Radical Sending: Go to Love and Serve
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Radical Sending: Go to Love and Serve
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Overview
As congregations explore their emerging visions, they need support in “equipping the saints” for their day-to-day lives and ministries beyond the doors of the building. The Dismissal — “go in peace, to love and serve the Lord” — becomes as important as the Eucharist in feeding the people for the journey. But churches often fail to focus on this baptismal calling to “go” into the worlds of work, family, and community. This book fills that void, focusing on how the baptized become “go-ers,” providing practical and tested ways of fulfilling that calling.
Go to Love and Serve builds on and complements the work of Stephanie Spellers’ Radical Welcome, which called congregations to move beyond diversity and inclusion to be places where the transforming gifts, voices, and power of marginalized cultures and groups bring new life to the mainline church. Each chapter is followed by discussion questions for use with small groups or for personal reflection.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780819231857 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Morehouse Publishing |
| Publication date: | 10/01/2015 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 192 |
| File size: | 330 KB |
About the Author
Demi Prentiss has been a ministry developer at the parish, diocesan, and church-wide levels for twenty-five years, and has seen the transformational effect of refocusing the church outside its own walls. She served as editor for the Episcopal Church Foundation's Finance Resource Guide and is the co-author of Radical Sending: Go to Love and Serve. She lives in Denton, Texas.
J. Fletcher Lowe was a parish priest for 37 years with a passion for empowering the laity for their ministries in daily life, authenticated with the 1979 BCP's focus on the centrality of Baptism. Aside from his parish and diocesan efforts, he co-edited with Linda Grenz Ministry in Daily Life, Living the Baptismal Covenant and compiled Baptism: the Event and the Adventure. He died in 2021.
Stephanie Spellers serves as Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Canon for Evangelism and Reconciliation. The author of The Church Cracked Open, and The Episcopal Way (with Eric Law), she has directed mission and evangelism work at General Theological Seminary and in the Diocese of Long Island. A native of Kentucky and a graduate of both Episcopal Divinity School and Harvard Divinity School, she lives in Harlem, New York.
Read an Excerpt
Radical Sending
Go to Love and Serve
By Demi Prentiss, Fletcher Lowe
Church Publishing Incorporated
Copyright © 2015 Demi Prentiss and Fletcher LoweAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8192-3185-7
CHAPTER 1
PART I
The Theology of Radical Sending
The Base Camp
God is calling us to strengthen the ministries of our congregations ... as the spiritual base camps where we gather for inspiration and renewal and strength, and from which we go out to help Christ heal and reconcile the world.
The Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, sermon to the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, November 13, 2011
Hikers who do serious mountain climbing, like scaling Denali in Alaska or the Himalayas in Nepal, know how important a base camp is, how dependent they are on what it provides for their journey. Even nonhikers can imagine a list of what they find helpful and supportive:
• A staging area, launch pad, resting place, respite for restoring the spirit
• A safe haven, refuge from the storm, warmth, hospitality
• Encouragement, affirmation, celebration
• A nurturing environment for coming, going, returning
• Regrouping, retooling, restoring, refueling, renewing, rejuvenation
• Provisions: equipment, tools, repairs, food, and other supplies
• Training and acclimatization
• Healing when injured, emergency care
• Maps, guidance as to what is ahead
• Communications center, a place to share stories, connection with other base camps
• Community, fellowship
Impressive: A base camp can mean the difference between making an ascent and having to give up, between celebration and failure, between life and death.
Now take another look at that list. What would you strike as not being applicable for a congregation? The vast majority of this list reflects what any faith community would like to see as its reason for being.
