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Five "Marks" of Mission debut in House of Bishops

The Five "Marks" of Mission
By: 
Episcopal News Service

“Five ‘Marks’ of Mission” serenaded the House of Bishops at the start of the July 12 morning session. Beckwith (Newark); Hollingsworth (Ohio); Lattime (Alaska) and Sisk (New York) were four of the Marks. Despite the spelling of his name, Marc Andrus of the Diocese of California rounded out the quintet.

Hollingsworth wrote the lyrics to be sung to the tune of Nyland, which some may be familiar with as Hymn 778 We all are one in mission in the church’s Wonder, Love and Praise hymnal.

The lyrics are:

We are five Marks of mission, though not all spelled the same;
The Good News of the Kingdom to all we proudly proclaim.
We teach, baptize, and nurture believers new and old,
By loving service responding to human needs untold.

Society’s unjust structures, we five seek to transform.
From New York to Alaska, we labor for the Lord.
In dioceses from coast to coast and ’cross the great Midwest,
We are Marks of God’s mission, seeking to do our best.

Integrity of creation, we’re striving to safeguard;
To sustain Earth’s life and renew it, we five are working hard.
We disagree on many things, but of this we are sure:
We are five Marks of mission, committed to the core.

If you feel that God’s mission is calling out to you,
Marked as Christ’s own forever, there’s plenty you can do.
We have five marks to guide our work, to keep our efforts true;
We are five Marks of mission, and surely you are one, too.

To hear the last two verses, watch this short (36-second) video, courtesy of the Diocese of San Diego: