Five Marks of Mission topic of joint session

The Five Marks of Mission – and how to put them to work at home – were the topic of discussion for deputies and bishops at a morning joint session in the House of Deputies on June 30. Developed by the Anglican Consultative Council between 1984 and 1990, the Five Marks “are summed up in the image of pursuing God’s kingdom here on Earth as it is in heaven,” Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said in her opening remarks.

The Five Marks of Mission are:

• To proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God.
• To teach, baptize and nurture new believers.
• To respond to human need by loving service.
• To seek to transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind, and to pursue peace and reconciliation.
• To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the Earth.

“All of God’s mission in which we are engaged is done in a particular, incarnate context,” Jefferts Schori said. “We can’t do this in theory. We do it personally through our own interactions, our own relationships, our own stewardship, our own reconciliation, our own ministry in the world. These Five Marks of Mission are a summary of what it means to be a Christian in the world.”

In the hourlong conversation period that followed, brief videos introduced the Five Marks, one by one, and after each video, deputations engaged in conversation, using a set of questions related to each Mark, such as: How are we proclaiming the Good News to different demographic groups? How do our current diocesan structures enhance or impede our proclamation? What is the relationship between outreach and evangelism? How can people see Jesus in our work of caring for the earth?

“My encouragement to you is that you think about how you are going to take what you’ve learned here at convention home and put it to work in your own contexts, in your own particular places that need healing and reconciliation,” Jefferts Schori said.

 

Deputies approve resolution urging for the removal of the Confederate battle flag

The House of Deputies on June 29 approved in an overwhelming voice vote Resolution D044, which “strongly urges all persons, along with public, governmental, and religious institutions, to discontinue the display of the Confederate battle flag.”

Deputy Betsy Baumgarten of Mississippi urged the house to support the measure, noting that symbols “help to shape our belief and our continued understanding of God and the world. To continue to allow the Confederate flag to have a place in our churches says something about The Episcopal Church.”

While acknowledging that the symbol is for some a sign of their heritage, “for many more it has and continues to be a symbol of slavery, racial injustice and violence – and now more than ever, a sign of the white supremacist movement. The Confederate Battle Flag has no place in a church that calls all baptized persons to respect dignity of every human being.”

The resolution went a step further, challenging the Church to get out of our churches and engage our public and government institutions in a conversation about such a toxic symbol of hate having any place in our current civic life.

 “As a deputation from Mississippi, we felt we needed to speak to this issue. But it isn’t just our issue. We call on the whole church as the people of God to join with us to remove this symbol of hate and oppression and to work towards bringing equality to all people.”

Digital Evangelism Initiative resolution approved

Deputies approved Resolution B009 on June 29, which directs the staff of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society to develop and conduct a digital evangelism initiative … “for the purpose of meeting the demand online for the gospel of Jesus Christ through the ministry of the Episcopal Church,” including building and maintaining a database of prospects, and cultivating those prospects via email, social media, blogs, and other means. The resolution also provides for partnerships with dioceses “to refer qualified prospects to local congregations, church plants or other appropriate ministries.”

Deputy John Crossen of Delaware, a marketing manager at QVC, said of the digital campaigns proposed in the resolution: “This is a Pentecost moment for the church, to have the opportunity and the call to reach people where they are, often in front of their screens.”

Churchwide network for church planting

General Convention supported the creation of a church-wide network for planting congregations, and training and recruiting planters June 30 when the House of Bishops passed Resolution D005 unanimously and with enthusiastic applause.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said the house doesn’t normally encourage applause “but I cannot imagine there would be anyone in this church who’d be opposed to this.”

All bishops who stood spoke in favor of the resolution.

Deputies approve C048, hiking minimum wage to $15

Deputies on June 29 approved a resolution continuing support from previous conventions for advocacy and policies to provide a living wage, and advocating for an increase in the hourly minimum wage to $15 per hour.

Deputy Sarah Lawton of California, development coordinator for the University of California at Berkeley’s Labor Center, spoke in support of Resolution C048. She told the gathering that raising the minimum wage doesn’t lead to job loss but rather stimulates the economy and productivity. She said the moral question is, “In this gulf between those who are well off and those who are really struggling, where will the church stand?”

Deputy David Sevigny of the Diocese of Lexington opposed it because “it fails to address our own stewardship. My guess is that many of the church structures have employees paid much less than $15 per hour. So please, please we cannot point out the speck in the eye of our government until we pull the log out of our own.”