Epiphany 6th January 2013

This morning I’m speaking to the third prong of our Mission Action Plan revised at October’s PCC after a series of meetings reflecting on the July vision day. The MAP’s on the notice board and its one line header is in the news sheet:  St Giles Church has a mission to grow in faith, love and numbers.

Our putting mission on the MAP has the three dimensions of growing in faith towards God, growing in the expression of love to the world and growing the numbers of our Christian fellowship here at St Giles.

On Christ the King at the end of November I explained action the PCC has got raised up to help us grow in faith in months ahead. I mentioned the Unbelievable? course that’s now started. I mentioned the electronic discipleship resource on the church website with Christian discipleship resources. Issue 2 is published today. Do sign up to receive it if you can. I’m grateful to Jan for what she’s written there.

On Advent Sunday I detailed action PCC has planned for us to grow in love encouraging ownership of the outreach we do as a church. In doing so I gave recognition to how individual exercise of loving service at home and in the workplace has priority and needs to be balanced with our involvement in church activities like running the website, choir, toddler group or village lunch. I reiterated the challenge Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, has issued to his growing diocese: are you consumers or citizens? Are you here to build God’s kingdom, to work for world transformation through the spread of faith beyond these walls, or are you settled in something of a consumerist mentality whereby going to St Giles fits alongside going to Sainsbury’s or to the Theatre?

I’d re-iterate that challenge on this Feast of the Epiphany. Only by getting more members active in mission can we hope to grow in numbers.

Deacon Gerard Irvin made a similar challenge to his folk at their St Stephen’s Day Mass last week. He asked all present to take some responsibility for church growth by identifying someone half their age and praying for them every day for a year.

This suggestion is like the first sentence on our MAP which lists these actions already attained over the last year: Prayer for numerical growth especially on Saturdays, door-to-door visiting by priest  to connect with lapsed worshippers, “Back to Church” Sunday 2011, re-light the candle baptism Eucharist 2011, putting up posters around village for All-Age Eucharist Sunday, Harvest, Holy Week, etc.

A more recent action listed on the MAP schedule took up a suggestion at the July vision day: Move Friday Eucharist to 10.30am to generate new church-community interface/socialising in post-assembly coffee putting church more on people’s map. I have to say we haven’t seen too many church members at that coffee session to meet parents.

The last achieved action under growing in numbers is Taking Advent day by day out to the parish for evangelistic benefit which was Chris Wheatley’s idea and again we might have seen more support for these events we credit Chris for putting so much energy into organising.

The purpose of this sermon is to encourage us to allow Epiphany to come alive in our hearts and in the hearts of those around us.

Epiphany – manifesting God - isn’t Fr John or Chris’s work but God’s work and ours – ours i.e. all of us. For St Giles to grow in numbers that include 12 to 50 year olds committing their lives to Our Lord, the Pied Pipers to lead them in isn’t me or Chris but all of us.

Each one reach one may be a good motto for 2013. Reaching out, cutting into spiritual apathy with the two scissor blades of prayer and invitation. I know there are a good number of folk who’d come to Church if someone would ask them. From March Birch Grove church members are kindly organising Sunday lifts to Westall residents and others may want to take a leaf out of their book. Who in your acquaintance, or down your street, may be open to an invitation to attend St Giles? Like next Sunday’s 50 min all age eucharist?

The MAP mentions under ‘growth in numbers’ the evangelism focus at Wednesday week’s 16th January St Giles night with Simon Allaby brainstorming on less scary evangelism.  You might like to attend this first ever training session on evangelism in my time as parish priest. On the MAP there’s also Developing evangelistic (alongside community/youth) use of Martindale from 19th January opening.

St Giles Church has a mission to grow in faith, love and numbers.

My two New Year wishes are for the Martindale to become an effective mission focus serving to bring new folk into the orbit of God’s love and for 2013 to see Christian leadership emerging from the 12 to 50 year age range. This would serve connecting across all age groups by St Giles core leadership which currently includes some remarkable seniors – like me!

In my July 2012 Rector’s Letter I paid tribute to Peggy Diss quoting Walter Wink: 'The future of the world lies with the intercessors and connectors.' In my years as Rector I’ve met few as loving and prayerful as Peggy. Her prayers – and Ursilla’s – are with us as we plan action to grow in numbers. Very many of us have got that gift of connecting – building friendships. We’ve also got potential to seek God and, from prayer, the best directing of our energies and those in our orbit. ‘More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.’ (Lord Tennyson). Our spire points up to a God whose possibilities, exceeding our imagining, are released on earth through prayer.

'The future of the world lies with the intercessors and connectors.' Will you help change the future of the world through St Giles by being the intercessors and connectors we so badly need to see the body of Christ built up in this place?

Each one reach one – by scissor blades of prayer and invitation – so Isaiah’s prophecy of light coming into spiritual darkness may be realised among us in Horsted Keynes: Darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. (Isaiah 60:2) So be it!