What is Shaped by God?

last updated on: 29th Nov 2010

'Mission' is a word used to convey many different things, so to focus our work Shaped by God identifies nine marks of mission. Shaped by God also recognises that the task of being missional congregations isn’t something which we can do in isolation and so each church across the diocese has been invited to partner with others in Mission Partnerships. Sometimes these Mission Partnerships will engage in mission together, but more often they will work together to resource and serve the mission of local churches – learning from each others strengths and working together to minimise the areas in which we are weaker.  Read more on both below:

The Nine Marks of Mission
The initial Shaped by God document discusses these in much more depth, but in summary the nine marks are:

• lives and communities transformed, through the Good News of Jesus Christ;
• worship in a way that renews and inspires, echoing the praise of heaven;
• self-giving service to the community, because the Church is called to be local and outward looking;
• being rooted in prayer, because prayer is part of our loving response to the needs of the world;
• confident and sensitive evangelism, responding to Jesus’ call to share our faith in word and deed;
• lifelong Christian nurture , because our mission overflows from our own discipleship;
• the welcome of newcomers , helping those who come close to the church to feel welcomed and cherished by God;
• becoming child friendly, following our Lord’s example of putting children at a central place in His ministry;
• celebration of people and places, because godly celebration is at the heart of the gospel.

Many churches across the diocese have chosen the nine marks of mission as a small group discussion or service theme series. To aid in this, an initial toolkit was been prepared with leaflets on each of these nine marks, with questions and pointers for developing them locally. They can be downloaded for free by clicking on the resources page or by contacting Church House. Stepping Stones, a guide to nurture, discipleship and faith sharing courses has also been produced as a resource for churches, especially in the marks of mission concered with welcome, evangelism and transformation. It can be downloaded from resources page (click in the red bar at the top of this page).

Mission Partnerships
With over twenty Mission Partnerships across the diocese, which vary considerably in size, style and make-up, they each function in quite different ways (there is a separate page for each Mission Partnership, just click on Mission Partnerships to the right of the red bar at the top of this page):

• Some see their role, given the context in which they exist, as being to engage in mission together. A common example of this is in work with children or young people (such as one who jointly employ a Youth Worker, or another who run a Kidz Club together).
• Others, often because of a more geographically dispersed area, see their role not as doing mission together, but as resourcing mission together (for example, supporting and training leaders for churches separate evangelism courses, or together hosting a course on how individual churches might build on the welcome they offer to newcomers).

Either model, a considered combination or a different model altogether is fine. What we’d suggest is important is to make sure all member churches are agreed in what the model is, so together you can be intentional in what you are for (and not for). Some Mission Partnerships have found themselves stuck in a rut, with the underlying cause being a range of different visions for what the Mission Partnership is for. Intentionality and constantly sowing the vision are key. It is likely that the start of a new Convenor will give opportunity to review and discuss this in a way which might be harder a year in.

The role of a Mission Partnership is not to ape existing structures (either Churches Together or the Deanery), nor to create a ‘super congregation’ or make it easier to amalgamate congregations. The aim is to strengthen the local church in being ever more effective in mission (as defined in the nine marks of mission in the initial Shaped by God envisioning report). As Dallas Willard often writes, ‘the local church is the hope for the world.’ The litmus test to all activities, discussions, and the like should always be ‘how will this help God to grow His Kingdom’. It maybe that the key role of some partnerships is less in doing and more in helping to bring about cultural change to be evermore missional. In seeking this goal, three metaphors which some Mission Partnerships have found helpful in discerning how they understand their calling are:

1. Catalyst
Take nitrogen and oxygen, two of the most common elements on earth. Put them in a sealed container. Come back a day later and you’ll still have nitrogen and oxygen. But, if you then add iron to the equation you’ll get ammonia, an important ingredient in a host of things (glass cleaner, fertiliser, polymers, etc.). However, ammonia doesn’t contain any iron. The iron just facilitates the bonding of the nitrogen and oxygen. Iron is a catalyst.

A catalyst gets something going, and is essential to that process. But then, at the appropriate time, fades away into the background. It speeds the reaction, but is not itself consumed in the reaction (although may degrade a little, so important it is sustained and added to). It may participate in multiple chemical transformations. In many ways it is similar to the architect of a house – essential to the building but doesn’t move into the home.

There are various scriptural illusions aspects of this kind of role, often in the more itinerant ministry of the Apostle Paul, or Andrew inviting the young boy with food to meet with Jesus before He fed the crowds. (credit for some of this illustration belongs to the excellent book, The Starfish and the Spider)

2. Conductor
A conductor sees both the whole score and individual notes. S/he is well aware and understands each instrumentalist, but normally can’t play the instrument as well as the principal instrumentalist. They are not needed the whole time, but are there to ensure harmony. Lots of working behind the scenes often means that at the key moment, their role appears almost to blend away.

3. Promoter
Think of a sporting or music promoter. Similar to above, they are not the sportsperson or musician themselves, but they see the need for something (either from ‘consumers’ or the sportspeople/musicians themselves) and make it happen. They bring the key parties together, often pump prime the finance and bring in additional resources and expertise as needed. We see some examples of this in the watchmen of Isaiah, waiting, watching, discerning and acting as needed.