I'm adding this blog as I had it on my Ethics Blog site and not everyone may have read it. Thank you, Meredith, I read your comment. It is appreciated.
April 09, 2003
Mission Blog
Let's see if this works the way it should. I'd like to comment on how pleased I was with the discussion on the Anglican community in India. For the past two years, my church has been sponsoring a priest and his family from South India. He is currently finishing his Ph.D. studies at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colo. We enjoyed a lengthy brunch one sunday after church and the conversation was stimulating. What I found of great interest is that many Christians of India also maintain their cultural religious tradition along with Christianity. It is not uncommon to find Hindu shrines in the homes of many Indian Christians. I believe that he told me it helps maintain their cultural identity.
Meredith, do you have any further knowledge on this? Perhaps, other classmates might add their viewpoint. If we Christianize a nonChristian culture, what happens to their identity and may they effectively keep a religious heitage along with Christian theology?
Posted by E.J. Rivet at April 09, 2003 08:24 PM
The presentation by Robert and Abraham was very informative. The history of mission in Africa is mingled with the colonization, slave trade, exploitation and strife. We need to see the mission in new perspectives, free from colonial overtones.
This was a powerful presentation from Robert and Abraham. They are both extremely knowledgeable about the history of their counties.
It is fascinating how natural resources (gold, ivory, even slaves), geography (climate, harbors, barriers), and 'foreign' politics shape the culture and religions of a country.
It was partiuclarly interesting to hear the story of Philip Quaque who became neither Anglican in the English education sense nor a native once he went back to his country. It almost seems like reverse racism that once he was educated and had an English (white) wife, he was no longer one of his own people.
Posted by Gwynne Wright at April 25, 2003 04:50 PM
Anglican Mission - Purpose of Mission
The stories from Latin America, Asia and Africa are all fascinating and thought provoking. One particular thought for me is what appears to be a disconnect between the Great Commission to make disciples, baptize and teach in the name of the Trinity and to teach as Jesus has commanded. Yet it seems to me that several of the missionary stories that we have heard seem to have a different objective that to teach as Jesus commanded. They seem focused on the colonization, the trade routes, and the almost seeming power over the indigenous peoples.
We listened this week to the stories of the conflict between the British and Portuguese in Ghana. How is this claimed in the name of God rather than a principality? How can one church be destroyed by another set of missionaries because it is a different denomination?
We have seen in many cases that the clergy went on the ships of the traders and actually went first as chaplains to the alien traders. The conversion of the indigenous people seemed almost secondary.
In many cases local customs were wiped out in the name of Christianity. Even in the case of Fr. Araica, his assignment in Chicago seemed a result of political strife among the bishops.
I am struck that the question we might ask is actually the title of Roland Allen's book: "Missionary Method -- St. Paul's or Ours?"
Posted by Gwynne Wright at April 25, 2003 04:45 PM
As Group A, on May 1st we shall be presenting on the Mission of the Episcopal Church to Native Americans. Two of us will present the history of the Mission and two of us will concentrate on the current mission to Native Americans. Focusing on the current mission, as an example I shall be focusing on the a Mission to a particular group of Native Americans.
The presentations by Abraham, Robert, and Samuel were informative and full of historical information. There was little in blaming of the missionaries for any type of abuse or exploitation of the native people. I would have loved more time to talk about the present time and to ask additional questions. The concern of course in Sudan deals with the violence, fear, and hatred between the Christians and the Muslims. The situation in Robert and Samuel's land is not that serious now, but looking towards the future may be a more serious problem for the Christian population. I so often ask myself if I would have the courage to stand up as a Christian in a country where persecution is the situation. I admire the strength and the courage of those people who face this chanllenge each day of their lives.
