Dear Friends,
“The Anglican Church of Australia is at a crossroads. For over thirty years it has been slowly declining and the time has come for a revolution if it is to be a strong and sustainable Church for the future”.
These were the first words of a report presented to the Anglican Church of Australia in 2014. And no one disputed them.
The Viability and Structures Report was tabled at the National Synod Meeting in Adelaide and it made for sobering reading. More than half a dozen dioceses were on the verge of bankruptcy, others were training no clergy and still others were shrinking at an alarming rate.
Through a strange twist of fate, I found myself on the national committee given the task of making and implementing recommendations for change. It has been an interesting journey that finished last Thursday. Sadly though, for a variety of reasons, I fear that we have spent our time simply rearranging the furniture while the house is on fire.
One of the clear thrusts of the report is that viability will rely upon evangelising large numbers of the population but that we lack the ability to proceed with imagination and courage.
Missiologist Bob Jackson in his latest book, What Makes the Church Grow?, addresses the future of the Anglican Church:
“The absolute core Church activity is to worship God. But mission or evangelism leading to the growth of the Church is not a second order optional extra for enthusiasts. If we are overwhelmed by the love of God for the world then we overflow with the love of God to the world. That is why David Bosch said that it is not the Church of God that has a mission to the world but the God of mission who has a Church in the world. God’s mission of saving love to the whole of creation is at the heart of his being and agenda. It flows out of him both to and through the Church. The Church is not the only route by which God’s missional grace flows into the world, but he has chosen and appointed the Church for this purpose.”
I heard the David Bosch quote at another event recently and it really resonated with me. The work of evangelising large numbers of people is not the plan of the church, it’s the plan of God who is on mission in the world through his church.
Now before you give thanks that we have Mick Bullen on staff at Church to do this mission as our Mission Pastor, keep in mind that when we use the word “church” here we are not talking about an institution or organisation, we are talking about God’s people. You are the Church. And God’s plan is to use you to reach the world for Christ.
The future of the church is in God’s hands but he has given us the responsibility to do his work with imagination and courage. So what could you do to evangelise the large number of people in Campbelltown who don’t yet know Jesus?
In Christ
Nigel