Risky Business.
Parishes, or other ministry units, and Anglicare need to work with each other for the sake of the kingdom of God.
Without each other we both run the risk of being captive to our respective self-interest and economic model. You know the strategy, get more pews filled, or get more government funding, so that you can pay the bills. It sounds the same, but the two models are actually different enough to allow parishes and Anglicare to take different sorts of risks.
On one hand, Anglicare works with people on the fringes of society, often people who experience considerable disadvantage. Anglicare has developed expertise in assisting these people, sometimes in challenging circumstances. This includes research and advocacy as a part of a national network. Even with the compassion and commitment of great staff Anglicare is limited in what it can achieve.
On the other hand, a parish offers a broader range of care to a broader range of people. The parish community exists outside of service delivery timeframes and independently of funding agreements. It is a voluntary community. It is a faith community. It is a community that knows and shows the love of God. A parish can invite people into a (hopefully healthy) community.
Parishes individually, and as a part of the Diocese, have the broadest criteria for mission. Charles Finney in his 1835 ‘Lectures on Revivals of Religion’ wrote, ‘The great business of the Church is to reform the world’. This is the truly inspiring big picture mission of the church, to consider the very nature of human existence on the planet, with all of the relationships that this entails, and then seek to address the complex problems of our age in a Godlike inspiring holistic manner. This can be explored through thinking with God (theology), worship, prayer and action. Out of this faith community approach, defining principles for our times can grow and inform the reform of the world. It is about the kingdom of God.
Without ignoring the big picture, Anglicare is charged with a narrower focus and responsibility: to meet human need, and to seek to transform unjust structures in society. The experience of assisting people with complex and challenging needs gives Anglicare deep insight into how our human existence impacts upon people today: who gets hurt, who is left behind?
Working from these two different though interconnected perspectives, Anglicare and Parishes can achieve more together than either can do alone. The framework for this cooperation is: relationship, communication, shared experience and expertise, and mutual learning.
To achieve this will take a change of focus, letting go, innovation and taking risks. Jesus said, ”Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” What other choice do we have?
*The Rev’d Ian serves as Director of Mission & Justice with Anglicare
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Where is the heart & Soul of Anglicare
Where is the heart and soul of Anglicare?
Over the years I’ve met a few people who have carried the story of Jesus and the story of their faith community with them into the actions of their everyday life. Often they are the sort of people who are the heart and soul of a parish. I’ve looked and thought and prayed about Anglicare and asked, ‘Where is Anglicare’s heart and soul?’
It is not unusual for faith based service organizations to ask a similar question today. Writing about the disappearance of nuns in the Catholic health care system, Professor Frank Bowden concluded, “Today there are almost no nuns left in the hospitals to provide this kind of mentorship, to create a philosophy of practice that is lived, not written down in unread mission statements” *
In Anglicare a lived philosophy of practice is expressed to some extent by staff who passionately pursue a vision of social justice, either from a personal Christian perspective, or from a deeply held values framework, which urges them to compassionate action. Yet this doesn’t encompass everyone, nor is it all that is ‘The heart and soul of Anglicare’
Anglicare Canberra & Goulburn is fortunate to have both its roots and its present day life strongly linked to a living faith expressed in Anglican parishes and ministry units. In these living communities of faith many people live out the Gospel through love and compassion in a way which is both humble and humbling.
Perhaps their understanding comes from an Anglican tradition, like the one which was expressed in the words of Frank Weston, Bishop of Zanzibar. This was a part of his concluding address to the Anglo-catholic congress of 1923 in London.
'You cannot claim to worship Jesus in the Tabernacle if you do not pity Jesus in the slum.' And further:
‘You have got your Mass, you have got your Altar, you have begun to get your Tabernacle. Now go out into the highways and hedges where not even the Bishops will try to hinder you. Go out and look for Jesus in the ragged, in the naked, in the oppressed and sweated, in those who have lost hope, in those who are struggling to make good. Look for Jesus. And when you see him, gird yourselves with his towel and try to wash their feet.’
Equally, other Anglican traditions recognize that true faith is expressed in compassionate action.
