Home

Church of Ireland Home

Day 2

“How can we proclaim the unchanging Gospel message in and ever–changing world?” – Council for Mission Asks Synod

The report of the Council for Mission was presented to General Synod in the Millennium Forum, Derry/Londonderry this afternoon. The report was proposed by the Revd Cliff Jeffers (Cork, Cloyne and Ross) who posed the question to Synod: ‘How can we proclaim the unchanging Gospel message in and ever–changing world?’

He said that it was the council’s role to remind Synod of the main purpose of the Church – that we are called to be active in God’s work. In the busyness of parish life Mr Jeffers says that it was easy to neglect this primary purpose.

The Council for Mission had been keeping the mission of the church on their agenda. This led them to refocus their attentions and a commitment to reflect on the Five Marks of Mission.

“Over the next five years, we are going to bring to your attention and the attention of the wider church, each of the five Marks of Mission for us to reflect on and encourage your participation in your personal lives and the lives of churches and communities.  We are planning, with the help of the Priorities Fund, to create a short video for each Mark of mission that can be used in Select Vestries, shown at church services or on other parish occasions or to be viewed personally and shared on social media.  The purpose of these videos is to help us to better understand and engage with the 5 Marks of mission as a way of understanding the mission of the church and enable us to better make plans and develop strategies in our local communities to share the Good News of Christ,” he stated.

Their focus this year will be on the first Mark of Mission – to Proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom. “This first Mark is fundamental, as it is the building block of our faith.  Regardless of our church traditions or background, somewhere, somehow, each of us who are followers of Jesus heard that message proclaimed by someone, either in words that we came to understand and believe or in action that we copied and made our own,” Mr Jeffers said.

Mr Jeffers outlined some of the other activities of the Council for Mission over the last year. He recalled that last year there was a joint motion put to synod to do a scoping study in the area of justice which uncovered a lot of initiatives throughout the church in the area of justice and said it was hoped that more work can be done to bring these together.

The report was seconded by Catherine Little (Connor) thanked the Council for Mission for their hard work over the last year. She said that mission was everyone’s responsibility. She called on members to tell the council on the work they were doing under the Five Marks of Mission in their own parishes.

She highlighted the resources produced for services for St Patrick’s Day and the Thy Kingdom Come initiative from the Anglican Communion.

Members of Synod had the opportunity to view the first video in the Council for Mission’s series. This is available to view online on the Church of Ireland website.

Discussion on the report included the following points:

·         The Five Marks of Mission were used in Dublin and Glendalough through the Come&C project which enabled many to explore their faith and move out into the community in confidence and explore connections with the community and with the Anglican Communion.

·         The question was asked – where do young people get a voice? Where does the average member of the pew get a voice? People in the pew are represented by their Select Vestry and they may end up on Diocesan Synod and then at General Synod. The Select Vestry deals with finance and fabric but not mission. How does the young enthusiastic person get a voice? Synod and its brief ought to be expanded so that people who care can say what’s in their hearts and be listened to.

·         Members who had stepped down from the Council of Mission were honoured.

·         Copies of the summary of the scoping study which was agreed to at last year’s Synod are available on the General Synod website. The scoping study was in cooperation with Bishops’ Appeal and was a great process.

·         Is the Church of Ireland hearing the voice of young people? Student climate change strikes were highlighted with Gretta Thunberg leading the charge to make adults change. It is important to listen to the voice of this generation. The Church has to embrace all Five Marks of Mission as our guide and a clear presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The video shown during this report may be viewed on this link.

#coigs

Our use of cookies

Some cookies are necessary for us to manage how our website behaves while other optional, or non-necessary, cookies help us to analyse website usage. You can Accept All or Reject All optional cookies or control individual cookie types below.

You can read more in our Cookie Notice

Functional

These cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.

Analytics cookies

Analytical cookies help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on its usage.