Mission for an established parish church

It can be useful to think of the influence of a well established parish church as a series of concentric circles. People in the innermost circles have the closest relationship with the church. People in the outermost circles have the least relationship with the church. Notice that people are often held in their relationship with the church through family relationships or through membership of an organisation.

If we are serious about making our church grow then we need to strengthen and grow the Church’s relationship with people in all the circles. Most people who get involved with the church will slowly move from the outer circles inwards. (Of course there are some people who jump straight into the inner circles, but these are the exception rather than the rule.) We should be working to create a general momentum inwards, which really means upwards – towards God.

In my mind I picture this as a tablecloth pinched in the centre and slowly drawn up towards heaven; slowly the whole tablecloth is drawn inwards and upwards. Note that the healthy inward movement of each circle is closely related to healthy movement in the circles either side of it. This means that we need to work with all the circles of influence, not neglecting any of them.

One factor that is critical for success is a high quality upwards pull in the centre of the tablecloth. This is the commitment to holiness shown by the people in the centre. If the people at the centre put God in the first place in their lives and seek always to draw closer to God then they draw all the people round them closer to God as well. The strength of the tablecloth fabric is also of critical importance, if the tablecloth rips as soon as it is pulled then relatively little is drawn up to heaven. If there are strong personal and organisational relationships holding the body of people together then movement upwards in the centre draws everyone inwards and upwards.

Gospel love is essential. Our love for God is what draws us upwards. Our love for our neighbour is what holds the tablecloth together. Jesus reminds us that love for God and love for our neighbour are the most important commandments (e.g. Mark 12:28-34). Of course the love of God and love of neighbour are very closely related. Our love for God compels us to seek out and love the face of God in neighbour, who is created in the image and likeness of God. Jesus reminds us that whatever is done to the least is done to him (e.g. Matt 25:31-46). Our love for our neighbours is also crucial evidence of our love for God (e.g. 1 John 4).

We always have to accept people where they are, and find appropriate ways of building relationships with them. It might be more appropriate to invite people in the outer circles to church social events rather than inviting them to church services. It is people in the middle circles (rather than people in the most central circles) who are most likely to build effective new relationships with people in the outer circles. People in the inner circles should therefore focus their mission efforts on supporting and developing the people in the middle circles, helping the middle circles to help the outer circles. Of course all these circles are only a notional guide; there aren't any real boundaries. We all have important relationships with people in all the circles.

One of the most common mistakes in mission is to neglect the middle circles (who, after all often do not come to church) in order to reach out to the people far away. Too often this results in attempts to jump people into the central circles before they are ready for it. It usually does not work for the people jumped in and it also creates pressure to "dumb down" or "sanitise" the most central circles, weakening the commitment to holiness. It is much more important to maintain a tension towards holiness in the centre and then focus on how people can build better relationships with the people around them.