Open doors, Open hearts, Open minds
In 2005, "Open doors, Open hearts, Open minds" was adopted as
our Mission Statement. As with all such phrases, it is intended both to express
how we see ourselves now, as well as our aspirations for the future. Hopefully
it will promote debate across all sectors of our church life, as each group
and each person discusses how we can express our collective philosophy
more fully. I hope too that it will direct and inspire our Christian
living as individuals in the world, and that this too will promote debate
as we discuss what it means in terms of the nuts and bolts of daily life.
Open doors
Our church doors do stand open from 8am until 5.15pm
from Monday to Saturday. The fact that they are closed in the winter
on Sunday afternoons will stop us being complacent and give us a goal to
work towards if we are to express "open doors" effectively. But
this isn't just about the wooden doors. It also says that our
worship and the language we use in it must strive to be fully inclusive
of male and female, young and old, black and white. It says that
we aim to be a church where lay and ordained are fully included in its
government, ministry and mission, and where women and men are fully included
in the threefold ministry of deacon, priest and bishop; this is what being
"holy, catholic and Apostolic" (which is what the
Anglican Communion claims to be) means.
Open hearts.
This is about
our outreach into the community. St
Chad's has always understood itself to be aiming to inspire and encourage
its worshippers to play their full part in the life of Shrewsbury, Shropshire
and the diocese of Lichfield - and indeed further afield. We aim
to express in our individual and communal living Christ's love for
the world. This philosophy lies behind the fact that St Chad's
was instrumental in the founding of the Christian Centre, and is still
much involved today. It underpins our mission giving - 10% of our
regular giving going to home and overseas missions and charities. It
encourages individuals to become prison and hospital visitors, and to be
otherwise involved in pastoral care. It also means that we try to
offer sanctuary to those, including the homeless who ask for it, and to
advocate justice for the poor and oppressed.
Open minds.
We are all
seekers after God - none of us has full
possession of the truth, and it is our privilege and responsibility to
accompany and support all those who come within our care on their particular
journey towards God. Each of us has a responsibility to grow in
relationship to the God who is revealed in the person and life of Jesus
Christ, and to do so through regular worship, daily prayer, and study of
the Bible - which we read seriously but not literally. The Bible
is certainly inspired by God, but it is also a human, culturally conditioned
document and needs to be read with prayerful but also critical twenty first
century eyes. We welcome difference and engagement with people of
different views and faiths. Our use of "Emmaus" rather
than "Alpha" Christian educational material reflects this philosophy. St
Chad's is a church where arts and culture are valued and supported,
and where our worship aims to be conducted with creativity and beauty.
Mark
Thomas, vicar
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