Mission Consultation Offers Outsider's View of Episcopal Church
Episcopal News Service. February 24, 1993 [93029]
They came from churches around the world -- some members of the Anglican family but others representing ecumenical partners -- to share their observations of the most pressing issues facing the Episcopal Church and offer suggestions on how to respond.
When they gathered February 4 for the second Partners in Mission Consultation (PIM) at a retreat center in suburban Chicago, 20 participants from 13 churches had visited 19 dioceses of the Episcopal Church during the previous week and listened to the heartbeat of the church's mission on the local level. They had been invited to help the church at a "crucial point as we move deeper into our planning for the future," according to Barry Menuez, senior executive for planning.
Their report to the church's Executive Council was often humorous, always respectful and loving, and occasionally barbed with critical insights. During their diocesan visits they quickly discovered, for example, the ambivalent attitudes towards the national church structures, "ranging from indifference to hostility." They heard some confusion on issues of Episcopal and Anglican identity and how much influence a small church could have on its society.
They noticed that, 15 years after approving the ordination of women to the priesthood, women still were still fighting for a leadership role in many dioceses. And that lay people, especially youth, were seldom used effectively for the church's ministry in the world. They also detected a deep hunger for spiritual nourishment.
During an open discussion of strengths and weaknesses, the "external" partners from other churches expressed admiration for the Episcopal Church's openness to criticism, for its energy, its creativity, its willingness to take risks, its spirituality and its courageous concern for others.
Yet they deplored the parochialism which encourages strong local parishes to think that they are the whole church, and they were disturbed by continuing evidence of clericalism, racism and sexism despite the best efforts to be an inclusive church. "There are still outcasts in your church, people who do not feel they belong," one partner observed.
"Part of our perception is that you are an issue-driven church," said Philip Mawer, secretary general of the General Synod of the Church of England. He and others expressed a fear that, in an effort to address a staggering array of issues, the Episcopal Church would lose sight of its holistic vision. "The focus of the Christian life is not issues but the Spirit that helps us see our total mission," added another participant.
At one point the partners were filling newsprint pages with areas where the church must seek transformation -- and God dozed off. In this case God was played by Dr. Charles Spivey, Jr., of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
At several points during the presentation God brought the conversation to a halt and expressed his impatience. "After 2000 years what do you mean you still don't understand what I want you to do?" he bellowed. "Get out of your churches and its shelter if you want to find the Holy Spirit," he chided. "You are too self-serving, you just want to feel good. What about my broken, bleeding world?"
While expressing hesitancy to provide answers, in its final report to the Executive Council the consultation expressed surprising agreement on a list of six key issue areas:
- relationships with ecumenical and interfaith communities
- lay ministry, clericalism and youth/education ministries
- social action, prophetic mission and pastoral care
- examination of the structures of the church at all levels
- exploration of our identity as Episcopalians and Anglicans
- cultural diversity and inclusivity
At the closing banquet, the Rev. Abigail Hamilton, a council member from the Diocese of Newark, read an impressionistic report from the drafting committee, offering a "new image -- one that describes the church we have experienced together. It is an image that is honest, sturdy, useful and beautiful: our mother's braided rug."
Suggesting that the strands of the rug come in all colors and textures, and represent "the lives and experiences of all of us," Hamilton said that "some are strong and durable" while others are "flexible and elastic." Yet they are woven by God into a "thing of beauty whose design is its identity, whose beauty is unique. The strands may not always see their parts, or even the whole, but each can rejoice in being born again into new life."
As a thing of beauty and purpose, "it covers a multitude of sins with creative grace in action....And sometimes it is there simply to be rolled up so that we can dance."
At the closing Eucharist, Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning said that the partners had "affirmed us in a magnificent way -- but also challenged us to change in the ways we relate to one another and our structures."
The presiding bishop said one of the strongest messages from the consultation was the need "to change or die." He quoted Winston Churchill who once said that one must "take change by the hand before it takes you by the throat." Echoing concerns of the participants, Browning emphasized how important it is to share "this life-giving experience" with the rest of the church.
Members of Executive Council who participated in the PIM Consultation brought to the full meeting a pronounced enthusiasm tinged with a fear that the message would be lost. "If we aren't serious, this could be smothered to death," said George Lockwood, council member from Hawaii, emphasizing the potential of the consultation findings for future planning in the church. "We are committed to be open for transformation," he said, expressing gratefulness to the partners and the "freshness that only outsiders can bring."
The council established an action committee of up to a dozen members "to facilitate and monitor the implementation of PIM II recommendations, addressing their implications for all levels and areas of our church's life." The committee will report to future meetings of the Executive Council and to the external partners. As a first step, a group of youth and young adults will be invited to the June meeting of the council to share their reactions to the documents from the PIM Consultation.
Following a 1963 Anglican Congress in Toronto, the Anglican Communion endorsed a program calling on every church to embrace a renewal based on the three central truths at the heart of the Christian faith -- mission, unity and interdependence. The Episcopal Church General Convention in 1964 formed a Mutual Responsibility Commission to shape its response.
A major response was the first Partners in Mission Consultation in 1977 which "helped the American church come of age" by adopting a commitment to autonomy for overseas dependent partners and "forge a better process and policy" in developing covenant agreements, according to Barry Menuez, senior executive for planning and development.
Bishop Rustin Kimsey of Eastern Oregon, who chaired the planning committee for the 1977 PIM and now chairs the council's long-range planning committee, reflected on both meetings. He found the "affirmation of our vitality" very helpful because "it is not always easy to stop and celebrate our abundant grace."
When asked about tangible results, Kimsey said that the 1977 PIM gave a boost to multi-cultural ministries in Province 8, comprised mostly of the dioceses on the West Coast, and helped build some identity as Anglicans. He sees both PIM meetings as important "listening posts" to help the church evaluate where it is in understanding its mission. "This PIM is a very significant part of our whole discernment process as we move to the 1994 General Convention in Indianapolis," he said.
While worrying about how to integrate the observations of the partners into the planning process, Executive Council members expressed deep gratitude for their participation and were convinced it would have a lasting impact on the Episcopal Church. "This consultation affirms the direction we are going, reminding us that we still have a long way to go -- but it is a long time since we left the station," Bishop Charles McNutt said in the closing session.
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