David Bosch talks about Mission and triunph of God: Meaning of death and resurrection of Christ. He mentions about ethical implication of Paul's mission. In the letter to Philemon, Paul attacks participation in slavery and gives Philemon a thinly veiled command to set Onesimus free. In Paul's experience the mission to Jews was a failure compared to the success with the Gentiles. Being a staunch Jew, he had positive attitude to Judaism. There is a dealectical interrelationship between Jews and Gentiles in the writings of Paul. Paul never consider Church as new Israel. There is a tension between God's irrevocable covenant with Israel and God's ultimate salvific act through Jesus.
It is with great expectation that I began reading the book of Ian Douglas. The latter part of the last century witnessed shifting pardigms in World Mission. In Anglican communion, Episcopal Church got primacy during the post war period. Henry sherril the presiding bishop had an important role in the WCC and he become the founder president of the National Council of Churches of Christ in US. In 1940's and 50's the affluent US Church financially helped the younger third world churches.
Fourth WCC Assembly in Uppsala, Sweden in 1969 shifted the goal of mission from evangelism to development. The US Churches began to be a conduits for the US Agency for International development. Uppsala Assembly gave a theological rationale and programmatic process for this paradigm shift. In the post colonial era MRI (mutual Responsibility and Interdependance) become the key world of the Episcopal Foreign Mission.
This book, Fling Out the Banner, sometimes read like a report rather than a intersting history. I felt that it is a dry reading. Other folks out there might have felt different, any feedback guys and gals?
I really enjoyed our last class session. The opening bible study really made me think. What do we mean by "conversion"? I would like to have an opportunity sometime to open one of these discussions to the entire group. Well, I quess that is what the blog site is for. May I ask other members of the class for feedback on the conversion of Paul. How was he converted? I find Paul's Chrsitian enthusiasm to be similar in nature to his earlier prosecution as a member of the Pharisees. Did he just change sides? or perhaps, point of view.
I used to argue that God would never directly interfere with our free will, yet it seems that is exactly what happened to Paul. Wasn't he struck as a result of his use of free will? I'm really just looking for responses to chew on, I'm not a heretic!!!
Regarding, the last presentation, it was marvelous. I enjoyed the organization and the use of Power Point. I wonder, has mission changed in the past 200 years?
Great, organized presentation on Thomas Bray, USPG, and SPG, etc. , which helped me to understand the importance of the organizations in today's world.
I was aware of the Books for Africa program to help build the libraries in places of the world with very limited school programs; but I had never realized the great help and the impact of the SPCK and SPG for religious leaders and laity around the world. This was a real "eye opener" for me. I now know where my library can go when I come to the "end of the trail"!!!
I also was so impressed by the philosophy and ideal goals of these organizations: advocacy against injustice, dialogue and cooperation between denominations, the mutual ministry approach, the cross-cultural emphasis, and the equal partnership as the ideal mission approach. Again, I am so impressed and proud of the Anglican heritage in these institutions.
The concept of National Church is a struggle for me. I find the idea on one hand exciting, on the other I find it limiting. The structure that Douglas outlines on pp 162-3 is interesting as we look at how the Episcopal Church in America was structured. Is the structure a cultural/ democratic thing that we all relate to or was it patterned on the state model so that it could align with that power structure?
Having grown up Roman Catholic, I often had the sense that the Episcopal church was just about the national church – until I became Episcopalian! In our current environment, the “mission of the national church… to be actualized in… hospitals… schools and right-ordered sacramental worship, all coupled with the American democratic freedoms.” (p. 165) is a bit of a concern. I for one don’t agree that American democracy is right for all – especially those in Iraq. If I have that conflict, how do I reconcile the righteousness of Christianity for all? As we have discussed several times in our Bible study groups, it seems that our role is to preach the gospel by word and witness and then leave the work of conversion to the Spirit. (This is particularly interesting in the Fowl work we are now reading in Ethics about the Spirit.) Throughout history, so much evil has been done in the name of religion, righteousness and ‘helping.’ Where does anyone get the right to impose their believes – religiously or politically? Given our current political administration, I would be most concerned to link church and state. It seems to me that George W does enough setting himself up as an evangelist.
As far as the National Cathedral, it seems a conflict to have what we call a ‘National Cathedral’ when we don’t have a national church. (Don’t get me wrong, I like the cathedral, have visited there several times and appreciate the ecumenical spirit it conveys.) I also find it interesting as we talk about culture, mission and church, that the National Cathedral imitates the great gothic cathedrals of Europe rather than identify an architecture and style that would be American. Having said that, the Cathedral is indeed a place for all and this was most clear in the national memorial service after September 11th.