From a Christian perspective, then, let us look at the base camp as a metaphor for the local congregation. Presbyterian pastor Steve Jacobsen put it this way:
One image that may be useful is that of the church as a base camp.... The church is a base camp in which a community of people gathers to reflect on life, be reminded of their identity, and make plans for exploration. From there, each person goes out during the week to take on that part of the mountain that is theirs to explore. The base camp exists to serve the climbing team. In itself, it is neither the goal of the expedition nor the mountain itself. The value of this image is that it affirms the importance of the community ... but does not mistake the institution for the central reality. The hikers don't exist for the good of the base camp. The base camp exists for the good of the hikers. The implications of this view of the church's role for working people are clear. The church needs to focus on its timeless tasks: it is to be a place of worship, education and community. But it also needs to evaluate how well it is empowering people for the work on the mountain those other six days. The church exists for the people, not the reverse. People deserve our help in making sense of all seven days."
Let's be clear about what Jacobsen is saying, and what the base camp metaphor (as congregation) teaches us: The hikers (members) don't exist for the good of the base camp (faith community). The base camp exists for the good of the hikers.
We in the church often get that reversed. We may be good at paying lip service to lay ministry in daily life, but our actions speak louder than our words. We act as though the role of hiker/layperson is to help the pastor succeed in running the base camp. What if, instead, the ideal was for the pastor to support hikers/laypersons in living into their baptism in all the aspects of daily life? The concept of the congregation as base camp then calls on the ordained to move beyond concerns for a congregation's survival and programming, to see their role as "equipping the saints for the work of ministry" (Eph. 4:12) in their day-to-day hiking/baptismal journeys. The Christian life is not unlike the hiker's journey with its straight and crooked places, its peaks and valleys, its potholes and smooth places. And every hiker needs the support of a base camp in order to engage in the journey.
When we understand the congregation as a base camp, the focus of the congregation's life shifts away from making sure the congregation survives and thrives. Its priority becomes the support of the hikers on their life's journeys. The congregation is not therefore the destination, but a way station, staging area, watering hole, launch pad for the journey. The base camp (congregation) is a safe place and shelter — a place of refuge, renewal, regrouping, recommitment, restoring, refueling, retooling, refreshment, re-creation, and respite for reviving the spirit. It is a place of healing, emergency care, and repair; it is integral to the hikers' world, providing a bridge from liturgy to life. The base camp exists for the hikers. Their journeys are taken seriously. Worship becomes sustenance for the hard work of the climb. The Word is food for the spirit. The Bread and Wine are food for the journey.
The hike is wherever the baptized person spends time living life — work, family, community, school, leisure, and wider world. That is why the hike matters to God. Those are the venues where hikers spends their God-given gifts of time, talent, and ability. As in the Eucharist, Christ is really present in those places. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." It is the base camp's (congregation's) mission to guide, support, and equip the hiker to live into that presence.
As with all metaphors, so with the base camp: It has its limitations. Unlike the Denali base camps, those working in the congregational base camp include not only those hired, but also many of the "hikers" who volunteer for liturgical, formation, and pastoral care ministries. But the focus of the metaphor is not lost. The vision is still on how those "in house" ministries are equipping the hikers for their callings in their daily lives.
The Lord is my Sherpa; I shall not want.
The Hiker's Commissioning
One expression of the hiker's commissioning is embedded in the Episcopal Church's catechism (BCP, 855).
Q. Who are the ministers of the Church?
A. The ministers of the Church are lay persons, bishops, priests, and deacons.
Q. What is the ministry of the laity?
A. The ministry of lay persons is to represent Christ and his Church; to bear witness to him wherever they may be; and, according to the gifts given them, to carry on Christ's work of reconciliation in the world; and to take their place in the life, worship, and governance of the Church.
The Book of Common Prayer lists laypersons as the first mentioned ministers: before bishops, before priests, before deacons. Notice too that the priorities of their ministry are "worldly," and that the "churchy" functions are left for last: "to take their place in the life, worship, and governance of the Church." Preceding that are the crucial ways that the laity live out their faith in the world — their hikes: "To represent Christ and his Church; to bear witness to him wherever they may be; and, according to the gifts given them, to carry on Christ's work of reconciliation in the world." The very insightful layperson Verna Dozier put it this way:
Laypeople carry out those functions in the church (e.g., assist in the liturgy, serve on the vestry, teach church school, etc.), but to me they are always secondary functions for laity. The layperson's primary function is out there in the world.
