Education for God's mission
Episcopal News Service. June 24, 2010 [062410-02]
George Woodward, Rector of St. Edmund's Episcopal Church in San Marino, California, and chair of the Program Group on World Mission for the Diocese of Los Angeles
Desmond Tutu once said "We are all missionaries or we are nothing," and in that spirit 75 lay and ordained Episcopalians gathered at Virginia Theological Seminary in early June to consider the nature of collaborative mission in the 21st century church.
The three-day event, titled "Educating All Ages for God's Mission: Living the New Life of Baptism," was co-sponsored by the Global Episcopal Mission Network and Episcopal Partnership for Global Mission -- complimentary mission-focused organizations emerging in the early 1990s in response to initiatives from General Convention and the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church.
New York Bishop Suffragan Catherine S. Roskam, in a keynote address, talked about the current challenges facing the Anglican Communion in light of the Episcopal Church's understanding of mission as mutual accompaniment and shared transformation in Christ.
Reflecting on the companion relationship between the Diocese of New York and the Diocese of Central Tanganyika, Roskam spoke of the transformation that has occurred for participants in both dioceses. For many from the New York diocese, the hospitality received during pilgrimage to Tanzania, the joy encountered in the lives of Tanzanian Anglicans with few material possessions, and the formation of cross-cultural relationships proves to be a life-altering experience, she explained.
Drawing on the work of Episcopal priest Eric Law in his book "The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb: A Spirituality for Leadership in a Multicultural Community," the bishop talked of the deceptively simple practice of mutual invitation in conversation and of the potential for change which comes through genuine human encounter. Roskam, a strong supporter of equality in all orders of ministry for women and gay people, shared that a much more nuanced perspective prevails among African Anglicans than is commonly understood, and that, in her experience, many Tanzanian bishops, clergy and lay people "respect that in our own context we're doing the best we can with the lights we have," she said.
In addition to learning from speakers, conference participants gathered for plenary sessions spanning a range of topics including church-based micro-enterprise development, homiletics in service to mission endeavor, the practical and cultural challenges involved in leading mission trips for youth, and poverty, development and the Millennium Development Goals.
Some in attendance expressed concern for how decisions taken by the Episcopal Church regarding human sexuality might affect companion relationships and development work in provinces unsettled by those decisions. The conference offered such clear signs of vitality and so many examples of collaboration from around the globe that participants left motivated and enthusiastic for deepened engagement. The active presence of former Young Adult Service Corps missioners who had served in Sudan and elsewhere was of particular encouragement, giving witness to rising young leadership in mission endeavor.
The conference ended with a wise and insightful look at the trends and possibilities of contemporary mutual mission by the Rev. Canon Titus Pressler. His most recent book "Going Global with God: Reconciling Mission in a World of Difference" will be available in October.
The next "Everyone Everywhere" mission conference is planned for Oct. 13-16, 2011, at Estes Park, Colorado.