Having attended ILEAP training in January, I continue to be amazed and saddened at how we treat people of diversity in the name of Christianity and improving their lives. Duncan's story of his grandmother was particularly compelling. Eye witness stories usually are. She must have been a women of great strenth and internal fortitude. We have much to learn as we work with Native American communites.
Many thanks to Group C for the valuable resources. Indeed the internet is part of our lives and Jeff's reference to Weinberger which we discussed in Performance Ethics is very compelling, but leaves many questions.
Underlying the internet, seems to be the question of what is it we want to be and how do we represent ourselves. Having develped web sites in my corporate life, there is always the question of what the goal/objective is and we can't please all of the people all of the time. The internet allows rapid change to accomodate life changes; it allows us to be responsive, but occasionally does that make us more chamileon-like?
It seems our first objective should be to find our definition of ourselves as a people of God and then determine how to 'market' ourselves.
I found the presentation on the Internet interresting and informative.
I do not agree that for all people this is "the newest and the best" way of reaching people, but it certainly does appeal to a huge group of people.
When we came to the section on reviewing the various churches, i was reminded of the coverage in the Minneapolis Star and Tribune's Religion section. Each Saturday there is a review of a church which was visited by a reporter from the Faith Section of the newspaper. This reporter simply "drops in" on a church each weekj, and then a review is printed in the paper for all the world to see. There is no planning in advance to "look good" or to do things in hospitality to appeal to the reporter. I find that this is a much more honest evaluation of the church as it really is to the public. The presentation on AIDS
again highlighted the importance of this public and church health issue to all of us.
Internet Mission and the Anglican Communion
The Internet has done some really remarkable things to communication and knowledge dissemination. It is for this reason our group decided to take an in-depth look at the witness of the Anglican Communion on the World Wide Web.
David Weinberger, of National Public Radio fame, has done a great deal of research and thought processing on this very issue in his book, Small Pieces Loosely Joined {a unified theory of the Web}. He raises some wonderful points of contemplation to help set our stage. Weinberger says this of the idea of space, “But on the Web we experience something we can never experience in the real world: places without space. It is a public place we can enter, wander, and get lost in, but cannot own…(the web) is the world’s collective passion.”
Weinberger forwards the idea that time is also transformed on the web. He says, “Time (on the web) is more like a hand writing than like a necklace being pulled across a blade. Every message posted today will not only be there tomorrow but becomes a part of the Web’s going forward…it accretes value…it is the persistent sum of the of the stories we are telling one another.”
Weinberger revisions knowledge as pertaining to the web; he says no longer do we look to degrees or credentials, but rather to “…what appears in our writing: our authenticity. The knowledge on the web worth listening to comes not from computer programs but from our bodies, for only our bodies are capable of transmitting passionate attention.”
With Weinberger’s ideas fronted, lets turn to the Anglican Communion’s presence in this virtual world and its mission to the world within this new set of community rules about space, time and knowledge.
Our group chose four different and unique aspects of the virtual witness to explore. These themes were decided upon according to our interest: but they share the common thread of missional presence on the World Wide Web.
1. The mission to the un-churched/seeker.
The Episcopal Church/Anglican communion has recognized the necessity of using the web to front basic Christian beliefs and those specific to the Anglican Church. We’ll take a quick look at just exactly what information they make public to the seeker and how that works to introduce them to the Anglican Church at a level of comfort that is inviting and non-confrontational.
o Google search:“What is an Episcopalian/Anglican?” 419 responses
§ The Episcopal Church’s Welcome Center http://www.episcopalchurch.org/welcome/
§ The Unofficial Homepage of the Episcopal Church http://www.mit.edu/~tb/anglican/anglican.html
§ Several Parish Websites:
· St. Paul’s Fayetteville AK. http://www.stpaulsfay.org/ethos.htm
· All Saint’s, New Albany OH http://web1.spiker.net/allsaints/what_episcopal.html
· St. Mary’s Highpoint, N.C. http://www.stmarysepisc.org/FAQ.html
§ The Anglican Communion
· Anglican’s Online
http://anglicansonline.org/
§ A fun Website
· Ship of Fools
http://ship-of-fools.com/
2. A look at the Internet as a tool of mission and social
justice.