Jean Haldane, another layperson, reflected, "Let us see the laity as people who must be nurtured for ministry in society rather than as recruits for tasks in and for the church." The key question then for a congregation, the Christian's base camp, is how it is preparing, equipping, enhancing, affirming, and supporting its laity, its hikers, in their journey, in their primary ministry in the world to which they have been commissioned by their baptism — work, leisure, family, school, community, and wider world. It is for this ministerial/missional priority in the world that the base camp exists. For some this may call for a paradigm shift.
The Hiker's Job Description
The Book of Common Prayer uses the Baptismal Covenant (pp. 304–5) as its primary job description for hikers with parallels in other denominations, such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Evangelical Lutheran Worship (pp. 232–44). The orientation of the Covenant is significant. First comes the Baptismal (Apostles') Creed. This foundational declaration roots each baptized person in an historic statement of faith. This sets the tone for why we, as Christians, live as we do. We are not humanists or atheists, promising to act for the greater good of society. We are first and foremost Christians, living out our lives rooted and grounded in the context of our faith in the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is that faith, which undergirds all that comes after, the raison d'être, the motivation for all that follows in the Covenant. We carry out the rest because of our belief in God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. In the context of the Episcopal liturgy the entire congregation, in making this ancient baptismal statement of faith, joins the person being baptized, supported and accompanied by sponsors.
Celebrant Do you believe in God the Father?
People I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
Celebrant Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?
People I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
Celebrant Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?
People I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
Then, like concentric circles radiating out from the center, the Covenant moves from the base camp to the world.
Celebrant Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?
People I will, with God's help.
Celebrant Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
People I will, with God's help. (BCP, 304)
These first two questions spell out the essential role of the base camp in the life of the hikers. For the hikers, life in that community is crucial for their journey — their ministry in daily life. The hikers depend on the congregation for their worship and nurture. "No man is an island," John Donne said. No Christian can be a Christian alone, apart from the body of Christ.
A county attorney who is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia, reflected:
On Sundays, just being in the presence of each of you sharing the sacraments is both calming and renewing. The sense of community ... uplifts me and supports me for the sometimes ugly conflict inherent in the political world. Our collective church community gives each of us the grace to stretch ourselves at work to be more fully in touch with spiritual values. I am motivated by the example set by other parishioners whose work proclaims Christ every day.
For radical sending, a congregation needs first to examine and then to prioritize its liturgical, formation, pastoral care, and communications programs as to how they provide support for its hikers as they journey beyond the church doors:
• How are its teaching, fellowship, and prayers preparing its hikers for their primary ministry in their world of daily living?
• How is its Eucharist truly "food for the journey"?
• How does its worship both nurture and challenge?
• How is it a resource for reconciliation when the hiker falls short in daily life?
It is one thing to profess our faith standing among other Christians in a church building on a Sunday. It is totally different to live into that faith the other six days of the week in those other buildings we inhabit. That is why what happens on Sunday is so important. It is there in the congregation that the disciples are equipped for the challenges encountered during those other six days.
The Covenant continues with a shift to the life of the hikers outside the congregation — in their world of home, job, school, leisure, community, and wider world.
Celebrant Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?
People I will, with God's help.
Celebrant Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
People I will, with God's help.
Celebrant Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?
People I will, with God's help. (BCP, 305)
A manager of a county community corrections program, also a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Richmond reflected:
One statement from the Baptismal Covenant has had special emphasis for me: "I will respect the dignity of every human being." It is a core value.... To be effective in working with mandated clients, people from all walks of life, it helps to look for the human potential, each person's strengths and who they are, not just their problems or what they have done.
