What is Mission?
In the past Mission was frequently associated in particular with two aspects of the Church's work. 
• A special evangelistic campaign which was part of the ongoing work in the life of the local church.
• The Overseas or Foreign Mission of the Church which was always understood as that which happened in far away countries.
Such understandings had their value but Mission is a much wider concept than both of these. Christian Mission always needs to be expressed within the wider world context and this includes a commitment to the World Church in a spirit of sharing and receiving, both ‘here and there'.
John Wesley led the way for Methodist people and others when he declared that –
‘The World is my Parish.'
There are two basic foundations to Mission:
The first is the Mission of God and the second is the Mission of the Church . ( Mission in Today's World , Donald Dorr)
St Mark's Gospel tells us that Jesus Christ began his three year ministry when he appeared in Galilee proclaiming the Good News of God. He announced that the Kingdom of God is near and all must repent and believe in the Gospel. For Jesus this was the beginning of his earthly Mission.
The starting point is to acknowledge the reign of God over all. Then comes the challenge to capture a ‘ Vision of God's Kingdom ' as it is on earth and in heaven, to paraphrase familiar words from the Lord's Prayer. The priority which follows this is to proclaim, promote and live by the ‘ Kingdom Values '.
Such Values are –
Salvation , truth, love, justice, peace, righteousness and goodness along with both recognising and valuing the worth, dignity and human rights of all people.
To maintain these ‘Kingdom Values' means establishing and upholding certain spiritual pillars within the life of the local worshipping congregation. They are key to the outworking and promoting of Mission.
Prayer , Bible Study, Witness, Service, Outreach and Fellowship: all of them empowered by the Holy Spirit.
A commitment to such pillars involves a list of qualities which can be summed up as –
Pastoral Care , an unconditional welcome for all, a spirit of openness, creativity and flexibility, all of which must come together in the daily life of the church.
Some years ago the Methodist Church in Britain undertook a survey as an attempt to discover the 12 main reasons why churches grow numerically. Notably first on the list was the quality of the pastoral care provided by the local church.
In recent years many churches, local and national, have produced impressive Mission Statements. These are not only declarations about their Mission and purpose but an attempt to both grasp and pursue a vision for the future. The great test is to enable such statements to be not just words but also a programme of action. Along with this comes commitment and a resolve to promote that Mission in everyday work and witness.
Regrettably a vision for Mission remains only a vision in some churches. The life of the church or congregation can become submerged in one of maintenance, or else just a comfort zone for the ‘faithful' who meet behind the walls of the building.
‘Fresh Expressions of Church' is a present day vision and programme for enabling Mission. It means having a willingness of heart and mind to hear God's call to go where people are in their everyday place. Then by the power of the Holy Spirit to discover together what is church in that situation and how might it be expressed and maintained in a creative and meaningful way. The working out of such a Mission will indeed mean doing things differently and being open to change.
Those who are enabled to meet with Christ through such a Mission may choose not to come into the life of the traditional church. Congregations need to be willing to accept this and recognise that by God's power Mission can take place anywhere at any time. The experience of Christ which people find through ‘Fresh Expressions of Church' is often just as real and meaningful as that of those who belong to established congregations.
The early centuries of the Church, following the missionary endeavour of St Paul and the Apostles, were marked by persecution and harsh restrictions regarding meeting for worship and proclaiming the Gospel to others.
It is striking that the continuing growth of the Church then was based largely on two activities undertaken by the threatened Christian community:
- The mutual caring within Christian groups and their social outreach into the community.
- The witness of individual Christians among their friends and neighbours.
Mission involves the building up of the church , helping people to find a faith for living , the nature of our relationship with God and others, the enabling of Leadership in the church. Unity of heart and mind centred in Christ is the key. Mission also means an openness to ecumenism, people of other faiths or of none.
A Salvation Army slogan sums up Mission well by using just three words –
