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Director of Anglican and Global Relations Announces Retirement

Episcopal News Service. June 1, 2004 [060104-1]

Matthew Davies

The Rev. Canon Patrick Mauney, director of Anglican and Global Relations (AGR) for the Episcopal Church, announced his retirement June 1 after thirteen years overseeing its relations with other provinces of the Anglican Communion. His retirement will take effect March 31, 2005.

The search process is now underway for a new director of AGR, who will manage a 15-staff department encompassing overseas partnerships, world mission education and network development, the sending and receiving of missionaries, and the United Thank Offering. It is anticipated the new director will assume responsibilities on January 1, 2005.

An incredible gift

Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold spoke of Mauney's "wide and extensive experience of the Anglican Communion" as "an incredible gift to our church."

"The years that he and his wife, Mardi, spent as missionaries in Brazil prepared him for his ministry as director of Anglican and Global Relations," Griswold said. "In so many ways, Pat has helped us be in solidarity with brother and sister Anglicans as they deal with the burdens and opportunities of their local contexts. He has been a wonderful colleague and friend, and I will miss his wise and thoughtful advice and assistance as I seek to represent our church in other parts of the world."

Mauney, who also serves as a staff liaison to the International Concerns Committee of Executive Council and Standing Commission on World Mission, joined the staff at the Episcopal Church Center as Coordinator of Overseas Ministries in 1982. He has since served as Partnership Officer for Asia and the Pacific (1987-89); the Presiding Bishop's Deputy for Anglican Relations (1989-91); finally taking up his post as director of AGR in 1991.

Prior to moving to New York, Mauney was Rector of St. Andrew's Church (Paróquia de Santo André) in São Paulo, Brazil (1977-82), a trilingual (Portuguese, Japanese, English) parish of four congregations with a total of about 200 members.

Ecumenical engagement

Mauney takes great pride in his commitment to engaging global mission ecumenically in the United States. "Our partnerships with other churches have been a real priority for me and a priority for my staff, and I think it's something that is so easily forgotten about," he said. "It is important to remember that when we talk global mission we're talking about exactly the same things as the United Methodists, the Presbyterians, the Lutherans, the Greek Orthodox, African Methodists et cetera. We have got to be more together."

Directing self-governance

Ordained deacon and priest in 1972, Mauney has encountered many changes in mission throughout the Anglican Communion over the past 22 years and played an active role in directing many of the so-called "overseas dioceses" which have left the Episcopal Church and become self-governing provinces. "I have been intimately involved--certainly in the case of the Philippines, Central America and Mexico, and even in the larger Anglican Communion--in that move towards self-governance," he said. "One of the tasks I'll be turning over to my successor is how we can be of assistance in enabling a rethinking of some of the mission in certain parts of our overseas dioceses to make them healthier churches."

Missionaries--importance of companionship

During its report to the 2003 General Convention in Minneapolis, the Standing Commission on World Mission recommended commissioning many more missionaries, emphasizing the importance of companionship throughout the Anglican Communion.

Speaking of the ultimate goal as encouraging and supporting dioceses to become self-sufficient without losing the partnerships, Mauney said that it is particularly important "not so much for financial reasons but because we all live in an interdependent world of globalization." He added that "not having human beings as a part of that back and forth impoverishes us all, and that also means we need to have more people from abroad in this country and in this church."

Mauney expressed encouragement about the recent announcement of the Episcopal Church's new director for mission, the Very Rev. Jim Lemler, describing him as a "bundle of energy and articulation."

"I think he's going to be a wonderful voice for the Episcopal Church Center, for DFMS, and the larger church," Mauney said. "We need someone who helps us to integrate all of the mission aspects and not just global mission. Jim Lemler has a lot of credibility and visibility in the church, and so I think he'll be a wonderful addition."

Time for reengagement

Highlighting his hopes for the future in terms of world mission, Mauney emphasized that "this is no time for us to pull back from global engagement." He added that, particularly with the current strains in the Anglican Communion, "it's a time to be reengaged because it's in relationships that our mission is expressed and those are human relationships."

Mauney will continue to serve on several boards, in particular the American committee of Kiyosato Educational Experiment Project (KEEP) in Japan, which seeks to provide Christian witness through people-to-people outreach and education; the Church World Service; and the Historical Society. He is married to Mardi Lee Jacobsen with whom he has one son, and enjoys reading and gardening.

Those interested in applying for the position of director of Anglican and Global Relations for the Episcopal Church are welcome to read and respond to the job announcement found on the Human Resources and Job Postings page on the website of the Episcopal Church www.episcopalchurch.org/hr.htm or by calling the Human Resource Management department at 800 334-7626 x6083 to request a copy.

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