Roll out the banners!
Most parishes have collected their Year of Mission 2015 banners and they should appear in your churches and halls this weekend.
It may seem strange that there is nothing to hang outside the church but that has to wait until January 2015. The ‘For Him’ materials are just the first instalment of a two–part strategy.
Let us explain…
The Year of Mission 2015 committee has come up with a two–part brand which has already been introduced at the vestry evenings and at the Diocesan Synod:
Mission 2015: ‘For Him’, ‘For you’
For Him
– all to the glory of God
For you
– not for you, not for me, but for the person, the people outside the Kingdom of God, outside our church fellowships
But it’s not an either/or, it’s a both/and – that’s why we have a hint of ‘you’ in the logo that you see to the right, because we have split the brand and will use the parts separately.
Mission 2015: For Him
, is the message in the parish as we prepare during 2013/14.
So as we refocus, as we plan, we are reminded; ‘It’s not for the Bishop, it’s not for ourselves, it’s for Him. It’s for God and his glory, which is why the banners carry the text from Colossians 1:18:
‘He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.’
And this message should be displayed in both your church and your hall until the beginning of 2015 when ‘For you’ is to be launched.
‘For you’
is the message coming from the parish from the start of 2015. It will be on a banner outside your church and will signify that:
As parishes, we’re turning outwards
We’re addressing the people we’re trying to reach
We can put messages in front of it – He Died For You; Always here For You
We can put events in front of it – A Craft Evening For You; A Men’s Breakfast For You
Or on gifts… For You
Mission 2015: ‘For Him, ‘For you’