Verna Dozier states it clearly:
If I believe that there is a loving God, who has created me and wants me to be part of a people who will carry the good news of the love of that God to the world, what difference does that make when I go to my office at nine o'clock Monday morning? What difference does it make in my office that I believe there is a loving God, that God loves me, and that God loves all human beings exactly as that God loves me? What different kinds of decisions do I make? What am I called to do in that office?
This is the essence of discipleship. This is where the rubber meets the road, where the action is — in the daily life of the baptized where they meet and celebrate and struggle, where all the nurturing and preparation pays off in ministry. In boardrooms and bedrooms, on firing lines and assembly lines, among legislators and landscapers, in courts of law and on tennis courts, in kitchens and kindergartens, in repair shops and coffee shops, among artists and architects, in hospitals and hotels — wherever the laos, the people of God are living and working and playing. Quite a ministry!
And in that world of daily life, the laity carry out the functions of bishop, priest, and deacon. The teacher oversees a classroom day-by-day (the bishop's function). The parent and the office worker on occasion bless and affirm, forgive and reconcile (a priest's function). And, at their best, the waiter or the manager provides servant leadership (the deacon's function). The ordained carry out these functions in the ordered life of the church; the laity carry them out in their daily lives.
What a calling, what a vocation, what a ministry! Those empowering words belong to all the people of God. Yet they are far too often reserved for the ordained and perhaps a select group of laypersons, usually in the helping professions. We seem to be reluctant to recognize that the laity are continuously doing ministry. The church needs to catch up and to affirm it.
From the commissioning to the job description, and now to our marching orders: the radical sending, the Dismissal.
The Hikers' Marching Orders
Jesus was quite clear with his followers: "You are the salt of the earth.... You are the light of the world" (Matt. 5:13–14). As followers of Jesus, we are not free to exist for our own selves — we are sent out to have an impact on our surroundings — like salt and light. We are to transform our environment.
St. Teresa of Ávila, a sixteenth-century Spanish mystic, wrote:
Christ has no body now on earth but yours; no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ must look out on the world. Yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which He is to bless His people.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Radical Sending by Demi Prentiss, Fletcher Lowe. Copyright © 2015 Demi Prentiss and Fletcher Lowe. Excerpted by permission of Church Publishing Incorporated.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Foreword by The Reverend Canon Stephanie Spellers,Introduction to Radical Sending,
Our Journey to Radical Sending,
The Church's Journey to Radical Sending,
Part I: The Theology of Radical Sending,
The Base Camp,
So I Send You,
Part II: The Picture of Radical Sending,
A Timeless Expression,
In Their Own Words,
Sending Congregations,
Servants in Daily Life,
Roadblocks to Radical Sending,
Part III: The Practice of Radical Sending,
Shifts in Perspective,
Making the Transitions,
Climbing Higher,
Conclusion: Encouragement on the Journey,
Gratitudes,
Appendices,
A. Practicing for the Climb: Engaging Christian Formation,
B. Getting in Shape: Resources for Transformational Liturgy,
C. Field Trips: Reimagined Pastoral Care,
D. Messages from the Trail: Resources for Communication,
E. Strength for the Journey: Prayers,
F. Signposts: Websites and Organizations,
G. Notes from Other Hikers: Models from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America,
Notes,
Selected Bibliography,
What People are Saying About This
“Radical Sending is ALIVE with stories, insights, and new ideas on how individuals and congregations can take seriously their Christian vocation as part of their daily living. It is a book in my opinion that will enable ordinary radical people to become part of Michael Curry’s “Jesus Movement” as we live out our daily lives here in this time and place.”
––Rayford J. Ray, XI Bishop of the Diocese of Northern Michigan
“Pastors, priests, and parishioners: if there's one book you read this year to strengthen your church, please let this be the book. Radical Sending will remind you why church matters so much in the first place, and it will inspire you to seize potential that almost everybody is missing. Highly recommended!”
