There has been much talk recently about the proposed mission areas.

Changing the direction of Diocese from 'managing slow decline' to being an organisation and network facilitating and promoting reaching the lost is a little like changing the direction of the Titanic.

Similarly, there is little doubt that regions are too big to facilitate and promote mission.  It is amazing that our bishops have the time to do all that they do, but they are far from regional mission leaders.

So, what about the concept of the proposed mission areas?

Attending one of the mission area briefings, and studying the detailed Anglicare report has enabled some further reflection on my part.

Underlying problem

The underlying problem seems to me to be that our churches don't work together. No doubt, there are a variety of reasons why. Finding the time to do so is hard enough. The reality of our sinful world must also be that personal egos get in the way (if any church is going to grow in our area, I want it to be mine - not yours!). And no doubt we don't know our neighbouring colleagues well enough to trust one another.

One opportunity this blog provides is some collective honesty about why we find partnership so difficult.

Pressing question

A pressing question is: will mission areas help overcome these problems?

Part of the answer must be yes, for any injection of energy to work together will surely show some fruit, if even sporadic.

But will it bring about systemic change? From where I sit, that is harder to see.

Part of the rationale for mission areas is the more local sharing of resources. But having worked in larger and smaller churches over the past 10 or so years, it is hard to see anything other than the underlying problems getting in the way.

Smaller churches struggle to muster all the resources they can 'get'. Each new committed Christian person is gold. Each additional staff appointment is a huge step.

Larger churches, understandably, try to use their unique momentum to have an impact for the Gospel in initiatives like church and congregational planting.

To expect the larger and smaller to work together, to the point of sharing resources is a wonderful goal, but perhaps a tad unrealistic.

I am not saying this doesn't happen at all. It does. But it is sporadic rather than systemic.

Maybe we need to begin with an honest discussion, and frank personal reflection, about why we don't work more together. Our resource base is tens of thousands of people, each of whom God has gifted. We have billions of dollars of assets at our collective disposal. But we can't, humanly speaking, seem to align them for the growth of the kingdom of God.

Why?