Allen Symposium Challenges Church
Episcopal News Service. May 30, 1986 [86094]
The Rev. H. Boone Porter, Editor of The Living Church
WASHINGTON (DPS, May 1) -- Episcopalians from Appalachian villages, from Mid-Western prairies, from East coast cities, from the shores of the Caribbean, from Brazil and from many points in between, met here in late April for the 1986 Roland Allen Symposium on the missionary work of the Church and how it may be revitalized and extended today.
Roland Allen (1868-1947) was a priest of the Church of England and a controversial missionary theologian who advocated the enhancement of lay leadership, greater emphasis on baptism and the Eucharist, the election of local people for the ordained ministry and the revival of self-supporting clergy. Above all, he urged greater reliance on the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
At the opening session on Sunday evening, the keynote address was delivered by Dr. Richard Shaull, who expressed his personal Joy that the Episcopal Church was taking Allen seriously. Shaull is a professor emeritus of Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, N.J., and has for the past half dozen years been academic director of the Instituto Pastoral Hispano, an Episcopal Hispanic training program based in New York. He emphasized Allen's principle that "the Holy Spirit equips each congregation with everything it needs to function fully," and testified to his observation of this when living with the so-called base communities during his repeated periods of residence in Latin America. At the same time, he called attention to the anguish of human need, so pervasive in Latin America, which the Church cannot ignore.
The second opening address was by the Most Rev. Edmond Browning, the Presiding Bishop, who affirmed the message of the conference.
On each of three mornings, there was a lecture in the series, "Learning to Trust the Holy Spirit," by the Rev. Jaci Maraschin, theologian of the Brazilian Episcopal Church. Freedom in the Spirit was explored from various angles. Maraschin touched on contemporary liberation theology at many points, often in a way surprising to his hearers. He provocatively raised the question of the liberation of theology itself from its academic and rationalizing preoccupations, so that it can become more directly expressive of the liberating act of God in the lives of Christian people. Similarly, he pointed out that worship is too often constraining, rather than liberating, for worshipers.
As to why Anglicans should concern themselves with liberation theology, he pointed out that our Church exists today in many parts of the world where oppression and repression are problems that cannot be ignored. In a unique sense, he said, the poor can share the joy of the Gospel with the rich. Maraschin concluded with a rousing call to join in the mission of the church, "which is God's mission, beginning with Jesus Christ and extending on to the salvation of the whole world."
Maraschin's lectures were followed each day by reflection groups. Each afternoon there was a brief, provocative talk, the presenters being the Rt. Rev. Wesley Frensdorff, assistant bishop of Arizona and bishop of Navajoland, the Rev. Michael Maloney, director of the urban program of APSO and the Rev. Sandra A. Wilson, rector-elect of St. Augustine's Church, Asbury Park, N.J. Organized by Dr. Fredrica Thompsett of the Episcopal Divinity School, they challenged participants to think of ways to revitalize their mission and ministry.
After three afternoons of meeting in diocesan groupings, participants came up with a number of ideas for implementing Allen principles at home. Some felt a period of education was needed -- both in relation to diocesan leadership and parishioners. Others felt any new congregations born in the diocese should be founded on Allen principles, with leadership raised up from among the people, while a strategy should be developed for implementing such principles in existing congregations.
One group said it would be within Allen's principles to structure financial aid to missions in such a way that the aided congregations have control of the money.
Where congregations are already functioning according to these principles, there was a concern that there be a method for teaching newcomers about the unique nature of the congregation and its leadership. Some delegations wanted to return home and work on developing education for ministry.
All participants seemed to have new ideas for accomplishing ministry within their home congregations and mission in the world.
The conference evenings were devoted to "story tellers" -- individuals who could give first hand accounts of church life and growth at the ground level. First, the Rt. Rev. Adrian D. Caceres, bishop of Ecuador since 1971, described how he invites a community to found a church and how he then asks the people to choose their candidate for ordination to the priesthood. The first such candidate, selected in 1975, has since founded 13 new congregations. Others are also proving highly effective.
The second was John Coleman, black lay Episcopal evangelist from Richmond, Va., and the founder and director of the Peter/Paul Development Center. He described in vivid terms his colorful ministry to rich and poor, which has taken him to every Episcopal Church in Richmond and to many in other parts of the diocese. "The only thing we can give people is ourselves," he said, and, "If you are going to be a minister in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, you've got to give up control."
The third storyteller was Lynda Johnson, who described growing up in an Appalachian coal mining community and later returning to engage in community work in an area marked by widespread illiteracy, high mortality, unemployment and substandard housing. She is director of program at Grace House Learning/Training Center, an outreach of the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia, working closely with APSO.
The conference was the result of two years of planning by a committee of which the Ven. Enrique Brown, an archdeacon in the Diocese of New York, was chairman, with Claudette R. Lewis of New Haven, Conn., as coordinator. Twenty four dioceses had delegations, and additional individuals were from seminaries, publications, the Episcopal Church Center and other agencies. Funding was provided by the Episcopal Church Center and parishes and foundations. Conference leaders expressed the hope that another such conference can be held in another part of the world in the next two or three years.