Anglican Communion News Service: New priorities for the Anglican Witness core group
I both groaned and applauded this news posting.
The applause is for the priority being given to young people and children. At last our church seems to be waking up to the fact that we need to make them a priority, that they are important to God, and need to be for us.
I groaned because this seems to come out of a desire to grow the church, not because God finds children and young people important and desires us to live out God's love and care for them.
I also groaned because yet again we strip out the 5 strands of missions and focus on them one at a time, as if we can do evangelism without pastoral care, or confronting unjust structures or caring for God's earth. They are all strands of one mission, God's mission. We do not have five discrete missions we can pick and choose from. And the longer we try to pick and choose, the longer "our mission" is rendered ineffective. When will we embrace God's mission in it's entirety, and join God in this work, rather than struggling on with our inept self centred efforts.
The applause is for the priority being given to young people and children. At last our church seems to be waking up to the fact that we need to make them a priority, that they are important to God, and need to be for us.
I groaned because this seems to come out of a desire to grow the church, not because God finds children and young people important and desires us to live out God's love and care for them.
I also groaned because yet again we strip out the 5 strands of missions and focus on them one at a time, as if we can do evangelism without pastoral care, or confronting unjust structures or caring for God's earth. They are all strands of one mission, God's mission. We do not have five discrete missions we can pick and choose from. And the longer we try to pick and choose, the longer "our mission" is rendered ineffective. When will we embrace God's mission in it's entirety, and join God in this work, rather than struggling on with our inept self centred efforts.
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