How to sell the Mission (April 2002)

Archbishop Writes

by Peter Jensen

Archbishop Jensen responds to the survey of Synod members

When the Synod of 2001 responded to the Mission Statement and the goal, their comments were assessed by two researchers. They discovered that a significant proportion of those who agreed with the Mission Statement itself, were concerned about how we would ‘sell’ the statement to churches and individuals.

It seems many of our parish Synod representatives thought that elderly and/or conservative people may take some persuading!

Yet, I often find that the elderly are far from conservative when it comes to this issue. And in fact, we are going to have to rely heavily on the senior Christians to support this mission in prayer and in front-line evangelism.

But, in any case, the concerns of these Synod representatives does need to be considered. How are we going to persuade people about the importance of this subject and the validity of the Statement? Let me suggest three points to think about.

1. It is biblical

First, because the Statement is biblical. It arises from the Bible and it passes on the teaching of the Bible. It can be tested by the Bible.

Recently I was explaining the statement to a group of ministers and found I could use 1 Thessalonians to undergird and illustrate the ideas of the Statement. It is exciting to check this out, especially because this short letter was written so soon after Paul evangelised the city in which the church was located.

2. We all own it

Second, because the Statement is corporate. It is not originally the work of one person; it was hammered out in a group. More than that, it has been subject to the review of the Synod and now it is being discussed in various meetings for ministers and lay people all around the Diocese. It belongs to a lot of people, and I am hoping that as we consider it together in this way, it will be owned by a lot of people. Our joint wisdom is impressive and valuable.

3. It is useful

Third, because it is so obviously useful. I am not a person who thinks that such mission statements are an absolute necessity in any enterprise. My guess is that they built the Harbour Bridge without having one! But this Mission Statement is something that is needed by a group as large, as widespread and as disparate as we are. If we are going to draw strength by acting together, we will have to create some agreed vision.

So the Statement helps draw us together and capitalise on our joint strength. More than that, it focuses our attention on really important matters. In church life as in all else it is possible to become fixated by secondary issues; the Statement concentrates on what is primary.

Furthermore, it helps us get our priorities correct. It shows that if we want flourishing, loving churches walking in the way of the Lord, it will happen through the preaching of the gospel in the first instance. It also shows us that we will need to preach the gospel in the power of the Spirit and the basic importance of prayer.

In short, I commend the Statement to you, and I thank those who raised the issue of how we are to ‘sell’ it to the churches and individuals of our Diocese.

Click here to comment on this article for the next edition of Southern Cross

Latest articles in Latest articles
- Christmas lights up our darkness - 2 days, 3 hours ago
- A response to market meltdown - 1 month, 1 week ago
- The greatest thing of all - 2 months ago