Marked for Mission: Youth in Action

Put faith into action with this mission guide book
Building on the success of Call on Me: A Prayer Book for Young People, this book focuses on the themes and core values of youth ministries in the Episcopal Church. Youth seek ways to put their faith into action and claim their "power," which is a hallmark of the millennial generation according to recent research. This book offers reflections and prayers to help young people do just that - to live out their faith at home, church, community, and beyond. It specifically addresses Episcopal identity for emerging adults, ages 15-25. Available in kivar or paperback binding.

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"Marked for Mission brings together an impressive chorus of honest voices, young and ancient, to reflect on the foundations of our Christian practice in this complex era. This diverse community of texts will engage all faithful people as we strive to live for union with God in Christ."
-- Jane Alice Gober, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Walla Walla, Washington

--This text refers to the paperback edition. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sharon Ely Pearson a retired Christian educator, editor, and author with 35-plus years of experience in Christian formation on the local, judicatory, and church-wide level. Known for her knowledge of published curricula across the church, she has written or edited numerous books. She is a graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary and a lifelong Episcopalian. She lives in Norwalk, Connecticut.

--This text refers to the paperback edition. REVIEW
"Marked for Mission brings together an impressive chorus of honest voices, young and ancient, to reflect on the foundations of our Christian practice in this complex era. This diverse community of texts will engage all faithful people as we strive to live for union with God in Christ."
-- Jane Alice Gober, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Walla Walla, Washington

--This text refers to the paperback edition. EXCERPT. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
MARKED FOR MISSION
YOUTH IN ACTION
By Sharon Ely Pearson, Bronwyn Clark SkovMOREHOUSE PUBLISHING
Copyright 2014 Sharon Ely Pearson and Bronwyn Clark Skov
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8192-2936-6
CONTENTS
Foreword,
Acknowledgments,
Introduction,
THE BAPTISMAL COVENANT,
I Will, With God's Help,
In Action,
Prayers & Voices,
THE FIVE MARKS OF MISSION,
Mission and Ministry,
In Action,
Prayers & Voices,
LIVING OUT MY FAITH,
The Charter for Lifelong Christian Formation,
In Action,
Prayers & Voices,
RESOURCES,
The Bible,
Prayer,
Other Favorites,
Go-To Books,
Go-To Websites,


CHAPTER 1I Will, With God's Help


Our Baptismal Covenant begins with an affirmation of our faith in the Trinity found in the Apostles' Creed. In response to the first three questions, as a community we acknowledge our belief in God as Creator, Jesus as Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit as the Sustainer. Together with the additional five questions, the Baptismal Covenant is primarily about God and the important relationship God establishes with us in baptism. It tells us who God is, and what God has done for us. It tells us that God loves us and calls us into relationship. God calls us to participate in God's self-giving love for the sake of the world. And to that we say, "I will, with God's help."


A covenant is a binding agreement that is freely entered into by two or more parties that may be individuals or groups of people. It is an important theme throughout Holy Scripture. God continually sought relationships with the people in the Old Testament: God's bow in the clouds was the sign of a covenant with Noah. God made a covenant with Abraham, in which God promised his descendants would be as numerous as the stars and they would have the Promised Land. God made a covenant with Moses that the people of Israel would be God's people, and God would be their God. This was to be lived out in terms of the Ten Commandments.

The new covenant is the new relationship with God given by Jesus to the apostles and through them to all who believe in Jesus (see the Book of Common Prayer, pp. 850-851) . We live out our participation in the new covenant by sharing in the Holy Eucharist and in loving one another as Christ loved us (John 13:34-35) .


The baptism of Jesus is one of the few incidents in his life that is mentioned in all four gospels (Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9 - 11, Luke 3:21-22, and John 1:29-34) . Baptism makes a person a member of Christ and a child of God. It is a radical sign of a new way of living one's life, a life that is sustained by the power of the Spirit that is Christ's.

Christian life begins with baptism, that ritual immersion in water "in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." In the early church, to be baptized was to be "in Christ," to be members of His Body, the Church, and thus share a common way of life. Baptism was understood as a pledge, vow, covenant, or contract early in the history of the Christian Church. The very term sacrament meant an oath in Roman culture. When children of Christian parents were baptized, whether as part of the households mentioned in the New Testament or as children born into families that had been Christian for generations, the parents and baptismal sponsors made this pledge.


The Creeds were first developed as baptismal statements, and the Apostles' Creed serves as the chief individual profession of faith. As in the early days of the Church, today the baptismal candidate (or their sponsors) recites the Creed in response to three questions. A series of five questions have been added to the Creed to form the Baptismal Covenant in our Book of Common Prayer. These questions are about living as a Christian in daily life.

The first question quotes Acts 2:24, which describes the life of the early church and asks whether the candidate will also follow that pattern. The remaining questions move from the n