Rooted for Life: Transforming the Mission

Opening Message from Bishop Margaret G. Payne
October 23, 2006
Bishop’s Convocation, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Worcester, Mass.

Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Romans 12:2, The Message

In my report to the Synod Council in September, I used this Bible verse from Eugene Peterson’s translation to set the tone for a year of meditating and planning connected to the idea of transformation. I requested that the council (and the entire synod) live this year with this question: How is God calling us to transform ourselves? our congregations? our synod?

As we remain “rooted for life,” how can we change “from the inside out” – be transformed – in ways that will help us to do the mission that God is calling us to do? How can we become a stronger synod and witness so that we can spend more time nurturing the growth of God’s Kingdom than nursing the fears and divisiveness that fragments our call to be the Body of Christ in the world? How can we trust our partnership more fully to do this work?

We continue to be guided by our synod vision statement, which we can remember in this way:

The Vision
To be a people whose abundance is fully at God’s disposal

But we also have particular tasks that have become more clear as we have seen the needs in the world around us, heard the voices that portray God as moral watchdog instead of savior, and recognized the importance of the ministry of all the baptized in the world. Here is the way I suggest that we think about the mission that we have in New England:

The Mission
For our leaders:
     By means of worship, courage, compassion and teaching,
     to remove all barriers that resist God’s transforming power.
For all the baptized:
     To engage the world each day
     as agents of Jesus’ reconciliation, justice and peace.

As we spend time at this convocation considering the idea of public church, please also include prayerful consideration of our particular vision and mission. As we begin, here are some thoughts:

“Practical Preparation for the Challenge to be a Public Church”

Five Previously Underappreciated Ways to Prepare to be Public Church:
1. Keep Sabbath 
2. Stay Curious
3. Listen Deeply
4. Love Justice
5. Expect Manna

May God bless us in this time of gathering and grant us wisdom and courage.