Partners in Mission' Consultation Held in West Indies
Diocesan Press Service. March 31, 1975 [75117]
NASSAU, Bahamas -- A new sense of their identity as a province and a new way of choosing mission priorities came out of a recent "Partners in Mission" consultation held in the Anglican Church of the West Indies.
Bishops and representatives of the eight dioceses in the province met with representatives of four "giving" churches in a four-day meeting Feb. 5-9 in Nassau, Bahamas.
Dioceses making up the Province of the West Indies are Antigua, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Nassau & the Bahamas, Trinidad & Tobago, and Windward Islands. The four partner churches are the Episcopal Church (PECUSA), the Anglican Church of Canada, the Church of England, and the Anglican Church in Wales.
"Partners in Mission " is a follow-up to the Mutual Responsibility and Interdependence (MRI) program initiated by the Anglican Congress in Toronto in 1963. Part of the work of the Anglican Consultative Council, the mission thrust is under the guidance of the Anglican Council of North America and the Caribbean (ACNAC).
The Nassau consultation followed the general pattern of several others which have been held within the last year in Africa, South Korea, and Canada. The Rev. David Chaplin, from the staff of the Executive Officer of the Anglican Communion, was again the chairman of the consultation.
Province Decides Priorities
"Partners in Mission" seems to be accomplishing three important things: 1) Those receiving grants are brought into a face-to-face relationship with those who are giving; 2) Churches in the mission field are setting the priorities for funding instead of the giving agency; 3) The dioceses of the province are themselves learning for the first time about each other's needs, and 4) Each diocese is seeing what resources it can share with the other dioceses.
At the Nassau consultation, for instance, the eight bishops and their representatives shared for the first time with their partners some mutual frustrations and irritations with mission funding. In the past, literally hundreds of grants have been made throughout the Province of the West Indies for both large and small programs.
The Canadian Church, the Episcopal Church and the Church in Wales assured the bishops of continuing support, but spoke of a new attempt to coordinate programs to avoid duplication. The Church of England is now in the process of sorting out the dozens of projects funded in the past by the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG) in England. Much of this work has been independent of the diocesan bishops. Together the partners were able to look at such programs as a provincial youth worker who has been working in Guyana (formerly British Guiana on the coast of South America). Is such a program viable in a province with six island dioceses, some of the 2,000 miles apart?
A Typical Province?
The West Indies may be a typical province of the Anglican Communion, but it hardly seems likely. Each diocese seems to have a different situation. Antigua is recovering from an earthquake, Belize is small and struggling along with the nation, Barbados is being disestablished, Guyana's churches are scattered over hundreds of square miles, Jamaica is large and well organized, seeking fiscal guidance, Nassau also has many resources and is strong, Trinidad and Tobago are improved with the finding of oil there, the Winward Islands diocese is sprawling and in new nations which are barely surviving.
Provincial representatives came to the consultation directly from their triennial Synod and began the four-day exercise. The general design of the meetings has been:
1. The Province and the giving partners meet separately to discuss the general situation of missionary work in the area.
2. Each diocese gives a presentation, telling its resources, problems and needs. A general description of the social, political and economic situation is also included. The giving churches also make statements about their situation. This took one 7.5 hour day to complete at the Nassau meeting, and was a revelation to both the provincial bishops and the delegates from the four partner churches.
3. Areas of concern are by now identified and the entire consultation breaks up into small groups. Each group contains both provincial people and partners and they discuss the things that have surfaced such as theological education, provincial structure, schools, social problems, pensions, manpower and youth work. A plenary session hears reports from each group.
4. Provincial representatives and partners then meet separately, in this case the CPWI to try and set provincial priorities and the partners to discuss what has happened to this point.
5. Another plenary session tries to identify the provincial priorities which can be funded.
6. Diocesan needs (as contrasted with provincial) are then determined in order of priority.
7. A final statement is drafted which will express what the consultation has discovered and what the results will be.
Is the Province Viable?
One of the first questions dealt with by the provincial representatives was whether the Province of the West Indies is a viable entity. The archbishop, the Most Rev. Alan J. Knight, is also the bishop of Guyana, separated by thousands of miles from the dioceses and there is no real provincial structure. Belize (formerly British Honduras) is a part of Central America. The Winward Islands are a group of scattered islands with 16 parishes. Due to the distances, it is very difficult to have meetings. Provincial Synod brings the dioceses together every three years while the House of Bishops meets annually.
Provincial representatives decided that CPWI is a viable province but that more than the present secretary is needed for a decision making process to be effective and for proper communication throughout the province. One of the important results of the consultation was the decision to use the Standing Committee of the province, for the present, as a body to decide on mission priorities and in the meantime set up permanent structure for administering the province.
A provincial revolving loan fund also came high on the list of priorities, to assist dioceses with capital needs. Funding churches have in the past been more willing to give money for programs than for buildings.