In a letter written to President Bush by Presiding Bishop, Frank Griswold, a request for support in the global fight against HIV/AIDS in the poorest countries was made. Presently, there are 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS and over 70% of them live in Africa. 22 million in Africa have already died and it's projected that within this decade, one quarter of the African population will succumb to HIV/AIDS.
Conversely, the fastest growing population of Anglicans in the world is also occurring in Africa where many educators, teachers, scientists, doctors, priests, parents and children are dying at alarming rates. In 2001, Frank Griswold met with 35 Heads of Anglican Churches from around the world to engage the Anglican Communion in a process of strategic planning to guide its response to HIV/AIDS in Africa. At this meeting, Archbishops from Africa shared openly the devastation caused by the disease, and asked for American help in efforts to fight the pandemic. This was the first time, in the 22-year history of HIV/AIDS, which this had occurred.
Anglicans span some 164 countries across the globe and today, even Episcopalians can access the internet to find out not only how closely we are linked with the worldwide Anglican Communion, but we can also find specific responses to the pandemic of HIV/AIDS and how we too can share in such work.
Let's begin at:
o http://www.anglicancommunion.org/ and the city of Boksburg, South Africa."
3. Focus on Missionary Leaders
The use of the internet as a medium for missionary outreach specifically to promote the visions of specific missionary leadership
o This effort investigated the following two key questions:
§ What significant contemporary Anglican Leaders use the internet as a missionary tool?
§ What's the message(s) are they espousing?
· Results were interesting; in a nut shell the only individual names that repeatedly were available were those folks associated with schismatic “traditional” groups like AMiA, as an example The Rev. Charles H. Murphy III, The Most Rev. Walter Grundorf of the Anglican Province of America. The right Rev. James Stanton of Dallas and the President of the American Anglican Council an Orthodox Group of Anglicans.
o Comparison of the ECUSA site (the 2020 section) www.episcopalchurch.org
o The ECUSA site had two areas of Mission specifically identified the 2020 effort and the opportunity for mission work abroad but neither highlighted any specific leader.
§ www.anglicanmissioninamerica.org
§ www.americananglican.org
§ www.anglicanonline.org
§ www.anglicanprovince.org
§ www.episcopalian.org/nams (North American Missionary Society)
4. The Internet is a perfect tool for mission in the 21st century.
It provides opportunity for collaboration and cooperation with both diverse Christian communities and those of other faiths. It serves as a portal through which individuals and organizations may enter different cultural contexts to express the meaning of the gospel. The Internet offers a clarity for communication wherein numerous groups may examine one another's efforts in mission. Presently, several sites exist whose sole purpose is engaging others in faith partnership. We intend to present four representative sites. Each site will be visited to examine the nature of its missional activity. Discussion will center on the collaborative nature, which is essential for mission outreach.
o The Global Episcopal Mission Network
www.gemn.org
o The Church Mission Society
www.cms.uk.org
o The Episcopal Partnership for Global Mission
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/epgm
o The United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG).
http://www.uspg.org.uk/ Webliography
· Weinberger, David. Small Pieces Loosely Joined {a unified theory of the Web} Perseus Publishing 2002.
· The Episcopal Church’s Welcome Center http://www.episcopalchurch.org/welcome/ visited 4.26.03
· The Unofficial Homepage of the Episcopal Church http://www.mit.edu/~tb/anglican/anglican.html visited 4.26.03
· St. Paul’s Fayetteville AK.: http://www.stpaulsfay.org/ethos.htm visited 4.26.03
· All Saint’s, New Albany OH http://web1.spiker.net/allsaints/what_episcopal.html visited 4.26.03
· St. Mary’s Highpoint, N.C. http://www.stmarysepisc.org/FAQ.html visited 4.26.03
· Anglican’s Online http://anglicansonline.org/ visited 4.26.03
· Ship of Fools http://ship-of-fools.com/ visited 4.26.03
· The Global Episcopal Mission Network www.gemn.org visited 4.26.03
· The Church Mission Society www.cms.uk.org visited 4.26.03
· The Episcopal Partnership for Global Mission http://www.episcopalchurch.org/epgm visited 4.26.03
· The United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG). http://www.uspg.org.uk/ visited 4.26.03
· The Anglican Communion http://www.anglicancommunion.org/
· Anglican Mission in America www.anglicanmissioninamerica.org visited 4.29.2003
· The American Anglican Council www.americananglican.org visited 4.29.2003
· the Anglican Province of America http://www.anglicanprovince.org/ visited 4.29.2003
· North American Missionary Society www.episcopalian.org/nams visited 4.29.03