‘The five marks of mission’
The five marks of mission have been developed by the Anglican Consultative Council, and were adopted by the General Synod of the Church of England in 1996. Some additional wording was added to the 4th item in 2012.
- To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom (TELL)
- To teach, baptise and nurture new believers (TEACH)
- To respond to human need by loving service (TEND)
- To seek to transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and to pursue peace and reconciliation (TRANSFORM)
- To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth (TREASURE)
Each of these finds ample support in Scripture. The difficulty comes (as Ian Paul observes) when individuals or churches choose to ‘specialise’ in one or two of them, to the neglect of others. Thus, it is not hard to find churches and church leaders with a strong commitment to social justice and environmental care (items 4 and 5), but which are strangely silent about (or antagonistic towards) items 1 and 2. The opposite is also the case.