The following obituary appeared in the April 13, 2003 edition of the Chicago Tribune:
Jennie K. Fitzwilliam, 99
Missionary was prisoner during WWII
by Joan Giangrasse Kates, Special to the Tribune
As a missionary serving in southwest China in the 1920s, '30s and '40s, Jennie K. Fitzwilliam helped bring the Bible to remote tribes near the Burmese border. During that time, her family said, she lost her husband to disease and was held with their son in a Japanese concentration camp in northern China for nearly two years. "She led a fascinating life, filled with great joy, sorrow, and many self-sacrifices," said her son, Jack, a former missionary. "It was her deep devotion and faith, and belief that the celebration in heaven is much more wondrous than any here on Earth, which helped her through the challenges she faced." Mrs. Fitzwilliam, 99, a resident of Windsor Park Manor in Carol Stream, died Monday, April 7, at Windsor Park. She was born and raised in Newberry, Mass, and graduated from Concord High School. In her teens, she dedicated herself to a life of religious service. She enrolled in Moody Bible Institute in Chicago in the early 1920s, where she met her husband, Francis "Fitz" Fitzwilliam. He was studying at Moody to become a misisonary in China. In 1926, Mrs. Fitzwilliam moved to Chica as a missionary, serving with China Inland Mission. She married in Shanghai in 1927. She and her husband were assigned to work among the Lisu tribe, behind the mountain ranges of southwest China near the border of Burma. During that time, their only child, Jack, was born. "When I was about 6 months old, we traveled by foot and horseback to an isolated villaged inhabited by the Lisu tribespeople," her son said. There, among the Lisu, Mrs. Fitzwilliam and her husband made their home for more than a decade, teaching the tribe in short-term Bible schools. In 1940, while teaching in a Lisu Bible school, her husband came down with typhus fever and died days later at age 37. Mrs. Fitzwilliam left to live with her son, who was attending China Inland Mission's boarding school in northern China. While she was there, World War II broke out. Soon after, Japanese soldiers entered the school compound and turned it into an internment camp, with guards posted at the gates. In 1943, the U. S. government arranged for the release of Mrs. Fitzwilliam, her son and the rest of the Americans. Mrs. Fitzwilliam moved to Wheaton with her son, where they settled with friends. She worked for several years in the accounting department at Wheaton College before moving to Pennsylvania to be a counselor at the Philadelphia Bible Institute. After five years, she returned to Wheaton College and worked there until she retired at age 65. She worked part time until she turned 85 for Medical Assistance Programs. Other survivors include four grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; and four great-great-grandchildren. Visitation will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday in Hultgren Funeral Home, 304 N. Main St., Wheaton. Services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday in College Church, Washington and Seminary Streets, Wheaton.
My first "emotional contact" with the mission field in Central or South America came from my seeing the movie, The Mission. I came to love the music, photography, and the theological conflicts as demonstratd in this movie so much that I included it into my curriculum for the course in Morals and Ethics at Breck School where I served as the Middle School Chaplain. Some of the topics which I had the students address included: violence and non-violence, transformation of the characters in the movie as influenced by their religious beliefs, and the concept of the mission field for the spreading of the Christian faith. It was so important to have Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, and Native American students in the course. Their persepectives of course were important and provided rich discussions as we reviewed the movie. The role of the Jesuits in that movie gave such a different approach compared to the role of the colonial people from Spain and Portugal. The cruel treatment of the native population was a lesson in how to not every treat any human being. The taking of resources and land was certainly more important to the expansion to these countries.....not the spread of the Christian faith or salvation. The Rev. Alvaro Araica also made us aware of the difficulties in the last fifty years in these countries. It is clear that there is no real easy answer to mission work. It is also so true that the "sins" of humanity will continue to repeat themselves in vices of greed and the misuse of power. As Alvaro spoke of the difficulties of his friends who had worked for the revolution and the outcome of abuses in his home land, it is clear that the temptation to leaving the ideals of a movement will be the problems of today and future days ahead.
