++Rowan on Mission

On Saturday 7th May 201, after a Diocesan Eucharist, the Archbishop of Canterbury ++Rowan gave a teaching session to clergy and LLMs in the Oxford Diocese. 

His main teaching was on "one spirit, one body" which I will post on tomorrow.  Before that, he responded to the three inspirational presentations given about ways churches in the Diocese are making disciples.  This post shares what I learned from ++Rowan's reflections on the mission of making disciples.

I was inspired and energised by the sharing on how three churches have opened their doors to the community in mission, thereby making disciples.  I heard ideas which we could use at St Nicolas, and a passion for mission which enthused me.

++Rowan summarised these activities simply and succinctly "these activities are showing people what they already have". 

It's obvious, now I hear it, but that had never occurred to me before in that way.  But yes, speaking to people about our faith helps them to see the goodness of Jesus in their lives already.

This is what mission and evangelism are about; we need to know that "God is there ahead of us" and all we are doing is showing Him in their lives.

++Rowan related this to the sacred centre.  He said that we want to build the sacred centre; by "developing the sacred which exists in the lives of us all."

But more than that, he helped me realise that the sacred centre is not new territory; it's the centre that exists already.  

Therefore in making disciples we are not about providing the sacred; but deepening the sacred.

We have it.  But the it we have we don't necessarily know we have.

Or as ++Rowan put it...

We want to see people say "ah, yes, I knew that; but I didn't know I'd known that".