Church Army Preachment St Michael's Lichfield - transcript of sermon

St Michael's Lichfield CA Preachment

April 30^th 2017

New Testament           Acts 2 v 14a and 36-41

Gospel                           Luke 24 v 13-35

Peter’s Pentecost sermon and the story of two disciples encountering the Christ on the road to Emmaus.

And three very particular points I would want to draw out from these passages allied to the work and ministry of the Church Army.

Numbers matter, individuals matter and you do not need scholarship or a degree to share faith or to talk about Jesus.

Over the last twenty odd years, the Church has been gathering more solid data, mainly through the Mission Returns sent into the diocese.  The information required has been tweaked and changed over the years to accommodate developments such as Fresh Expression of Church.

Originally, it was basic uSa numbers gathered in October – sometime skewed with a Harvest Service. This plus attendance at Easter and Christmass gave some measure of facts, figures and stats.

A more detailed report was published in January 2014 ‘Anecdote to Evidence.’

The Church Army’s Research Unit led by George Lings has been at the forefront of mapping out the emerging Fresh Expressions of Church and made a vital contribution to that document.

Now personally, I am not a stats geek and figures tend to make my eyes glaze over.

There are also those who state very strongly that numbers are not important, that we are wasting time with all this head counting malarkey.

‘Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number.’

(By the way, have you ever wondered about the logistics of baptising three thousand people?) 

Of course, numbers do not tell the whole story but they certainly tell a story – a story of how faithful we are at passing on the faith to the next generation.

And numbers mattered to the Founder of Church Army, Wilson Carlile.

They mattered as a young man when Wilson Carlile avowed to make £20,000 by the age of 25.  

He achieved his ambition in the family silk mercers business. However, following the collapse of the Stock Market and a bout of sickness at the age of 26, Wilson Carlile embraced the Christian Faith.

(You can read a little of his story in our magazine ShareIt)

Wilson Carlile became an Anglican priest and in 1882 founded the Church Army.

Again, numbers mattered and Carlile had a vision to create a mass movement of ordinary men and woman who were able to share their faith in their homes, in their work places or wherever they might find themselves.

‘Can you tell the Gospel in the same homely language of the workshop’ was one of his challenges.

And here we bring in another of my three points. Peter, was not trained for the Priesthood - by what knowledge we can glean from the Gospel’s, he was a rough and ready fisherman.

 There is nothing wrong with education and we should all strive to learn as much as we are able. However, having all the answers and a degree in 1^st century Greek are not a prerequisite for sharing our Faith.

Over the years, the vision of a mass movement began to fade and the Church Army for the most part became an elite corps of Officers with very few troops.

One of the reasons for the title of Captains, apart from the popularity of military metaphors at the end of the 19^th century, is that the Captain would have soldiers under their command.  These would be men and woman who while continuing in their daily lives joined the Captain on outdoor speaking engagements and other charitable acts.

Woman, as Sister, came later and here, Wilson Carlile’s sister, Marie stepped up and assisted her brother.  Because women could not minister in any form in the Church of England at the time, Church Army trained its woman as nursing sisters.  This gave them an opportunity to evangelize through this medium of a caring profession.

Some eight years ago under the very youthful Mark Russel as our CEO the Church Army began a serious review process.

We appointed someone to work alongside us for three years seeking to explore the charism of Carlile and consider what that might look like in the 21^st century.

In September 2012 in the Crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral, London, where Prebandary Wilson Carlile is buried, the Church Army became an Acknowledged Mission Community.

Becoming a Mission Community has given the Church Army an opportunity to revisit the idea of being a mass movement and people can become members of the Church Army Mission Community as a Companion whilst continuing in their current situation. 

There are in fact four Pathways, Commissioned, Covenanted, Co-workers and Companions – and our numbers are steadily growing.  Today we are around 500 strong across the United Kingdom, both Lay and Ordained.

The Church Army uniform and many aspects may have changed over the years, however the core message remains the same, sharing faith through words and actions.

Our CEO, Mark Russel sits on the Archbishop’s Evangelism Task Force, and as you may know, Justin Welby has made evangelism one of his three priorities.

In his 2015 Lambeth Lecture speaking on evangelism he said... 

‘The best decision anyone can ever make, at any point in life, in any circumstances, whoever they are, wherever they are, whatever they are, is to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. There is no better decision for a human being in this life, any human being.’

All the members of the Church Army Mission Community would say a very loud Amen to that.

That is why throughout this country, Church Army Officers and all members of the Mission Community walk alongside people much in the same way as Jesus walked alongside those two disciple on the road to Emmaus, because individuals matter.

Many of those whom we walk alongside are the least, the last and the lost, those on the margins.

Working alongside local Churches we have over a dozen Centres of Mission where two or more Officers are based engaging in a variety of ministries, tailored to meet local needs.

Other Officers, as individuals, work in parishes, benefices, deaneries and some across a diocese in a specialized role, such as youth and children, or with the homeless.

My own role as Mission & Growth Partner sees me working across the Stafford Episcopal Area walking alongside parishes, benefices and deaneries seeking to encourage, enable and equip them for mission and evangelism.

So, let me return to that challenge of Wilson Carlile and ask you…

‘Are you able to share your hope and faith in the risen Lord Jesus in words that make sense and that can be understood by those you meet on your frontline - in shops, cafes, bars, gyms, schools, work places.’

If someone here this morning, or indeed someone you might meet in the week ahead, asked how he or she could become a Christian what answer would you give.

In closing let me mention one brilliant Church Army resource that could help you in that regard.   

Faith Pictures is a free course to download that helps you to frame your own faith story. It is serious fun, and a great way for us to begin talking about our faith to each other using metaphors and everyday items. If we can begin to feel comfortable talking to each other about our faith and our journey to faith, it will come more easily with other people outside the Church context.

For one definition of evangelism from D T Niles is simply ‘one beggar telling another where to get bread.’

Let me close with some words from His Holiness Pope Benedict XV1before I invite Jane to sing the words of the Chiefs Consecration prayer, words that I hope you may echo in your own hearts in dedication to walk alongside people, helping them to encounter the risen Lord.

And only where God is seen does life truly begin.

Only when we meet the living God in Christ do we know what life is.

We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution.

Each of us is the result of a thought of God.

Each of us is willed,

Each of us is loved,

Each of us is necessary.

There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel,

By the encounter with Christ.

There is nothing more beautiful than to know him and to speak to others of our friendship with Him.

Jane sing...        (And now O Father, mindful of the love)

Now and here I give myself to you,
and now and here you give yourself to me;
and now and here I find your love within.
Break through me, Lord, that others I may win;
your wounded body and your life blood poured
impel me forth to live and preach you, Lord.

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