In March 2007, nearly 400 members of the worldwide Anglican Communion convened in South Africa for a gathering entitled: “Towards Effective Anglican Mission, an International Conference on Prophetic Witness, Social Development and HIV and AIDS”. Represented in this assembly were all sectors of the Anglican Communion, namely young people, seasoned development practitioners, archbishops, bishops, clergy, lay people, Anglican Communion networks, Anglican development organisations, donor partners, ecumenical partners, guests from government and business, representatives from both poor and rich nations, HIV infected people and those who look after the sick. We came together in an effort to explore the work and witness of our Communion in addressing poverty and injustice in the world. In short, we convened to critically examine and rearticulate the mission of the Church.To access the report click here.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
TEAM Report Released
FROM the TEAM website:
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Day 4 & 5: Gender, Peacebuilding, Education, Hunger, & Being the Body
Wow, that's a lot to talk about in two days! By the end of tonight's program, I think many people here felt exhausted: physically--long days, jet lag, heat; but also emotionally. It's hard to spend your entire waking hours confronting the most painful of human conditions. Of course, some human beings actually live that reality.
Days like today illustrate the compassion God shows us in the commandment to honor the sabbath. We began the day by
attending Eucharist at a local parish. It may have been a good idea to have taken the afternoon off as a sabbath, but we pressed on with the conference and important stories were shared. The highlight of my day, however, was clearly the parish visit. I visited St. James' Katlehong (since I'm from a St. James'!). Unfortunately we arrived an hour into the service so we missed some of it, but we were still together for a couple of hours (typical services last 2.5-3 hours). The building was packed (overflowing really) and full of singing, dancing, praying. The assisting bishop, Bishop Joseph Tsubella, who retired last summer, presided. We were swept in amidst a beautiful hymn, the whole congregation singing energetically. I felt completely enveloped by their welcome. We were seated right up front and the area around the altar was filled with children. I'm not sure I can even begin to describe the service except to say it was loving, welcoming, charged with energy. I was moved by how the entire congregation processes forwa
rd to place money in the offering baskets, and then comes forward again for the Eucharist. The Church was so filled with music and people moving all around that the service felt less like something I was participating in and more like an organism in which I was a cell, floating around, bumping right up against my neighbors, all of us covered in God's cytoplasm. We heard the bishop pray over the gifts and consecrate them to be the body and blood of Christ. We shared in becoming that One Body. Afterwards, this parish gathered us as their guests to make sure we were fed and watered, even amidst the poverty of the neighborhood.
Later that afternoon, we would hear Sheila Sisulu from the UN's World Food Programme exegete the feeding of the 5000 not just as a story of a miracle of creating enough, but a miracle of creating a community who shares their resources so that there is enough for all. I was humbled at how the people of St. James' Katlehong were able to share so generously, and prayed that I could have the same clear understanding of God's abundance in my life, and the same passion for God's call for the radical welcome of strangers.
So much has happened in the last two days, I find it hard to decided what I should write about in the 15 minutes I have left. But two encounters having to do with peacemaking stand out to me. The first was hearing Michael Lapsley speak yesterday. I have read much of his work online, so it was a privilege to get to meet him in person. He lost his hands, an eye, and much of his hearing in a letterbomb attack in 1990 and since then has endeavored to share his experience of God's transformative healing. After the attack, he realized he could either be defined by a small moment of history and be a victim or survivor or he could allow God to redeem his bombing and he could share in Christ's identity as victor, having brought life from death. He now works to use his experience as a tool for others to find healing and reconciliation in their own lives and communities. He talked about the need for us to make safe spaces for people to seek to redeem their pain, and for us all to ask what has grown inside of us as a consequence of being part of a violent, revenge-seeking culture. We are all capable of being victim, perpetrator, or both, he warned. What we allow to grow inside of us will determine which path we take ourselves and our communities down. Michael Lapsley was able to let God grow forgiveness and healing in his life, even as he lives every day with hooks where his hands used to be. The mission of the Church is to restore all people to God in Christ. Are we really able to say we mean all people? Michael Lapsley's witness is a sign to us of what God is able to do in our lives when we put our whole trust in His promise.
The second moment that I keep returning to is much more simple. My new Scottish friend Donald shared with me a example from the Desert Fathers:
A young monk asks his mentor "why is there so much conflict among people?" The wise old monk tells him,"Imagine we are standing here and there is a brick laying on the ground in front of us, between us. You say 'that's my brick' and I say 'No, that's my brick.' We have then found ourselves in conflict." The young monk then asks what the solution is. The old monk says "Let's try it. Lay a brick between us." The young monk places the brick and says "This is my brick." The old monk looks at the brick, and then at the young monk, and then says "well, you better take your brick and get on with it."
