Contents Up one level Lincolnshire Five Marks Eight Aspects Feed my Sheep Conclusions Communication        

By John Cole

 

A: The Lincolnshire Trilogy

In the late 1980s in Lincolnshire, a diocesan committee (with non-Anglican participants) came up with two definitions of mission - and played around a great deal with a third. The two are:

Mission Definition (1)

God sends us across boundaries in his work of

realising his Kingdom in all creation
proclaiming the Gospel of new life in Christ through repentance and salvation
renewing Christ’s Church through the power of the Holy Spirit

 

Mission Definition (2)

Mission is the task of responding to God through
strengthening and enriching the faith of church members
proclaiming the Gospel to others (by word and witness)
loving/caring for all His creation and especially those in need

But neither of these definitions work if you see these tasks as an assorted list of extra jobs bolted onto whatever else you think the Church is mainly about!

Mission Definition (3)

The third definition is the game already introduced earlier in this book:

How to be an Apostolic Church

God sends us out into God’s world
  

to SEE God already at work in God’s world
to HEAR what God wants for God’s world
to BE God’s people in God’s world
to DO God’s work in God’s world
to SAY (express) God’s message to God’s world

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