(Ed: should this really be titled, "Our task is not church growth?" Still, when nobody comes to my church any more, at least I know the bishop won't be cross!)
[...] "Our task is not to drag people to church and judge our success by numbers turning up on Sunday morning. Our task is to take the Gospel out among the people. When we are faithful to the Gospel, God will create the community of faith. The church belongs to God, not us. We do not create it, God does. God does this through the faithful witness and living of people who are passionate about Jesus. “
With peoples and cultures on the move, violent attacks on innocent citizens and faith in God being questioned in new ways, Bishop John pointed to the need for faithful witness and mission. The church’s strategies for schools and youth, for the environment and for prisons, among other issues, are all held together in this one coherent Christian strategy for the church.
“We live with the danger not just of the media making fun of us – which they can sometimes do – but of us telling a story out of touch with the movement of life in our world today”, he warned. “Is the welcoming face of Jesus coming through our conversation? Does this work speak of a love that might transform the communities in which our congregations and churches live and minister?” Read more
Wednesday, 17 January 2007
Passion for Jesus will change the world if we listen and learn, Bishop of Chelmsford tells Synod
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2 comments:
Why have you gone back to November 11th for this piece of historical reporting?
Because there's a conspiracy! No, seriously, it simply wasn't picked up earlier and it is about Chelmsford (this is a Chelmsford-oriented blog, after all), and most people won't have read it on the Chelmsford Diocesan website as it is tucked away in the news section, and it merits reading. You may have spotted the piece by Peter Jensen is even earlier - from October 2006. This isn't Reuters!
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