The Five Marks of Mission: A checklist for mission
- Making Your Mark video contest kicks off
- Which Mark of Mission are you?
- 5 Marks of Mission t-shirts available from Episcopal Marketplace at General Convention
- “Let’s show the world all that the Episcopal Church does!”
Acknowledging that the mission of the Episcopal Church is the mission of Christ, the Five Marks of Mission are foundational for the many mission activities underway by congregations, dioceses and individuals.
Now, the Episcopal Church Office of Communication is asking you to share videos of local ministry and work in action. And, you can vote for your favorite video, with the winner slated to be featured at General Convention 2012!
Five Marks of Mission
The Five Marks of Mission, developed by the Anglican Consultative Council and adopted by the General Convention in 2009, are:
- To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
- To teach, baptize and nurture new believers
- To respond to human need by loving service
- To seek to transform unjust structures of society
- To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth
In a succinct way, the Five Marks of Mission offer a framework for mission and ministry work. For many, the work of the Five Marks is already part of a congregational or personal mission program. Whether it’s when you recycle (Mark #5), undertake social justice work (Mark #4), donate to a food bank, volunteer at a soup kitchen (Mark #3), renew your baptismal vows (Marks #1 and #2), or countless other ways, the Five Marks of Mission shine through.
“Mission is really making us all aware of the incredible love that God has for all of us,” said Archbishop Desmond Tutu in a May 19 webcast about Mission. “It says things like: you don’t have to earn God’s love. God loves you, period. Everything flows from there.”
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori noted in the May 19 webcast that mission is about receiving love and then responding by going out and sharing. “It is a matter of calling the near and the far off together into the fold. It is about healing and reconciling. It is about making that love incarnate in the lives of people around us and in the lives of people on the other end of the earth.”
Take a quiz, upload a video, be part of the action
Be a part of the action:
- “What’s your mark? When you were marked as Christ’s own forever at your baptism, did you ever wonder what mark he put on you?” Take this fun quiz to find out and learn more about the Five Marks of Mission on the Episcopal Church Facebook page: www.facebook.com/episcopalian
- Share examples of local ministry and work of the Five Marks of Mission by uploading local videos and join the Making Your Mark video contest.
- Vote for your favorite mission video in the Marking Your Mark video contest. Voting is open until July 5, and the video that receives the most votes will be featured at a special showing at General Convention 2012.
- Get your t-shirt at the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society booth at General Convention and proudly wear your favorite Mark of Mission!
“Videos have the power to say so much so quickly,” noted Anne Rudig, director of communication for the Episcopal Church. “The Office of Communication has established an easy way for you to share your videos of the Five Marks of mission at work. We invite your videos and we invite everyone to vote for your favorite. Let’s show the world all that the Episcopal Church does!”
To share your video: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/page/making-your-mark
Links and resources:
The Episcopal Church: www.episcopalchurch.org
The Five Marks of Mission: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/page/five-marks-mission
Episcopal Marketplace: https://signs.forwardmovement.org/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/episcopalian
Twitter: twitter.com/iamepiscopalian
Episcopal News Service:
Tutu, Jefferts Schori discuss mission in the church
A conversation at Washington National Cathedral
