Two lessons I have learnt from clergy in the South Sydney Region.

1. You don't have to be in the Mission to be in the Mission

I am talking to one of the most impressive ministers I have the privilege to serve. He is in the process of turning round a small church and providing good, clear leadership even though things at times can be discouraging. Already there has been significant success as the church starts to move along. But he says to me, "No, we're not into the Diocesan Mission. We're too small for that'. 

I think to myself, if he's not into the Mission, who is? So I say to him, "I wish I had a whole region full of people not being into the Mission the way you're not into the Mission. You are too busy just evangelising and building your church'.

The lesson: you don't have to be into the Mission to be into the Mission. This clergyman was really saying that he has no time off to be able to focus on the wider "diocesan' concerns. 

He is concerned that some of the talk of the Mission is only about big churches (which it is not). So he is getting on building a church that will be a Christian community in his very difficult context. 

He is doing the Mission and he is part of the Mission. So the Mission is not about top-down PR but about Christian leaders and their communities sharing Christ.

2. Culture is more important than programs

A minister of an inner-city church has begun to move things along after having been there only a couple of years. "The most important thing,' he says to me "is the culture of your church'. 

"What do you mean?" I ask.  He says, "Here at [CMS] Summer School it's so encouraging. Everyone's aligned. Everyone's excited about the Lord Jesus Christ. 

"But not all churches are like that. Sometimes the biggest struggle is to get a church to the place where the congregation are really Christ-focused and with the kind of relationships and priorities that you want to bring people to church."

I think about this. I have had the privilege of serving in churches which have always had, I think, that kind of Christian culture. I am aware, though, that for some of our churches the very first step is actually to become a functioning Christian community. Until that happens, all talk of programs is only secondary.

How do you do it? I suspect it's the simple matter of building a biblical church with a biblical ministry, and letting the Spirit of God and the word of God do their business.

The Rt Rev Robert Forsyth is the bishop of South Sydney.