It's a simple example, with a simple truth, the same truth that Lapsley expresses out of his experience of Christ's power to transform. Our reality as Christians is the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. We can either live into the 'unrealities' of this world--that we can find our comfort in material goods, in revenge, in power, in control, in being 'right'--when our Christian reality is that even in the face of utter injustice, we stand as witnesses to the God of mercy and redemption. We stand as a people who say 'I will not accept that revenge is my reality. My reality is redemption. My reality is not death, it is life. My reality is never-ending, it is hope.'
Thanks be to God whose power and might is that of mercy and healing.
Days like today illustrate the compassion God shows us in the commandment to honor the sabbath. We began the day by
attending Eucharist at a local parish. It may have been a good idea to have taken the afternoon off as a sabbath, but we pressed on with the conference and important stories were shared. The highlight of my day, however, was clearly the parish visit. I visited St. James' Katlehong (since I'm from a St. James'!). Unfortunately we arrived an hour into the service so we missed some of it, but we were still together for a couple of hours (typical services last 2.5-3 hours). The building was packed (overflowing really) and full of singing, dancing, praying. The assisting bishop, Bishop Joseph Tsubella, who retired last summer, presided. We were swept in amidst a beautiful hymn, the whole congregation singing energetically. I felt completely enveloped by their welcome. We were seated right up front and the area around the altar was filled with children. I'm not sure I can even begin to describe the service except to say it was loving, welcoming, charged with energy. I was moved by how the entire congregation processes forwa
rd to place money in the offering baskets, and then comes forward again for the Eucharist. The Church was so filled with music and people moving all around that the service felt less like something I was participating in and more like an organism in which I was a cell, floating around, bumping right up against my neighbors, all of us covered in God's cytoplasm. We heard the bishop pray over the gifts and consecrate them to be the body and blood of Christ. We shared in becoming that One Body. Afterwards, this parish gathered us as their guests to make sure we were fed and watered, even amidst the poverty of the neighborhood.Later that afternoon, we would hear Sheila Sisulu from the UN's World Food Programme exegete the feeding of the 5000 not just as a story of a miracle of creating enough, but a miracle of creating a community who shares their resources so that there is enough for all. I was humbled at how the people of St. James' Katlehong were able to share so generously, and prayed that I could have the same clear understanding of God's abundance in my life, and the same passion for God's call for the radical welcome of strangers.
So much has happened in the last two days, I find it hard to decided what I should write about in the 15 minutes I have left. But two encounters having to do with peacemaking stand out to me. The first was hearing Michael Lapsley speak yesterday. I have read much of his work online, so it was a privilege to get to meet him in person. He lost his hands, an eye, and much of his hearing in a letterbomb attack in 1990 and since then has endeavored to share his experience of God's transformative healing. After the attack, he realized he could either be defined by a small moment of history and be a victim or survivor or he could allow God to redeem his bombing and he could share in Christ's identity as victor, having brought life from death. He now works to use his experience as a tool for others to find healing and reconciliation in their own lives and communities. He talked about the need for us to make safe spaces for people to seek to redeem their pain, and for us all to ask what has grown inside of us as a consequence of being part of a violent, revenge-seeking culture. We are all capable of being victim, perpetrator, or both, he warned. What we allow to grow inside of us will determine which path we take ourselves and our communities down. Michael Lapsley was able to let God grow forgiveness and healing in his life, even as he lives every day with hooks where his hands used to be. The mission of the Church is to restore all people to God in Christ. Are we really able to say we mean all people? Michael Lapsley's witness is a sign to us of what God is able to do in our lives when we put our whole trust in His promise.
The second moment that I keep returning to is much more simple. My new Scottish friend Donald shared with me a example from the Desert Fathers:
A young monk asks his mentor "why is there so much conflict among people?" The wise old monk tells him,"Imagine we are standing here and there is a brick laying on the ground in front of us, between us. You say 'that's my brick' and I say 'No, that's my brick.' We have then found ourselves in conflict." The young monk then asks what the solution is. The old monk says "Let's try it. Lay a brick between us." The young monk places the brick and says "This is my brick." The old monk looks at the brick, and then at the young monk, and then says "well, you better take your brick and get on with it."
It's a simple example, with a simple truth, the same truth that Lapsley expresses out of his experience of Christ's power to transform. Our reality as Christians is the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. We can either live into the 'unrealities' of this world--that we can find our comfort in material goods, in revenge, in power, in control, in being 'right'--when our Christian reality is that even in the face of utter injustice, we stand as witnesses to the God of mercy and redemption. We stand as a people who say 'I will not accept that revenge is my reality. My reality is redemption. My reality is not death, it is life. My reality is never-ending, it is hope.'
