Dear Friends
Vision
I reminded us in my article last month that the vision of
the Anglican community in Southern Africa is to be “Anchored in the love of Christ, Committed to God's Mission, Transformed
by the Holy Spirit.” The full vision, mission and priority statements can be
found at http://bit.ly/sI5Mrw , and I do
recommend you take time to read them. Bishop Jo, at our recent Synod, indicated
that in 2012 there will be a process of revisiting our Diocesan statements in
order to align them with the Provincial commitment, as well as to the context
in which our Diocese finds itself, namely that we now have a rector in every
parish in the Diocese, allowing every parish to become increasingly a centre of
spirituality, mission and ministry.
Diocesan Theme 2011-2014
The Diocese meets for Synod every three years, and each time
sets a theme for the three years to follow. The theme is designed to help us
reach aspects of our Diocesan Vision and Mission, and to give us a focus for
development and growth between Synod meetings. Synod 2011 accepted the theme:
Renewed
and empowered through Baptism to be “servants of Christ and stewards of the
mysteries of God” (1 Corinthians 4:1)
I believe this theme will usefully help us redefine the
focus of our Diocesan Vision and Mission as we seek to explore, in terms of the
present Diocesan Mission statement, what it truly means for Parishes to be
forming centres of spirituality, mission and ministry. In addressing this theme
in his Charge to Synod, Bishop Jo reflects that we need to move our focus from
the Church as a building to the Church as community. We need to spend time
teaching and reflecting on what it means to be Christian Community, on what it
means to be servants and stewards in the realm and domain of God.
One of the keys to building community that Bishop Jo points
to in his Charge is the importance of establishing small faith communities in
people’s homes. So much of community in the Anglican environment is established
around our building and our Sunday worship, and so there is a huge challenge
here. It has been touching in recent weeks to experience how the Corpus Christi
Family Cross is taking the focus of community into our homes – drawing together
the family, drawing in friends – as we meet to pray. It has been encouraging to
experience something of the supportive and faith-filled friendships that uphold
many of our parish families.
Our responsibility, however, is not just to ourselves, and
not just to building our own community; we have a responsibility to the wider
community of humanity and creation. The faith community forms our foundation,
but we are called to build beyond our faith boundaries. Bishop Jo reminds us of
this in his Charge when he says, “we must, as a matter of our confession, live
a life reflecting God’s love which demands unity and requires justice for all
humanity.” A strong aspect of this journey is being willing to reach beyond our
own boundaries and to join hands with people of other denominational, and even
religious, outlook. Unity can never exist if we are unwilling to embrace
diversity. We also need to embrace our struggles, suffering and hurt, the
fragmentation of human life and community. We are reliably informed that by the
time you read this the global human population will have reached seven billion.
What is the implication of such numbers for survival? What is the implication
for our world? What does it mean for our faith?
The challenge is to live differently and meaningfully, to
build community that rejects isolation and breeds wholeness, creating a secure
future for our world. Bishop Jo’s challenge to us in this regard is that, “Our
work for the kingdom of God must create an environment that has the character
of heaven on earth.”
Blessings
Mark
