During the English reformation, the early Anglican reformers sought to retain much of its historic Catholic tradition while also implementing many of the reforms initiated by the early Protestants. One of the historic traditions that was retained by Anglicans was the parish structure of the church.
Throughout much of the Church’s history, localized expressions of the church were called parishes and all of the parishes in a given region were united as a diocese under a shared bishop. The formation of parishes was an early innovation of the Church (the framework began to take form in the 2nd century) that was created in order to maintain broader unity (or catholicity) while enabling each local congregation to focus their ministry on their particular region.
In its early form, a parish both represented a geographic area as well as the congregation of believers who reside there. Hence a parish was not just a particular church, but also the region in which that congregation was commissioned to mister.
The geographic understanding of the parish is often lost in our modern time. But at Redeemer our missional vision is to recapture the original parish mentality so that we might creatively reach our region (parish) through parish minded mission.
Within a parish approach to mission, we gather together as Redeemer Anglican Church to be fed and equipped. Our gathering together for worship reminds us that we are part of Christ’s Catholic (which means universal) Church, which spans the globe and nearly 2000 years of history. Our gathering is also to empower us to scatter as ministers of the Gospel throughout our parish. The final words spoken every Sunday are a reminder of this, commissioning us to go forth to be ministers of reconciliation and redemption, show hospitality to our neighbors, serve others, and be conduits of God’s mercy and grace where we work, live, and play. Far too often christian ministry and service is focused almost exclusively on finding ways to serve within the local church. With a parish focused mentality, a primary goal is to find ways to equip each member of the church to serve within their parish (i.e. the community in which they reside.)
As Christians we should minister within our parish, but our parish encompasses much more than the particular ministries and activities of Redeemer Anglican.
Our vision for Redeemer is to be a place where we gather to receive the healing, redemption, and rest found in the Gospel of Christ. It is also to be a place in which we are equipped to be ministers of that same Gospel to those around us. As a church, Redeemer will intentionally keep things simple, not to minimize mission and outreach, but to decentralize it, creating space for every parishioner to be ministers of Christ’s Gospel through our normal weekly rhythms in whatever segment of our parish the Lord has placed us.