Note to the class: I have a established a new category entitled "Class Notes" to store my memos on goals, class groups, and most recently, the suggestions for topics. I thought it would facilitate your finding these references as time goes on. Normally, I will probably be the only one to post to that category, unless you have an inquiry, comment, or question about a class assignment.
Group A has submitted a long and complicated proposal to the weblog. I will be communicating to the group separately as I fear the proposal as articulated is vastly beyond the scope of the assignment. Another Group has registered interest in pursuing the history and work SPG and SPCK with some attention to Thomas Bray. That is most acceptable and I hope will be a very informative presentation. Here are some additional suggestions:
1. THe work of SAMS (Mission of the Episcopal Church to Mexico and S. America)
2. The work of one our more of our current missionaries abroad., e.g., Todd McGregor is in Madagascar and Michael Long is in Latin America - both are Seabury alums. A young man, Ernest Buchanan has just begun work as a missionary in Mexico under the auspices of the Diocese of Ft. Worth in partnership with the Diocese of Northeastern Mexico. Our own recent graduate, Mary Ann Garrett has just begun a church plant in Mexico.
3. The history and current status of Anglican missionary activity in a specific country, such as: Korea, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, the Sudan, Ghana.
4. A comparison of missionary activity (pick a century) between England and US - was there cooperation, competition, ignoring of each other, etc?
That should provide some additional ideas.
Project proposal:
Northern Christianity as a mission field from a Southern Christianity perspective will be examined in this paper. We are taking a three-pronged approach to this perspective. We will examine, in humility and from as close to an original view as possible, a view of the North from three major geographical areas of Southern Christianity. The first area will be Southern Americas from Mexico to Terra del Feugo. The second area will be Africa. The final area we hope to present views from will be India.
The geographical divisions presented here are arbitrary and certainly reflect the cultural bias and context of the students involved. Also, this paper is not adequate to fully explore the views of the rest of the Southern Christian world and is remiss in taking into account other important areas such as China and Southeast Asia, Korea, Japan and Australia. This paper also will deal with discreet overviews of the areas that are covered, recognizing that Southern Americas, Africa, and even India hold remarkably diverse and rich cultures and expressions of Christianity.
The view of mission work within the Western European/North American(WENA) church has been traditionally coupled with colonialism and power. The Southern Christianity still faces a North that is historically colonial and certainly in a position of world power in nearly every measure. This asymmetry of power inherently places Southern Christian mission work in the north on a totally different historical footing than previous and current WENA mission work in the South.
We will examine also, how each of these three Southern Christian churches view both North America and Western Europe.
I. Southern Americas
a. Europe
b. North America
II. Africa
a. Europe
b. North America
III. India
a. Europe
b. North America
It is our hope that the views presented here are as genuine as possible, knowing full well that we bring our own cultural contexts to the table. It is also hoped that we are able to accept the views presented by the Southern Christian Church as being as fed and propelled by the Holy Spirit as any movement of the Church in history. We hope to learn from our Southern sisters and brothers how better to serve Christ?s mission, both far and near.
Note to group:
I suggest that we meet soon to develop a research plan and set goals for completion of the project. I thank God that we are involved in this particular project and look, in prayer and humility, for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Dear friends in Christ,
Here is a list of proposed research/topics that we might be able to use to develop this project. Please offer direction and shape to the research and to the very character of the project. These are just off the top of my head ideas. There appears to be a dirth of information on the internet about our topic. I have also dropped Philip Jenkins a short email asking for his input on the project.
Potential Topics of research
Church statistics for North America and Europe as a function of population
Church statistics for South America and India and Africa as a function of population
Any literature of Southern Christian origin that focuses on WENA mission
Current state of Southern Christian missions in the North.
Projected mission goals of Southern Christianity in the North.
