Missions Retreat 2022 — The Diocese of the Holy Trinity

There is an urgent need to articulate and cultivate a compelling framework for mission in our time. Anglo Catholic mission has been hindered by its captivity to ministry and mission methods that are rooted in the 20th century and modernity. Two errors of this captivity are: one, an unwitting adoption of the consumer and marketing model; two, an overemphasis on rational thought—arguing for the faith—at the expense of viewing life in Christ as a living experience. This has resulted in an approach to mission that attempts to market the faith by convincing people that it is true at the expense of genuine biblical witness (Acts 1:8, 2:26-47), in which the communal life and love of the church are the primary and most compelling evidence of its truth.

On September 27th-30th, participants gathered at the Montserrat Jesuit Retreat House in Lake Dallas, TX for a retreat cultivating a remnant of people who are serious about our mission. The gathering consisted of like-minded clergy and lay people who have expressed a sincere interest in working and praying for the growth of domestic mission in the G-3 churches.

This retreat focused on a new approach to mission—which is really a much older approach, based on the biblical and historical theology of "the remnant." This approach is rooted in the perspective articulated by Martin Thornton in his book, Pastoral Theology, a Reorientation, and in Thornton's contention that the essence of English spirituality is an "affective-speculative synthesis," a harmony between doctrine and devotion. However, the approach articulated at this retreat was not a mere restatement of Thornton, who lived in 20th century England, it was a creative adaptation of his principles to our 21st century mission settings. For a more robust explanation of our Remnant theology, please read Bishop Scarlett’s A Primer on the Remnant.

The goal of this retreat was to begin to create a remnant of lay and clergy leaders among the G-3 and like-minded others who are committed to praying and working for mission by sharing the Remnant approach with those who are serious about mission, learning about effective mission approaches from mission minded clergy and lay people who have had positive things happen in their settings, and forming relationships by sharing our contexts and stories. Those who wish to join this remnant must be willing to commit to a regular practice of prayer and fasting for mission, to an ongoing conversation about mission, and to doing new things to reorient the culture of our churches towards mission.