Mission can be defined as a person's vocation or calling. When they recieve their vocation they spread the christian gospel throughout the world. This co-insides with the instruction of Jesus to spread the good news;.
".You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea.
and Sameria, and to the ends of the earth.".
Mission was very important in the early days of the church in fulfilling Jesus' final command. The key people involved in the spreading of the gospel in the early church include; Peter, Paul, Stephen, Philip, Patrick, Columbanus and Colmcille. Each had their own contribution to the concept of mission.
Key People.
Peter was the leader of the early church. He was the first, after Jesus, to preach Christianity to the Jews. This is quite similar to Palladius, who was sent as the first bishop to Ireland. Peter's first role in mission was his speech at Pentecost. This speech was delivered to thousands of people from all over the Roman empire. The fact that each person could hear the speech in their own language gave way to the universality and the spread of the Christian message. This was the birth of the Christian Church. Peter's preaching was supported by signs and miracles which he attributed to Jesus. He faced opposition but defended his right to mission. Peter pronounced effective curses in order to eradicate any opposition to the gospel, he was willing to suffer persecution for spreading the gospel. We know also through hagiographies that Patrick, Columcille and Columbanus all had these similar gifts; they used miracles to consolidate their message, faced oppositon but overcome it and were willing to suffer persecution for the spreading of the gospel. For example, Patrick in his Confessio spoke about "tweleve dangers" in which his life was "imperraled". .
Stephen and Philip were also important to the mission of the church; both became evangelists and both played imperitive roles.