Anglican Diocese of Calgary

This month's Missional Minute was written by The Rev. Dcn. Elizabeth Short of All Saints, Cochrane.

One of the wonderful Easter stories is that of the disciples’ encounter with Jesus on the road to Emmaus. This encounter caused their hearts to “burn within them” and they changed the direction in which they were going.

In a recent talk about the valuable work our Missional Coaches do, I was taken by the phrase, “help parishes in effective change.” First of all, the word change. How many times have we said that, generally speaking, and especially Anglicanly (yes, new word) speaking, we don’t like change? However, I have also heard people admit that although they may not like change, they recognize the need for it.

Sometimes when the need for change is identified, the next step is to create the goal, or outcome. The sense that “something” needs to change may be there, and one can become anxious to quickly name what that something is, so that a desired outcome can be identified, followed by a checklist of things that need to be done to achieve it.

The phrase effective change implies something important. It involves the inclusion of a body of people and intentional time spent in building and forming. Becoming missionally effective may require that the change begins with mind-set. It is one thing to say that a particular situation or way of doing something needs to change. It is another thing to say that I need to change! Often this is a process that can’t be rushed. How can I/we begin to think missionally, and how can we share that kind of vision? What does missional ministry look like? What is a missional parish?

I am blessed to serve with a team of people, the Missional Coaches, who will come out and guide you in considering many facets of parish life so that you may cultivate a missional mind set. Setting our hearts on being missional is not for the purpose of growing our parishes numerically, although that can be a joyful outcome; nor is it about introducing a new program and placing more work on full plates. Being missional is not a strategic plan, but rather a spiritual discipline that applies to all aspects of parish life. Being missional deepens our relationships, first with Jesus, and then with each other, and the communities in which we are placed, giving deeper meaning to existing ministries and leading us into new ones.

The disciples on the road to Emmaus had an encounter with Jesus that changed their mindset which, in turn, set them in a new direction where, through the power of the Holy Spirit, a ministry and mission began that we are invited and privileged to participate in to this day.