TEAR Australia’s mission is ‘to engage Australian Christians in God's work of justice and compassion whereby the gospel of Christ which is good news to the poor is proclaimed and demonstrated’.
In the history of our Diocese, individuals and organized groups have seen a need in (and with) the community and have worked to meet that need. Over time some of these have grown and become organized into what today is Anglicare. These actions have sprung directly from the passion, theology and commitment expressed above. And it still happens each day.
Just as parishes, ministry units and Anglicare all operate with shared responsibility for the mission objectives of the Diocese, so too is the heart and soul of Anglicare shared with parishes and ministry units. We are indeed fortunate that our roots are not only in the past. Our roots are firmly in the present.
The future for Anglicare and the future for parishes (and other ministry units) is for a vibrant life, based on a living faith, that is lived out in daily practice. Anglicare will continue to increase its engagement with parishes through relationship, communication, shared experience and learning from each other. This will ensure that the heart and soul of the Anglican Church in this Diocese will continue to be strong and caring.
Ian is the Director of Mission & Social Justice for Anglicare.
Frank Bowden’s article can be found at http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=6883
Over the years I’ve met a few people who have carried the story of Jesus and the story of their faith community with them into the actions of their everyday life. Often they are the sort of people who are the heart and soul of a parish. I’ve looked and thought and prayed about Anglicare and asked, ‘Where is Anglicare’s heart and soul?’
It is not unusual for faith based service organizations to ask a similar question today. Writing about the disappearance of nuns in the Catholic health care system, Professor Frank Bowden concluded, “Today there are almost no nuns left in the hospitals to provide this kind of mentorship, to create a philosophy of practice that is lived, not written down in unread mission statements” *
In Anglicare a lived philosophy of practice is expressed to some extent by staff who passionately pursue a vision of social justice, either from a personal Christian perspective, or from a deeply held values framework, which urges them to compassionate action. Yet this doesn’t encompass everyone, nor is it all that is ‘The heart and soul of Anglicare’
Anglicare Canberra & Goulburn is fortunate to have both its roots and its present day life strongly linked to a living faith expressed in Anglican parishes and ministry units. In these living communities of faith many people live out the Gospel through love and compassion in a way which is both humble and humbling.
Perhaps their understanding comes from an Anglican tradition, like the one which was expressed in the words of Frank Weston, Bishop of Zanzibar. This was a part of his concluding address to the Anglo-catholic congress of 1923 in London.
'You cannot claim to worship Jesus in the Tabernacle if you do not pity Jesus in the slum.' And further:
‘You have got your Mass, you have got your Altar, you have begun to get your Tabernacle. Now go out into the highways and hedges where not even the Bishops will try to hinder you. Go out and look for Jesus in the ragged, in the naked, in the oppressed and sweated, in those who have lost hope, in those who are struggling to make good. Look for Jesus. And when you see him, gird yourselves with his towel and try to wash their feet.’
Equally, other Anglican traditions recognize that true faith is expressed in compassionate action.
TEAR Australia’s mission is ‘to engage Australian Christians in God's work of justice and compassion whereby the gospel of Christ which is good news to the poor is proclaimed and demonstrated’.
In the history of our Diocese, individuals and organized groups have seen a need in (and with) the community and have worked to meet that need. Over time some of these have grown and become organized into what today is Anglicare. These actions have sprung directly from the passion, theology and commitment expressed above. And it still happens each day.
Just as parishes, ministry units and Anglicare all operate with shared responsibility for the mission objectives of the Diocese, so too is the heart and soul of Anglicare shared with parishes and ministry units. We are indeed fortunate that our roots are not only in the past. Our roots are firmly in the present.
The future for Anglicare and the future for parishes (and other ministry units) is for a vibrant life, based on a living faith, that is lived out in daily practice. Anglicare will continue to increase its engagement with parishes through relationship, communication, shared experience and learning from each other. This will ensure that the heart and soul of the Anglican Church in this Diocese will continue to be strong and caring.
Ian is the Director of Mission & Social Justice for Anglicare.
Frank Bowden’s article can be found at http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=6883
Labels:
Anglicare,
christianity,
compassion,
mission,
NFP,
philosophy
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