ReMissioning Comes to the Great Lakes

Canon Winfield Bevins was recently the keynote speaker for the Diocese of the Great Lakes Synod in Akron Ohio, which had nearly 200 in attendance from over 50 churches on May 15-16th. Canon Bevins’ talked about the need to Re-mission Anglican churches in North America by helping churches discover and live on mission to reach our nation for Christ. There are over 120 million unchurched people in the United States making it the largest mission field in the Western hemisphere.

Session one was on Re-missioning The Church. Many churches in the United States have either stopped growing or are in decline. This session offered practical tools to help churches discover and live on mission by introducing the 10 vital signs of church health that are based on the Re:Missioning Church Health Assessment.

Session two was on Re-missioning Pastors. Nearly fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure or spiritual burnout. This session addressed the importance of clergy health and longevity as it pertains to the mission of the church.

Dr. Winfield Bevins is founding pastor of Church of the Outer Banks and Canon for Kardia. He is the author of several books, including Our Common Prayer and Creed. Winfield has a strong passion for planting and re-missioning churches. He has trained and coached church planters and pastors across the United States. He recently developed the Re:Missioning Church Health Assessment, which is being used by numerous churches and dioceses.

J.I. Packer on Anglicanism

How are we to define the Anglican Communion? It is not, and never was, an integrated, pyramidal global organization with the Archbishop of Canterbury as its head. It is simply, as its name proclaims, a Communion – that is, a fellowship of independent provinces sharing ministry and sacraments on the basis of a shared faith, and bound together by a distinctive and very precious heritage – tradition, or style, as you might say – which all appreciate, and wish in some form to conserve. This heritage may be described as follows. (This is familiar ground, so I move over it quickly.)

First, Anglicanism is biblical. Anglicanism says to the world: “Show us anything in Scripture that should be taught and that we are not teaching, and we will teach it. Show us anything we are teaching that is contrary to Scripture, and we will stop teaching it.” The Bible, straightforwardly interpreted as revelation from God through human writers, is the Anglican rule of faith.

Second, Anglicanism is creedal, embracing and building on the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds, which highlight the Trinity, the incarnation, Christ’s saving ministry and the reality of salvation itself. The 39 Articles dot i’s and cross t’s and fill gaps in the Creeds, clarifying in particular the doctrines of faith, of grace, of justification and of the sacraments.

Third, Anglicanism is liturgical, in continuity with the church of patristic and pre- Reformation days. Through Archbishop Cranmer we inherited a superlative Reformed Prayer Book, in which the thematic sequence, sin – grace – faith runs through the set services, so that it is a truly evangelical book, and should be appreciated as such.

Fourth, Anglicanism is pastoral, centred upon the making of disciples both domestically and through outreach. Bishops are ordained to give pastoral leadership, caring for both clergy and congregations, and their jurisdiction is to be exercised for the furtherance of pastoral goals.

Fifth, Anglicanism is missional in the sense of being committed to transformation through the gospel – transformation of individuals through teaching and nurture, transformation of congregations through preaching a renewal, transformation of culture through the wisdom and values of the gospel. The transformational purposes of the Reformers and Puritans, the eighteenth-century revival and later revivals, and the latter-day renewal movements, have permanently shaped authentic Anglicanism in a missional way.

Sixth, Anglicanism is not hierarchical nor maintenance-motivated, though it has sometimes appeared to be both; but in fact it is service-oriented. Dioceses exist to resource and help parishes, and provinces exist to coordinate both diocesan and local church ministry; Anglicanism is service-oriented at every level, and it is in loving practical service, shaped by the divine Word and empowered by the divine Spirit, that Anglican unity is finally expressed.

St. Andrews Park Circle

St. Andrew’s Park Circle is a church plant in the North Charleston area of South Carolina that seeks to see our city transformed by the presence and power of Jesus Christ. Historically our city has been fuelled by massive shipyard and US Navy base. When the base closed in the 90’s the local economy was decimated. Crime spiked, residence left, and churches either declined or flat out closed.

In the past few years the gospel has taken root, the local economy has bounced back, and over all a renaissance is settling in. It’s an exciting time to be planting a church in this blossoming community.  Currently we are in the team-building phase of the plant. We have a solid group meeting for worship on Sunday mornings at a local at risk school. Our tie with the school has provided great opportunities to champion mentoring efforts in the community. Out of this group we have 2 life groups meeting in the community to develop a culture of preaching the gospel to each other. Our deep desire is to engage discipleship, community, and mission in such a way that we bring those close to us and our very lives to be laid down before Christ and be transformed by grace.

To find out more please visit our website www.StAndrewsParkCircle.com