The Face of Mission

The Face of Mission

What does mission look like?  If you ask me, or any member of the cathedral choir who participated in our pilgrimage, mission looks like the face of a woman name Sadie, who ran the Travelodge in Ely, England. Our first encounter with Sadie came during our nightly Compline services; we had wanted to hold the service outside, but rain forced us into the hotel lobby.  As the choir's young people gathered around to hear Scripture and pray for their loved ones back home, Sadie, barely visible behind the counter, listened. But she wasn't listening to our funny accents, she was listening to our prayers. And when the youth started in on the Lord's Prayer, Sadie closed her eyes, and with tears streaming down, joined us as she mouthed the words.

When the service ended, several of us struck up a conversation with Sadie, asking about her town, her job, her life.  Sadie's life has been one of struggle:  an estranged marriage, health issues, too many bills. That service, she told us, was the first time she had been "in church" in 25 years!  "What happened?" I asked. "Life," she replied.

During our stay Sadie went out of her way to make us feel as comfortable as possible. And on Saturday night, she (on her day off) brought her son to hear our choir sing Evensong in the cathedral's Lady Chapel. Tears of pride swelled in her eyes, tears that came from direct contact with the Spirit of God. Those same tears were present as she joined us for Morning Prayer and saw us off when we left from Ely for Edinburgh two days later. She had become part of our family, our story, our church.

For all the beautiful music that the choir provided (and believe me, it was BEAUTIFUL) many youth and adults alike pointed to Sadie and said, "This is why we are here." Mission is about making relationships and sharing God's love with those around us. Not only did we share that love with Sadie, but she, through her storytelling and attention to our needs, shared it with us. Our choir members offered glorious music with the cathedrals of Ely and Edinburgh, but their serenade of Sadie prior to a 6:30 am bus ride was, for me, the highlight of the trip.  It was as though every member of the choir understood in that moment that God was present, and that this was foretaste of the Kingdom.

We sometimes like to imagine mission on a grand scale (building houses, repairing bridges, preaching to non-believers). But more often than not mission happens in the unexpected relationships that we form. None of us will forget Sadie, and her story reminds us that the face of God is present in everyone.  We need only create the space where the music of the Spirit can be heard.

Joe Mitchell, Curate