Comparison of theology of Southern Christianity with that of the North
Influence and effect of Islam on development and spread of Southern Christianity
Statistics of Southern Christianity missions in WENA
David Bosch&s book is an exhaustive reading in Mission. Last week's reading covered Jesus' Mission, Mission of the early Church, Medieval Church and the Modern Church. Through out the history of the church there has been a paradigmatic change in the mission of the Church. Hans Kung identifies six distinctive theological paradigms, Apocalyptic, Hellenistic, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Enlightenment and Ecumenical. Needless to say these are not water-tight compartments. These names are helpful to distinguish rather than to separate from each other. These paradigm shifts are rationalized by the paradigm shift theory of Thomas Kunh, which says, when the existing model become insufficient due to social and scientific reasons another model will emerge. Bosch seems to invent new words like, ecclesiasticization.
This week's bible study on Matthew's gospel is very much related to the mission of the Church. Matthew's Gospel is a missionary Gospel, and Matthew try to makes it clear that the converted rabbi is for all nations. Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you (Mt:28:20). It is interesting to note that Matthew's Gospel mainly consists of five discourses on discipleship, Mission of the Christian community, Reign of God, Church discipline and eschatology.
This week’s reading gives a detailed account of mission in during Enlightenment era. Empiricism (Bacon) and Rationalism (Descartes) played an important role in the Enlightenment. Freedom of thought based on anthropocentrism was the slogan of the Enlightenment era. This development found its way into the Church: Reason became important in theological inquiry and theology became scientific. Privatization of religion and increasing secularization were the hallmarks of the Enlightenment period. Emergence of missionary societies was a positive development of the period, lot of Christian energy was channeled to overseas through missions. Enlightenment which promised a new world based on equality and freedom never came, and this disillusion indirectly led to the spiritual renewal and great awakening in Europe and later in US in the 18th century. This awakening led to the Millennialism (Biblical vision of golden age in history which connected with the thousand years rule of God) which was later replaced by post Millennialism and Amillennialsim brought in by Albert Ritschl and Rauschenbusch. Both proclaimed that God’s kingdom is an ethical reality based on a social gospel. With all this history we come to know that, a post-modern paradigm of mission is due for the Church in the third millennium.
Inter denominational marriage is very common in India. In India normally the wife joins the denomination of the husband. If a woman of Orthodox or Anglican Church marries a Catholic, she joins the Catholic Church. If a Catholic woman marries an Anglican, she joins the Anglican Church.
Now inter denominational marriages are easy than before.
It was interesting to discover, via this class, that the Anglican presence in India is as strong in numbers as it presently is at this time. Much of my information about Kerala comes from the time when I taught with five Roman Catholic nuns from Kerala. The five young women came to serve a suburban church in a Minneapolis suburb at a time when there were few nuns in America. They basically came as missionaries to the United States; and in the process they literally "saved" a parish financially along the way. The warmth and the love that these nuns provided to me in the eight years when I taught at St. Therese can not be totally measured. Three of the five nuns stayed in America for a very long time, and two of them are still here twenty-five years later.
Another observation, which came to me in class during the discussion of inter-marriage between Anglicans and Roman Catholics , was a very personal one. When I married my first husban in 1959 I was Roman Catholic. We had our wedding in an Episcopal Church, and thus I left (or was excomunicated) from the Roman Church. Almost no one at that time was inter-marrying between faiths in those days. Our guest speaker and classmates were firm on the fact that in India today there is to be no inter-marriage. It is important to realize that what they were discribing in India today was the norm in America less than fifty years ago. It is my hope that these small differences in religious denominations will some day not be factors which divide and separate members of families and communities.
Bob Fuller, who wrote "Spiritual but not Religious," makes the point that about 20% of the US population is on a spiritual journey that doesn't include attendance at a mainline denominational church. He refers to the phenomenon as "Barnes and Nobles as Synagogue," the point being that they are on a quest for spirituality, self-help books, etc., but they don't "join" organizations, twelve-step programs, or churches. Does the Church have a mission to that 20%? And if so, what would that mission look like?