Anglicans Focus on Urban Ministry
Episcopal News Service. October 1, 1981 [81252]
NEW YORK -- Anglicans from places as diverse as Trinidad and Edmonton, Canada were plunged into a "New York Experience" for a week and emerged pensive, puzzled and uneasy but intrigued with new concepts of urban ministry.
The occasion was the eleventh meeting of the Anglican Council of North America and the Caribbean; an annual gathering bringing together members of the Episcopal Church, the Church of the Province of the West Indies and the Anglican Church of Canada. This year's meeting, held from Sept. 23 to 29, was based at the Seamen's Church Institute here, and focused on the theme: "The City in the Bible and the City in Reality."
Presentations on the city itself, urban sociology, biblical and theological basis and the Episcopal Church's ministry in New York provided a framework into which the participants fit more than two days of personal experiences garnered all around the city.
Following a familiarization tour, groups of six to eight concentrated their attention on work at: a church-sponsored teaching hospital; the Seamen's Church Institute; the cathedral and three parishes -- in Harlem, Brooklyn and on Manhattan's upper east side.
After each tour, the groups would reassemble at the Institute to discuss their findings. At the end, they met in provincial groups to assess how best to translate their experience to their own settings.
As might be expected, New York itself came in for some heavy criticism. Only two non-New Yorkers responded affirmatively when asked if they wanted to live here.
Dean J.R. Brown of Edmonton Canada, said he was appalled to hear a priest tell them to "write off" the school system. "I'm just not sold on this 'I Love New York' motif. I have school-aged children and I could not live in such a setting."
While many others echoed those personal reflections, the Council members also saw the opportunities for ministry available in this city, and, potentially, their own.
The Rev. John Wright of Montreal spoke of New York as "a perfect example of an interface between the West and the Third World and valuable for that alone. We can see the reaction and relations between the cultures on very human levels and we need to explore that further."
Bishop Clive Abdulah of Trinidad and Tobago agreed with Wright, claiming that "the value of these meetings is the experience of seeing the Church in action, of seeing the passion of the people doing the work. Sometimes we opt for too much compassion and not enough passion."
Bishop Drexel Gomez of Barbados conceded that "the scale of the city is disturbing. But in terms of the technology and the problems that I can see encroaching on Barbados, that I can take home with me in a new perspective."
That general attitude was matched in comments on specific programs. Canon Thomas Dyson, who serves on a board for mariners' ministries in Bermuda, had high praise for the work of the host Institute. "The chaplains with whom I've spoken go about their work with enthusiasm and zeal that I hope I can convey back home. The Institute itself works with a real grasp of larger issues -- such as seamen's rights -- that I found profoundly inspiring."
Diane Maybee pointed to the work of the chaplains at St. Luke's hospital noting that they made concerted efforts to reach and minister with all the patients and staff.
In a Eucharist and later in a presentation to the Council, New York's Bishop Paul Moore, Jr. sought to limn the "whole vision of the city. Our setting in Eucharist and our setting in the city reflect and parallel each other. The City of God is not a separate thing, it is woven right through the fabric of the city of man. Here, the midtown area is booming while the fringes get worse and worse off. There is no transfer."
In a final plenary session on urban issues, the Council reaffirmed the priority for urban mission that New York and other places had raised and praised the work of the Episcopal Urban Caucus. It was also agreed that the churches need to explore educational programs that would give potential emigrants from the West Indies a true picture of what to expect in North America.
Once again, the Council challenged Canada to look at elements of racism in that society. This appeal -- which has come out of other Council meetings -- took on a certain urgency this time with the memory of the summer British riots still fresh. Canada, in addition to her Indian and French minorities, has recently received a number of black immigrants from the West Indies.
The Council meetings are an occasion for vigorous exchange and sharp challenge and are viewed as more educational than programmatic. Unlike some regional Anglican institutions, the Council has no programmatic authority, a situation that may account for the one area of grumbling heard during informal sessions.
West Indian -- and to a lesser degree Canadian -- delegates point out that their Churches send bishops, provincial executives and others in positions of decision-making while the Episcopal Church delegation consists largely of people with parochial and diocesan responsibilities. The Episcopal Church also supports the Council through funds from the General Church Program amounting to $14,000 this years.
In opening remarks Presiding Bishop John Allin noted this participation problem and promised the Council that he would take it under consideration in future appointments. The Rev. Jack Potter, outgoing chairman of the Council, suggested that the Churches took somewhat different approaches to leadership with the Episcopal Church seeking a broader base while the others relied on a more hierarchical structure.