The Christian life is a journey

* from darkness to light,

* from isolation, alienation, injustice, fear, environmental destruction, rootlessness, lack of purpose, lack of confidence;

to being connected with others in community, finding purpose, pursuing justice, caring for creation, discovering gifts and callings, gaining confidence and independence, finding grace in life and death.

It is a journey into the faith, hope and love of God’s kingdom.

But how can we find our way along it? There are so many distractions and hindrances that get in the way. It is easy to be knocked off course, to become preoccupied, to lose the vision and a sense of direction.

This course is all about paying attention to a number of waymarks that point the way. Like walkers who depend on piles of stones or other landmarks to find their way through wild landscapes, so the Bible and the Church in its worship and wider life provide us with a set of signs that point towards God’s kingdom and help us move forward in the company of others. But these waymarks are not just signposts to look at – they are lived experiences that help us not only see the way forward but know and feel it in our lives in positive ways. They can be described as Marks of Mission i.e. marks of Christ’s mission of telling and living the grace of the Kingdom of God.

In the Anglican Communion five of these marks have been highlighted and widely summarised with a word beginning with ‘T’ -

-         To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom – Tell

-         To teach, baptise and nurture new believers – Teach

-         To respond to human need by loving service – Tend

-         To transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and pursue peace and reconciliation – Transform

-         To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth - Treasure

www.anglicancommunion.org/mission/marks-of-mission.aspx

This course explores these ‘Five Marks of Mission’. It includes some bible study, of the early chapters of Mark’s gospel, to the waymarks in Christ’s mission, and then looks at the different ways they are expressed in the life of the church especially in the liturgy of the Eucharist. Finally it asks us to explore how each Mark of Mission might be more intentionally expressed in our own lives.

Stephen Spencer

February 2023