Missiological Statement
The nature of Christian identity, faith, and practice in the Anglican Communion is currently experiencing a crisis precipitated by its jurisdictions within North America. Consequently, we, as members of the Anglican Global Mission Partners of the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes, acknowledge that the renewal of authentic Anglican witness within this continent will involve turning the church to follow God’s own mission in and for the world. We acknowledge and confess that we as Anglicans have too often acted as if we were ashamed to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet, presented with the threat of institutional apostasy, we take comfort and strength that we serve a God of grace who redeems all things. Therefore, with God’s help, we seek to recommit ourselves to mission by standing firm on these gospel principles.
1. The Mission of God
God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son, so that whoever would believe in him would not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
We acknowledge with awe and wonder the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, whose eternal mission is to share his overflowing love. For this purpose God called creation into being and formed humanity to have a relationship with himself. When humanity rejected God, God remained faithful to his loving nature and set in motion his missionary plan to redeem and restore a broken world. He called Abraham and Sarah to be his people; he delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt; he set godly rulers over his people and sent forth his prophets to teach them his will and his ways. God did these acts of grace so that through his people Israel "all the nations of the earth would be blessed.” Finally, in the fullness of time God revealed his plan for the redemption of the world through his own self-giving love in the incarnation, death, resurrection, ascension, and future appearing of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, we reject any false gospel that denies the goodness of creation, the reality of sin, God's Word to Israel, the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross, or the restoration of all things at Christ's coming again.
[Genesis 1-3; 12:1-3; Exodus 3; Galatians 4:4-5; John 1:1-18; 3:16-17]
2. The Mission of the Church
You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
We proclaim the church to be God's missionary people through whom God is ever at work advancing his plan for this lost world. The church community is gathered together by God himself, nurtured by his Word and Sacraments, and sent in the power of the Holy Spirit to the ends of the earth. Its task is to make disciples of all nations so that salvation in Jesus Christ may be made known to all. Consequently, the church witnesses to the divine purpose for all individuals, societies, and cultures to be transformed through submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, for his ‘service is perfect freedom.’
Therefore, we reject any notion that the church exists only for itself; that there can be a way of salvation other than in the name of Jesus; or, that God is powerless to transform human lives or their societies. We renounce any false teaching which in any area of life diminishes the Lordship of Jesus Christ, thereby tempting the church to serve any transitory idol-- whether cultural, material, philosophical, or spiritual.
[Luke 24:44-48; Matthew 28:16-20; John 20:19-23; Acts 4:12, 19-20; 5:29]
3. The Missionary Church under the Cross
For I resolved to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:2)
We celebrate that the church is an interdependent, global community consisting of believers from every people, language, and nation.
We confess that we have too often neglected God’s call to mission in the world due to our own selfish will, our narrowness of vision, and our concern for personal comfort and security.
Called to mission under the cross, the church first recognizes its own frailty, and thus its need always to be renewed and reformed in the light of God’s Word and the apostolic witness, even as it proclaims the gift of repentance in Jesus Christ for all persons and all peoples. Therefore, each branch of the global Christian community needs the others for mutual accountability, discipline, and encouragement. The gift of fellowship within the universal church strengthens all of us in our faithfulness, corrects us when we fall into error, rejoices with us in our fruitfulness, and suffers with us when we are persecuted.
Called to mission under the cross, the church devotes itself to the missionary imperatives of both evangelism and social transformation. The shadow of the cross falls upon the sinful structures of human society, just as much as on the sinful transgressions of individual human beings. Seeking to fulfill the love of God for a broken world, the church advocates for the oppressed and acts on behalf of the poor, while always offering the good news of God’s forgiving and transforming love so that sinful humanity may know God’s grace. Only through the faith once received of the church do human beings experience the joyful deliverance from slavery to sin and death which alone frees them for a life of grateful service to others. The inevitable fruit of forgiveness is mission. Therefore, church members and their local congregations are called to offer themselves – their time, energy, money, possessions, creativity, and indeed all of their lives--in obedience to God’s mission to the world.
Called to mission under the cross, the church works in a world hostile to God’s love. Consequently, suffering is an authentic mark of the true church, and the faithful embrace loss for Christ’s sake. Cognizant of the millions of his martyrs over the last century, we confess that the death of each of these saints is precious in God’s sight. Assuredly, God will bring fruit from their sacrifice because ‘the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.’ In our own witness, we are humbled by the depth of their commitment, inspired by the selflessness of their example, and encouraged by the certainty of God’s faithfulness.
We reject any false gospel which, denying the pervasive nature of sin in human beings and in the structures of the world, would perceive no need of a Savior, no need of a cross. We reject, on the one hand, any attempt to reduce the message of Christ to the preaching of individual salvation and, on the other, any shrinking of the Gospel which would make it merely a message for social improvement.
[John 15:18; 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5; 2 Corinthians 1:3-5; Philippians 2:1-11; 3:10-11; Ephesians 1:3-10; Jude 3]
4. The Specific Nature of Anglican Mission
Let all things be done decently and in order. (1 Cor 14:40)
We affirm global Anglicanism as an authentic branch of the catholic (universal) church. We treasure its godly inheritance of a biblical faith and means of grace initially expressed in the English prayer-book tradition and Articles, safeguarded by the historic episcopate, spread to the ends of the earth by its mission societies, and now proclaimed throughout the world. These classic Anglican characteristics of Scriptural doctrine, liturgical worship, episcopal order, and lay ministry have always had one aim—so to proclaim the true message of the Gospel in word and action that individual lives and whole nations should come to embody the grace and truth uniquely revealed in Jesus Christ. Cherishing this Anglican identity, we pledge ourselves to passing on its historic faith and practices to succeeding generations.
Therefore, we confess with profound sadness that recent actions in the North American provinces of the Anglican Communion have distorted the Gospel beyond recognition, authorized false assurance and blessing to those in sexual sin, and put the church under submission to the spirit of our age. In the light of this unprecedented crisis, we remain committed to uphold the gospel of God’s grace as Anglicanism has traditionally understood it. In fellowship with Anglicans around the world and under their instruction and correction we seek to restore the authentic witness of our church in the United States.
Finally, we reject any interpretation of Anglicanism that would expound one portion of Scripture so as to contradict another. We deny the authenticity of any liturgical expression which would blunt the truth of the gospel or which would impede the worshipping community’s call to go forth into the world in God’s name. We renounce extolling the power, pomp, and prestige of the episcopacy, acknowledging instead the bishop’s true servant role as chief missionary of the community, called above all else to preach and protect the apostolic Gospel. We denounce any attempt to use provincial or territorial autonomy as an excuse for rejecting the inherent interdependence of the global Anglican family for determining issues of faith and morals. Lastly, we repudiate any presumption that would deny the laity’s God-given ability to hear their Lord speak to them through his Word, know his presence in and through the Sacraments, or the responsibility of every baptized Christian to know Christ and to make him known.
[Colossians 3:15-17; Ephesians 4:11-14; 1 Timothy 4:13; 2 Timothy 3:14-17; 4:2-5; Titus 1:7-11; Articles VI, VII, XVIII, XX]
Submitted by the Theological Task Group of AGMP;
Ratified by AGMP on May 22, 2004
The Rev. Dr. Grant LeMarquand
The Rev. Richard Menees
The Rev. Dr. John Ashley Null