––Brian D. McLaren, author, speaker, and activist (brianmclaren.net)
“There are many reasons to go to church, but the most important one is to be sent forth, together, on a mission that is worthy of our lives. Here is a book that explains not only why this ‘sending forth’ is so central to Christians but also how it can be (and already is being) done in congregations of different sizes and denominations. Buy and give this book to the young adults in your life to let them know that the church is not a refuge from the world but a way to engage with the world in an exciting, meaningful, and holy way.”
––Gregory F. Augustine Pierce, author of The World As It Should Be: Living Authentically in the Here-and-Now Kingdom of God
“For far too long, churches have failed to embrace deeply the reality that God’s primary ministers and missionaries are God’s ordinary people in their daily lives and spheres of influence. As the church reawakens to its missional identity, it must shift focus toward equipping ordinary disciples for faithful witness in the world. Radical Sending offers a rich resource for this, grounded in concrete stories and accessible practices.”
––Dwight Zscheile, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Congregational Mission and Leadership, Luther Seminary and author of People of the Way and The Agile Church
“In Radical Sending, Prentiss and Lowe have reminded us again that while baptism is the first call to ministry, the baptizing community must not only affirm, equip, and bless its members, but send each member in the name of Jesus. Theirs is a practical guide for reclaiming baptismal theology, re-envisioning the meaning of church, and equipping the saints for ministry in daily life.”
––Susanne Watson Epting, author of Unexpected Consequences: The Diaconate Renewed
“Using the imagery of a mountain climbing expedition, Demi and Fletcher prepare us for the journey of living the faith in our daily lives. In addition to helpful historical and theological insights, the authors provide what is hard to find elsewhere: real-life stories of individuals and congregations that have made the journey.”
––Dwight DuBois, author of The Scattering: Imagining a Church that Connects Faith and Life
“Drawing on their lifelong experience of passionately promoting and practicing ‘radical sending,’ Demi Prentiss and Fletcher Lowe provocatively challenge Christians to re-imagine and re-invigorate the church’s vocation to shape and equip faithful disciples to join God’s mission in their daily lives in the wider world. Lowe and Prentiss include theological and practical insights from throughout Christian history, draw from many first-hand experiences of contemporary Christians, and provide numerous valuable appendices with ‘how to’ tips for incorporating ‘radical sending’ in today’s church.”
––John G. Lewis, DPhil, Director, St. Benedict’s Workshop in San Antonio, Texas
“Ever since the 1979 Prayer Book, we have been proclaiming the Baptismal Covenant but having somewhat of a difficult time living it in our daily life and work. Where do we begin? How do we get our congregations to support and empower us? What does it mean to be sent forth to love and serve the Lord? In this book Demi and Fletcher share their faith journeys and provide keen insights and practical suggestions on contemporary discipleship. Read it, digest it, and make it part of your life.”
––Donald V. Romanik, President, Episcopal Church Foundation
“I have referred to the Dismissal in our liturgy as ‘the Great Beginning.’ We have so often looked at it as the end of something, a closer. It is so far from that. For Christians at worship, it is the rally cry to incarnate all of that which we just completed, to put our prayers into action, to put our feet, hands, and heart toward following Jesus’ Way in this world, now. I am so thankful for Radical Sending, which brings to life that notion, and better yet, gives us all a map for the journey.”
––Gregory H. Rickel, Bishop of Olympia
“In Radical Sending: Go to Love and Serve Demi Prentiss and Fletcher Low challenge well-worn assumptions as to what makes a church successful. Their approach, offering both a strong theological base and practical examples, shifts the focus from church as institution to church as “commissioning center,” [alt: “base camp,”] preparing members to practice God’s love in every aspect of their daily lives, in much the same way Jesus sent the seventy out to be Christ in the world. Through reflections, stories, practical approaches, and resources Prentiss and Low provide tools to support congregations interested in becoming a sending congregation.”
––Nancy Davidge, Editor, ECF Vital Practices & Vestry Resource Guide and Associate Program Director of the Episcopal Church Foundation