Comparative Religious Exam Paper 2 - Mission

Write between the lines on the paper only. No calculators, leaflets, or proselytizing. 

1. Ignoring any consideration of effectiveness or financial benefits, what is your church's defining form of mission? (If you are an Anglican or Methodist, you may draw a map of your church grounds marking the Jumble Sale with an "X".

2. "Men of Athens, I perceive that you are in every respect remarkably religious." - How did you get from this to wearing an anorak in Dunstable town centre, while shouting at passers-by through a megaphone?

3. The Methodist Church has 7 members. St Martin's has 9 members. The URC has 6 members. So why are you running a building project?

4. "For we know we struggle under the cloud of transgression. In the natural, we are fallen beings. Because of the weight of our iniquity, we are unable to obtain true atonement without the cleansing grace of the sacrifical substitution of our righteous redeemer." - When you were handing this out down town last week, what did you think you would achieve?

5. "The defining symbol of the Church is not a cross, nor a fish, but a thermometer". If you can tear yourself away from the cake stall for a minute, would you care to comment on this?

6. "I become all things to all people, that by all possible means I might save some". Do you think that's wise?

7. "The trouble with modern people is that they don't want to go to church." Ignoring the weakness in this argument, how often do you actually think it?

8. Is the Church in the two-thirds world better at mission because:
a) People don't laugh at them;
b) Christians in England are persecuted more;
c) They actually believe in it;
d) Something to do with the Holy Spirit?

Try not to justify yourself too much.

9. Godly Play. Why? I mean, why?

10. Is "Enculturation" a real word? Be honest.

11. If you organise a church away day to discuss mission, brainstorm what it's all about, get a decent vision, develop a strategy and come away ready for battle - what are the chances of anything happening?

12. Which of the following do you, honestly, think count as mission?
a) Church Committee meetings
b) Getting alongside the lonely
c) Sharing your personal experience of faith
d) Wearing a witty T-shirt
e) Putting up a "wayside pulpit"
f) Bellringing
g) Tweeting insults at Richard Dawkins.

13. At the AGM, it is agreed that sub-committees are needed to look after "Mission", "Fund-raising" and "Social Activities". Why do you think just the one committee should cover it?

14. Sending men in threes into the pub to do mission work could be a bad idea why? Illustrate with a picture of the pub ceiling.

15. Taking an honest look, what percentage of your "outreach" activity is based on doing stuff people already in the Church like? You may use all three digits if necessary.

16. The 19th Century Anglo Catholics brought beauty and worship into the slum areas. Do you reckon Costa's the same sort of thing? Illustrate with an economic analysis of their profit margins.