In a general sense, all Christians are missionaries for the gospel of Jesus Christ as we live for him each day of our lives. The Salt & Light Missions Committee proposes a budget to support those who have taken this a step further. This amounts to one-tenth of the total annual income of the parish.
The committee’s focus is on people who are known to the congregation and who are serving Jesus as a career (a few years, or a few decades) in various parts of the world. Their work may be making disciples, strengthening communities, compassionate care, or preaching; but their focus is always on proclaiming Jesus and serving those he loves. Special requests for urgent missions projects are also considered from time to time. And when people from our congregation make plans to participate in a particular missions project or trip, the committee is pleased to consider how St. James can offer support for them.
Because prayer matters and we want to be praying for those we support, the Salt & Light Missions Committee raises awareness of our missionaries to the people of St. James in a couple of significant ways. Every Sunday, prayers are offered for specific missionaries during our Eucharist services on a rotating cycle, and people are encouraged to remember those particular individuals in prayer for a week.
A missions Sunday is also held twice each year where missionaries make presentations in person so that the opportunity is provided for the congregation to be kept up to date about what they are doing.
St. James currently supports missionaries working through a dozen organizations, including the following:
- Innovista - providing support and training to the new generation of Christian leaders in Eastern Europe innovista.org/about/
- Wycliffe Bible Translators www.wycliffe.ca
- Inter-Varsity Pioneer Camps in Alberta pioneercampalberta.ca
- Alongside Hope (formally Primate's World Relief and Development Fund) pwrdf.org
- Streetlight in Calgary youthunlimitedcalgary.ca