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MESSAGE FROM THE
PRE SI D I NG B I S H OP
esus sent his friends out to do specific things:
“Go into the world and make disciples of all
peoples, baptizing and teaching them what I
have taught you.” That sending is the origin
of the word “mission.” It is God’s mission, and
the church is a partner and participant. Mission is the
church’s reason for existence, and as Emil Brunner so
aptly noted, “The Church exists by mission as a fire exists
by burning.”
The Five Marks of Mission that
have guided our churchwide work
in recent years offer a framework
for understanding and evaluating our efforts in God’s mission.
First conceived in the mid-1980s,
they have begun to get traction in
The Episcopal Church in the last
decade or so. Their genius is the
awareness that no one person or
community can engage them all in
their fullness; it is only as the Body
of Christ gathered that we can
even begin to address God’s full
intent for a healed and reconciled
creation.
Mark 1 urges us all to proclaim
the good news of what God has in
mind for creation – that it be an
environment of peace and justice
for all (humanity and others). We
do that by sharing God’s dream
and encouraging people to explore
its possibilities.
Mark 2 invites us to introduce
people to Jesus and then continue
to teach and nurture their faith –