66 Dioceses Represented at Mutual Responsibility Conference
Diocesan Press Service. May 5, 1967 [54-7]
CHICAGO, April 29 - Meeting at the invitation of Walker Taylor, Jr. executive officer of the Mutual Responsibility Commission, 112 persons representing 66 dioceses attended the national MRI Conference here at the Sheraton-O'Hare Motor Inn, April 27-29. Diocesan MRI leaders were invited to consider issues now before the church.
The conference opened with a keynote address by the Rt. Rev. Stephen F. Bayne, Jr., director of Executive Council's Overseas Department, who emphasized that MRI is not a program, but a vision. He reviewed the four points of mutual responsibility: self-examination and obedience to mission; learning to receive; testing by the test of mission, and developing new ways to communicate, looking at them in the light of what has happened since the Anglican Congress in 1963.
The Rev. Kenneth Cary of Pacific Palisades, Calif., and the Rev. Edgar Romig of Washington, D. C., presented brief and stimulating reactions to Bishop Bayne's address. Small groups played a major part in the conference and the first session followed these three talks.
The Rev. Samuel Van Culin of the Overseas Department talked on the Project Planning and Development Process, concluding with an explanation of the project proposal form used in all areas of the Anglican Communion.
The Rev. David Thornberry of Shaker Heights, Ohio and a member of the Mutual Responsibility Commission, presented the proposed structural changes which will be included in the Commission report to General Convention and participated in the discussion which followed. Mrs.. Harold Sorg of Berkeley, Calif., Commission vice chairman, spoke on the theology of mission and receiving. Asking what we Christians have that is unique, she traced the differing ideas of mission through the years and emphasized that we should be working with the world and not for the world. She ended with "Brother, here is my hand, give me yours!"
Participants in the conference were given many opportunities to share and to respond to the content of the sessions, both in their small groups and in the total gathering. This spirit produced an evening session Friday, which had not been planned, with two hours of group discussion. The Saturday session continued this openness with many comments by participants and leaders. The Rev. Al Persons from Houston, Texas briefly summarized the conference and it was followed by the Eucharist, ending the conference.
One participant in the conference said his level of understanding and desire to serve was "catapulted to a higher level. " Reference was made to "corporate involvement", a "renewal of the human spirit", "increased breadth and depth", "giving and receiving with joy", the "task is one of reconciliation not resolution."