Diocesan Needs Vary
Reflecting very much the conditions of the countries where they are located, the dioceses presented urgent need for money, manpower and every kind of resource. It was estimated that the total asked was at least one million dollars. Since this figure has also surfaced in the other consultations, Chairman David Chaplin was moved to remark that one million dollars seems to be the "standard Anglican asking. " Only a small part of that amount is available from the giving churches, dictating a realistic setting of priorities.
As the consultation came to the final stages, the provincial representatives still could not determine diocesan priorities, except for a program of training catechists in the Amerindian area of Guyana and the needs of Belize. Partially because of fatigue (the provincial people had been in session by this time for a full week), and also because the process was completely new, the most urgent needs were not agreed upon. This was left for later meetings in the province.
Partner Churches Speak
That a new day is dawning in missionary giving was obvious from the comments made by representatives of the giving churches.
The Rev. Thomas Anthony of the Canadian Church noted that since 1970, giving there has been on a plateau. While the Anglican Church in Canada has every intention of continuing its missionary work in spite of other needs, he reminded the consultation that we are in uncertain economic times. He also pointed out that the Canadian Church now views mission as a two-way street and expects closer personal relationships with CPWI.
The Church of England is also changing its role, according to the Rev. George Braud of USPG, its representative. It will work through dioceses and try to reorganize the work of the USPG to make it more efficient.
The Rt. Rev. Edmond L. Browning spoke for the Episcopal Church, declaring there is great need for "strategic and equitable funding" which hopefully will result from the Partners In Mission concept. Further manpower may be available, he said, since the Episcopal Church has worked out a way to pay pensions while clergy are working in the West Indies. A resetting of priorities may take place in the Episcopal Church, he said, as a result of the consultation. Bishop Browning commented on the difficulty in knowing just how much is being done, due to the often successful companion diocese arrangement in the American church.
It was a surprise to some to learn that the Church in Wales has for many years been involved in mission work in the West Indies. Their interest will continue, according to their spokesman and they will work within the structure which emerges from the consultation.
Insoluble Problems
While the whole cloud of inflation-recession hung heavily over the consultation, this was only a general problem among many specific ones. Some idea of what is confronting the Province of the West Indies can be seen as one considers some of these conditions, not necessarily in order of importance.
POLITICAL - Some of the nations are nearly bankrupt, inevitably affecting the church there. Public-church school agreements are adversely affected as teachers in church schools are not paid, etc.
ENERGY - Travel is becoming extremely difficult. Cost of gasoline in Guyana is so prohibitive, the bishop cannot travel by boat. An airplane trip costs $140 each time he visits the area. The bishop of the Windward Islands has a similar situation; travel to meetings in the province is extremely costly.
PENSIONS - Some of the dioceses have had no pension plan, most of them are inadequate. There is great need for capital assets to have decent pension income.
SCHOOLS - The CPWI is very much in the school business, either by themselves or in conjunction with the public school system. The bishop of the Windward Islands needs "$450,000 right now for three secondary schools." Impossible of course, but this reflects the church's involvement in education.
YOUTH - In some countries 50 percent of the population are young people. There are no funds for youth leaders or facilities to house youth programs.
ECUMENISM - A Caribbean Council of Churches has recently been started with mixed cooperation from the Anglican dioceses. Although there appear many areas where ecumenical effort could save duplication, very little seems to be done.
RESOURCES - Some dioceses have land which could be developed. They ask for advisors, consultants from North America to help them find the land and then decide whether income could be derived.
CLERGY - The whole question of local and expatriate clergy is still up in the air. Young native priests often leave after only a short time, having become used to the "better life " found in the seminary. Fewer clergy are coming in from outside, perhaps feeling unwelcome, perhaps declining the way of life. Most bishops claim expatriate clergy are needed and welcome.
COMPANION DIOCESES - While this has been a good program, it has brought many inequities. One diocese may be fortunate and receive thousands of dollars from a wealthy diocese or parish; others equally in need receive nothing. Companion dioceses and parishes have sometimes funded and carried out programs without consulting the diocesan bishop, occasionally to the detriment of the diocese.
THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION - The whole question of whether to continue the Codrington Theological College in Barbados as a provincial institution is very much a financial problem and a problem in training men for the priesthood.
SOCIAL CONCERN - There is a feeling that the church has not done much in the, way of changing social conditions. One contributing factor may be the close relationship which the Anglican Church has had with government.
Future Will Determine Value
Because so much ground was covered in the four-day consultation, it was difficult for the members to evaluate just what had been accomplished. In the realm of personal relationships, it was the first time the "Partners In Mission" had ever gotten together and much good must come from this. As Archbishop Knight said at the conclusion of the sessions, " Things will never be quite the same here again. "
A beginning has been made. This seemed to be the consensus of the nearly 30 people involved in the consultation. Some priorities for mission have been determined and a process has begun which will identify others. Until the provincial structure is instituted, the partners will be in communication through the Rev. Alfred Rollins of the Episcopal Church, representing the four churches, and the Provincial Secretariat who will represent the Church in the Province of the West Indies.
( NOTE: This article is too long for most diocesan publications to use in its entirety. You may want to re-write it in a condensed form, or file it for future reference. "Partners in Mission" will be an area of increasing concern and news.)