Update on Discerning Mission at St Pete’s
At this year’s Annual Vestry Meeting (AVM), after a lengthy period of discernment and gathering input, we ratified our “about” statement at St Pete’s: We are about “Restoration in Christ through Scripture, Sacrament, and Spirit,” with the tagline “Come and be Restored in Christ.”
At that same AVM, the Parish Council acknowledged a growing desire amongst us to turn our gaze outwards. What is our specific mission at St Pete’s? To whom are we called? Where should we direct our efforts in evangelism and serving those in need?
At the same time, we acknowledged a deep need for rest, stability, and a time to simply “be the church” after a period of upheaval and significant change. So we declared 2025 to be a “Year of Peace” in which we would not make any significant changes or begin any new initiatives, but rather take some time to discern God’s will for us with regard to mission.
Here is a brief timeline of how we have done this and what we are planning for the future:
LOOKING BACK:
February 11: Sermon: “Fishing for People”
February 25: World Mission Sunday Sermon: “The Mission of the Church”
March 9: AVM. Rector and Council announce a “Year of Peace” (no major changes or new
initiatives) and a year of parish discernment with regard to mission.
May 23: Worship Night. Included prayers for discernment around mission.
c. June 14. Council Discussions. Based on reading, input, and discussion, Church Council begins to feel that creating another “statement” should not be the goal of discernment around mission.
June 17: Sermon: “Here I Am, Send Me”. The theme of this sermon was how God calls individual people (like Isaiah) to specific callings in mission.
c. June 26: Rector meetings with parishioners reinforce the sense on Council that our mission might take on a more “ground up” vs “top down” quality to it. We may have individual, family, or small group missions (plural) that the church supports with resources and/or coordination. One parishioner asks the question: “How might the church facilitate cohorts or platoons of mission-connected congregants to build little fires of mission throughout the church?”
LOOKING FORWARD:
In the Fall: Reading through Acts together. Phill will be encouraging CG’s to read through the Book of Acts together in order to look at what mission looked like in the early Church
September 7-28: Preaching Series on Mission. Grady and the preaching team are planning to preach a sermon series placing mission in the context of the four great tasks of the Church.
The Church glorifies, grows, gives, and goes.
October 18: Jacob’s Well Event. Lino-cut session and learning about how Jacob’s Well approaches their mission in the Downtown Eastside
November: Church Wide Retreat. This year our retreat will make space for spontaneous and directed discussion and prayer around discerning mission.
Early in the New Year: Potential “Family Meeting” with opportunities for prayer and roundtable discussions.
Along with these planned elements, the Church Council invites you to bring to us thoughts that emerge from your own prayerful discernment. These thoughts could be regarding your own personal or your family’s calling with regard to mission, or ideas about our church as a whole.
Finally, I want to remind us that we are all already participating in God’s Mission just by living in the world as those who belong to Jesus. By His grace, through the weekly rhythm of gathering and dispersing, the Gospel is being preached and lived out, children and adults are being discipled, and people are being loved and served in the name of Jesus. Thanks be to God!
Just in the last couple weeks I have been astounded at how many times people have asked me about Jesus or asked me to minister to them, without any planning or intention on my part.
The Spirit of the Lord is active, drawing people to Himself. May we have eyes to see and ears to hear how He is calling each of us to participate in his mission each day, right where we are.
Yours In Him,
Grady+
