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Introduction (by Fr. Steven J. Kelly)

  Friends – We have been in a virus imposed limbo since March of 2020.   During our shut down, and now our phased re-opening of the Church, priorities have been re-evaluated and it is as if the entire world, including The Church, has hit the RESET button.   The Vestry over the summer set out to read and discuss a book called Made for Mission: Renewing your parish culture by Tim Glemkowski.    As recommended in this book we recommitted to being a parish that is focused on mission.   What is that mission?   Simply stated, it is To know Christ, and to make Him known.   This has been our published mission statement, and Mr. Glemkowski’s book has started us thinking about how we can become more deeply focused on the primary work of the parish. The statement above assumes two things: that we know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, and how he has revealed himself through the historic teaching of the Church, and that we know how to share that Good News.   We will be spending time
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Day 1

       First, since the Church was founded by Christ and He is its living head; since it is a divine body meant to be God’s instrument; it will always be renewed from above by waiting upon the Lord, by looking up, by worship.   In prayer and worship, which are means of Grace by which God’s life comes to us, we become what we could not otherwise become.   “This is why every Apostle, every Father of the Church, every leader and theologian who said anything of lasting value or helped to renew the Church – all these men were teachers of prayer and lovers of Scripture through which they communed with their living Lord”.   We revive when we look up, and in the Scriptures, Prayer, Sacrament receive the food which is offered to us.   We revive when we look up and receive to ourselves “the incomprehensible Grandeur of the Lord.”   “Both for perplexity and for dulled conscience the remedy is the same; sincere and spiritual worship.   “For,” says William Temple, “worship is the submission of all
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Day 2

       In the first mediation we thought together about the central place of worship in the renewal of the Church…   We only deserve to grow as a Church if our devotion in God’s glory is deep, strong, and sure.    Now we can turn to the second means by which the Church is renewed. The Church is renewed by clear, exact, and precise thought.   A living Church always has a definite creed.   If we are to be God’s instrument, we must be able to show truth to the minds of men, and to proclaim that Christianity is not just helpful and beneficial; it is true.   And because it is true, it is helpful and beneficial.   Suppose that some hungry soul were to come among us and then turn away sadly saying, “They’re a vague lot without much to say for themselves.”   Weak reasoning can prevent the entrance of many people into the Church; and one of the interesting things to see is how converts to the Church such as C.S. Lewis, become clear expositors of the faith.   They know what led them to the Chu
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Day 3

We stand today in the midst of a great worldwide religious struggle in which doctrines and dogmas are the chief issues.   It is a war of creeds.   And the strength of those who war on the Christian tradition lies in the definiteness of their creed and dogmas, however false or one-sided they may be.   Does anyone think that Communists are fuzzy in their beliefs?   But we have been, and are, as a people anti-intellectual, belittling the importance of creeds, neglecting serious study, wanting noble fruits without the beliefs that bore them.   “But,” says Dorothy Sayers, “if we want a Christian society, we must teach Christianity; and you can’t teach Christianity without definite and precise beliefs.”   People in every walk of life know our world is sick, and, knowing this, they want to know two things: 1) How did the modern world which had so much hope, enthusiasm, and promise get into this trouble? 2) Is there a way out?   Something is wrong, but what is it?   And since we ar
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Day 4

       How can we properly organize the Church for its task if we are vague about what the Church itself is?   If we are weak in the knowledge of our beliefs, we will tend to be weak in work.   Without firm beliefs, we grow vague and soft.   Without firm beliefs held in common with the Christian ages, we sever ourselves from the Apostles and our great historical roots.   Without firm beliefs we are tossed about with every wind of doctrine, and our morale rise and falls with the headlines.   And worst of all, without clear doctrine we are prone to preach ourselves.   Show me a parish that understands the sin of man, the need for redemption, an   the nature of the Church; and I will show you a missionary parish.   As P.T. Forsyth says, “One man who truly knows his Bible is worth more to a Church’s strength than a crowd of workers who do not.   If we ask the preacher, he will tell us among whom he finds his real strength.   The poverty is not in the amount of our work, but in the quality
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Day 5

       The Bible takes us back to the Lord who produced the Bible, the Creed, and the Church.   In it we find Him.   It is a means of Grace by which, in which, and through which Christ comes to us.   We must look past the Bible as literature to see the Lord; and then in, by and through the Scriptures hear Him speak to us today. You can see what this means to the Church if you will consider some practical dangers that surround us.   There is the danger that if we are not guided by the objective fact of God’s action for us in Christ that we will simply reflect the world around us.   There is the danger which our tradition sees very clearly, that men will preach themselves, or impose upon others, innovations which are contrary to God’s Word.   There is the danger that we will take as our authority our own “feelings, passions, impulses”, rather than God’s Word.   This world is only going to be saved if we preach God’s truth; and that means that we must bring to our age a message which is
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Day 6

       So far we have thought about the renewal of the Church through prayer and worship, and through firm and clear belief.   Now we turn to the Mission of the Church, or, as I like to call it, the destiny of the Church.   There are at the beginning two truths which must be stated and held together, for both are important. First , it is true that missionary zeal comes from deepened prayer and a clearer understanding of the faith.   We move in this truth from the inner life outward to good works.   A good tree bringeth forth good fruit .   Works come from faith; and the faith of a Church is revealed by its works. Secondly, and this is sometimes forgotten, works are also a means of Grace, so that faith is deepened by works.   Faith brings forth works, which was our first point; but works also deepen faith, that is our second point.   We have faith, and then we venture: but when we venture, our faith grows.   When we venture out we are strengthened.   God gives His Spirit of joy, pea
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