SA/NT Mission Update

Greetings!

Since Nevin Nitschke has moved from being the SA/NT Mission Facilitator to become the LCA's Director for Lay Ministry his mission2go list has been discontinued and his list of subscribers transfered to the SA/NT Mission Update list. If you are receiving this update for the first time it probably means that your email address has been added to this list from mission2go. If you do not want to receive the SA/NT Mission Updates you can simply unsubscribe by clicking the link below and taking the necessary steps. We apologise for the inconvenience.

We do not have the funding to replace Nevin (who is not replaceable in any case) and so I am reworking my priorities so that I can pick up some of the things Nevin did through his mission2go column.

Other things are changing in the Church as well. Many of our congregations are talking with their neighbours about working together. Sometimes this is because they can no longer afford a pastor on their own. Other times it is because they see that they would be more effective working together than separately.

Many of our small rural congregations are wrestling with what ministry and mission will look like for them in the not too distant future. In the past we have realigned with others, but options for forming new workable parishes on the old template are now fairly limited. We need to find new ways of being church in our communities. We will continue to have pastors of course, but they will be spending more time equipping and mentoring other leaders. There is no blueprint that will fit every situation. We will need to draw new maps while we are on the journey. The bottom line is that we need to find new ways of being a visible public presence in rural communities. While some small rural congregations may need to close, this should be a last resort, not a first option.

We live in exciting times as we look at new ways of being church. They will grow out of the old ways, of course, and some things will not change. The message of the gospel remains the same. It is still all about Jesus and his grace. I look forward to exploring more of what this might look like in this column in the future.

I invite you to email me with suggestions of topics or questions we can deal with in these Mission Updates.

God bless!

Steen.