues me and seems to offer potential but I can't quite get my head round it yet. If I've just rambled gibberish, sorry but I guess that I've only proved my last point! :-)
Posted by: Caroline | 16 March 2007 at 14:52