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Lord, You Give The Great Commission:

“Heal The Sick And Preach The Word.”

Lest The Church Neglect Its Mission

And The Gospel Go Unheard,

Help Us Witness to Your Purpose

With Renewed Integrity:

With The Spirit’s Gifts Empower Us

For The Work of Ministry.

 

Lord, You Call Us To Your Service:

“In My Name Baptize And Teach.”

That The World May Trust Your Promise,

Life Abundant Meant For Each,

Give Us All New Fervour, Draw Us

Closer In Community:

With The Spirit’s Gifts Empower Us

For The Work of Ministry.

 

Lord, You Bless With Words Assuring:

“I Am With You To The End.”

Faith and Hope and Love Restoring,

May We Serve as You Intend,

And, Amid the Cares That Claim Us,

Hold In Mind Eternity:

With The Spirit’s Gifts Empower Us

For The Work Of Ministry

(Hymn 528 v. 1, 2, & 5).

The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ” (BCP p. 855). We can accomplish this by becoming a preaching, baptizing, teaching, and forgiving Eucharistic community through the Holy Spirit. The Episcopal Church Hymn, “Lord, You Give the Great Commission” works well as a hymn of mission in our liturgy. After the Eucharist, we are sent into mission every Sunday with this prayer, “Father, send us out to do the work that you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord" (BCP p. 365). This Hymn will be sung during the offertory to remind us of the mission of the Church today. We are sent forth in the name of Christ. Hymn 528 articulates the Church’s mission through the use of biblical phrases and themes. The first verse refers to a passage in Matthew. “As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give” (Matt. 10:7-8). In this chapter, Jesus summons his disciples and tells them where to go and what to preach. The mission of the Church today is to become a preaching community. We are given the great commission to “go” and preach to the entire world. This preaching comes not only from the pulpit at our Sunday liturgy, but by the way we live our lives in the world as faithful Christians. We are asked to “witness to your purpose.” Mother Teresa said to “proclaim the Gospel” and use words if necessary. By the example of Christ and in the tradition of the saints, we live our lives as a living testimony of the love of God in Jesus Christ. Jesus and his disciples healed the sick and brought people to unity with God and one another. They accomplished this in a servant ministry to those in need. Mother Teresa dedicated her life to healing and caring for the sick. As the Church today, our mission is to do likewise.

In the second verse, we are called into service to baptize and teach. The great commission says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20). The theology of the Church today is a Baptismal ecclesiology. We are called to be a baptizing community. “Holy Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Body the Church” (BCP p. 298). Our theology must focus on Baptism as an essential aspect of the Church’s mission. This is where non-Christian individuals enter the Church. We become disciples and empowered through the triune God with our gifts of ministry. The refrain in hymn 528 articulates the crucial element between every verse, “with the Spirit’s gifts empower us for the work of ministry.” This Baptismal ecclesiology is the core of the Church’s mission. Please join us every Sunday in July as we celebrate 5 Baptisms at St. John’s.

In Christ’s love,

Fr. Duncan