Sermon at Diocesan Convention

"Churches exist for a purpose – to make disciples … In every church in every place, there is the same choice: Are we here for us or are we here to worship God and serve God’s world? Churches that grow have a strong sense of mission that far outweighs their pain, doubt and survival concerns. … Large or small, rich or poor, churches grow because they want to. … We struggle to step away from magical thinking … that there is an easy answer, a program, or somebody from somewhere else who will fix the situation … What is exasperating for us personally and organizationally is that we come to Jesus asking for magic and instead of magic he offers us maturity."

Download the text of Bishop Paul Marshall's diocesan convention sermon below.

Download 2006_convention_sermon.pdf

Listen to the sermon as delivered here.