1. The laity are today's primary missionaries.
In the Book of Common Prayer we read: "The ministry of lay persons is to represent Christ and his Church; to bear witness to him wherever they may be; and, according to the gifts given them, to carry on Christ's work of reconciliation in the world; and to take their place in the life, worship, and governance of the Church." (p. 855) In our baptismal vows, we promise "[to] proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ; [to] seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself; [and to] strive for justice and peace among all people." (p. 305) See Faith in Action, Appendix C.
In the old "Christendom" mentality, the Church was seen as a pyramid, with clergy and missionaries at the top, supported in ministry by the broad base of the laity. Now, the pyramid is inverted. The laity are the missionaries, the first line of God's mission in the world, supported by the clergy and other church staff. (Ref: Loren Mead, THE ONCE AND FUTURE CHURCH.)
2. The daily life of the members is the focus of mission.
Each of us has at least six mission fields -- our homes, our work (school for students and volunteer work for retirees), our local community, the wider world, our leisure, and our church. In each arena, we are already at work to make things better as best we can. However, we need to take time to put into words just what it is we are trying to do in each place at the moment as we seek to cooperate with God.
God's characteristic work is reconciliation, justice, and love. "Reconciliation" means working to restore broken relationships. "Justice" has to do with organizing the work place, for example, so that everyone is treated fairly and with dignity, and so that the public is served by the product or service our company provides. "Love" has to do with fostering genuine friendship, for the purpose of building up others and helping them grow towards the maturity God has in mind for every person.
Identifying what blocks reconciliation, justice and love in our own arenas of life provides clues to the mission to which God might be calling us. We need also to find allies in working for change. And, when the circumstances are favorable, we need to be able to speak so that others can recognize the faith commitment from which each of us works. Finally, we need ways to invite others to share in the same nurture and empowerment which energizes our lives.
3. The overall purpose of spiritual formation, weekly biblical reflection on Sunday's gospel and recognition of stages of growth in faith through the Prayer Book rites, is to form the laity as today's missionaries for Jesus Christ.
4. The measure of congregational effectiveness is the degree to which its members see it making a difference in the arenas of their daily living -- helping them to discern their mission in each arena and draw on the power of God to carry it out. In-depth listening to each member describe their life in each arena is the way to make such measures.
Goals 2 and 3 are not spelled out in these Guidelines.
Basic Principles
a) The "Neighborhood" strategy will provide a way to enrich both pastoral care and adult education in the parish, each Neighborhood becoming, in time, a circle of close friends.
b) "Neighborhoods" will thus enhance the primary characteristic of St. Paul's congregation -- of being "a small, friendly place;" and can preserve that sense, even if the congregation grows in size, simply by our multiplying the number of "neighborhoods."
c) The aim is not "to make more work," but to do better what people are already doing. In this sense, this is not a "program," but is, rather, a way of being "intentional" about what is already being done in witness and service.
1) Neighborhoods: A Neighborhood is a network of Christian friends -- preferably, but not necessarily meeting as a small group -- keeping in touch through social contacts, telephone, and E-mail, for example; and identified by a geographic residential area or by any other convenient designation. Participants would be "self-selecting;" for example, a person living in Frederick could choose to participate in the Jefferson Neighborhood. One locale could have more than one Neighborhood; for example, there could be two Neighborhoods in Point of Rocks.
2) Vestry role: The Vestry is the pastoral oversight core group: Ideally, every member of the Vestry either should be an active Neighborhood Coordinator or should have had the experience of being one in the past. However, the Coordinator role is not limited to members of the Vestry.
3) Lay Leaders' role: The task of the Vestry and the Neighborhood Coordinators together is to develop networking processes and small groups to implement the parish vision statement ("Our Vision" above). It would be up to each Coordinator to work out a development plan for his/her Neighborhood in conjunction with the Clergy and the Vestry. For example, (a) help people get acquainted on a social basis (home visits, supper parties, lunch after church), (b) set up a telephone prayer chain, (c) gather a group to work on "discerning your mission" (Appendix A), or (d) gather a group for Bible study and prayer (Appendix B).
4) Clergy role: The role of the priest is to act as "coach" in relationship to the Neighborhood Coordinators: training, encouraging, developing "game plans." Specifically, the Coach identifies leaders, in consultation with members of the Vestry; and works in close support of the Neighborhood leaders. "On the job training" is the key to the training process. The Coach is in regular contact with Neighborhood Coordinators by phone and E-mail, and especially by meeting at least once a month with the Neighborhood Coordinators as a group. This Coordinators' Meeting could take place on a Sunday morning in the 8:30 time slot, or at some other time of the week.
If at some future time the congregation were temporarily without the services of a regular priest, the role of Coach would revert to the Senior Warden, or to a person designated by the Senior Warden.
(5) Programs and Projects: Specific programs, or projects, may be initiated and maintained either by the Vestry or individual Neighborhoods. Once the Neighborhoods are well established, programs and projects will normally be sponsored by the Neighborhoods, with the Vestry assuming only a supervisory role. For example, both the Sunday School and youth programming could be the responsibility of specific Neighborhoods; or, children and youth could be intentionally involved in Neighborhood groups.
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