Thanks be to God whose power and might is that of mercy and healing.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Day 3: Collaborative Efforts: Assets
Our speaker this afternoon was Steve de Gruchy, Head of the School of Religion and Theology, University of KwaZulu-Natal. He spoke to us about the theological underpinnings of the MDGs and the various kinds of partnerships we ought to enter into. He described them as marriages and asked us to think of new marriages that might be designed, and reminded us that from marriages often come children. There was one bit of advice he gave us which stuck with me:
Start with assets.
Immediately I realized, duh, this is basic community organizing. That as we identify concerns in our communities, we start to confront them by analyzing our assets and the power we can access. "Start with assets" he advised, "and then go to needs." For a firm foundation, we should build on what people/communities do have, not what they don't.
As I thought about how that might apply to peacework and the MDGs, I thought about how our Creating a Culture of Peace curriculum uses popular education to do just that sort of thing, to draw out from individuals and groups their own power to effect the creation of communities of reconciliation. I thought about the powerful affect of drawing on the legacy of Dr. King and the civil rights movement as guides for our own approaches. God calls us to live out of gratitude for our abundance, rather than timidly stepping into the world afraid that we might give away what little seems to be ours. Our truth is that when God calls us to this work, God has equipped us for it, and guides us through it (if we pay attention!). We are never left alone to accomplish God's mission and the work of reconciliation is particularly rooted in a ministry of collaboration.
Thanks be to God for all the people God brings us into mission with!
Start with assets.
Immediately I realized, duh, this is basic community organizing. That as we identify concerns in our communities, we start to confront them by analyzing our assets and the power we can access. "Start with assets" he advised, "and then go to needs." For a firm foundation, we should build on what people/communities do have, not what they don't.
As I thought about how that might apply to peacework and the MDGs, I thought about how our Creating a Culture of Peace curriculum uses popular education to do just that sort of thing, to draw out from individuals and groups their own power to effect the creation of communities of reconciliation. I thought about the powerful affect of drawing on the legacy of Dr. King and the civil rights movement as guides for our own approaches. God calls us to live out of gratitude for our abundance, rather than timidly stepping into the world afraid that we might give away what little seems to be ours. Our truth is that when God calls us to this work, God has equipped us for it, and guides us through it (if we pay attention!). We are never left alone to accomplish God's mission and the work of reconciliation is particularly rooted in a ministry of collaboration.
Thanks be to God for all the people God brings us into mission with!
Friday, March 9, 2007
Day 3: Collaborative Efforts
Dear readers, if any of you ever plans a conference, please do this: 1) fill it with all the amazing things you want people to hear and do, with speakers, committee mtgs, tea breaks, meals. 2) cut 25%.
In the few opportunities that I've had in between our sessions to speak with people, I've had the most amazing conversations. I attended a session today to hear a case study of MDG work being done in Zambia. It was interesting and a lot of thought went into preparing it. We listened for 2 hours, having already been to a 2 hour session and heading to another. At the end of it I was able to talk to the young man sitting next to me. He was Henry from Tanzania, and is involved with an HIV/AIDS ministry there. He shared with me the kind of work he does and the kind of difficulties that are involved with it. He described the great partnerships in his diocese with ERD and Carpenters Kids through the Diocese of New York. (The New York program is of interest to me as a model for how the KY partnership with Hannah Ministries could grow.)
Later I had a conversation with another new friend about the complicated issues involved in a US response to the MDGs. 'Don't we have our own problems?' people often ask. As we discussed this we were joined by a young man from Southern Malawi who added much to our discussion and shared with us information about the MDG work being done in his own diocese.
These conversations are at least as valuable as the formal sessions, and I hope to find myself in many more of them.
In the few opportunities that I've had in between our sessions to speak with people, I've had the most amazing conversations. I attended a session today to hear a case study of MDG work being done in Zambia. It was interesting and a lot of thought went into preparing it. We listened for 2 hours, having already been to a 2 hour session and heading to another. At the end of it I was able to talk to the young man sitting next to me. He was Henry from Tanzania, and is involved with an HIV/AIDS ministry there. He shared with me the kind of work he does and the kind of difficulties that are involved with it. He described the great partnerships in his diocese with ERD and Carpenters Kids through the Diocese of New York. (The New York program is of interest to me as a model for how the KY partnership with Hannah Ministries could grow.)
Later I had a conversation with another new friend about the complicated issues involved in a US response to the MDGs. 'Don't we have our own problems?' people often ask. As we discussed this we were joined by a young man from Southern Malawi who added much to our discussion and shared with us information about the MDG work being done in his own diocese.
These conversations are at least as valuable as the formal sessions, and I hope to find myself in many more of them.
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Day 2: Being the Church: Mission
Just a little prayer book definition for you:
What is the mission of the Church?
The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.
How does the Church pursue its mission?
The Church pursues its mission as it prays and worships, proclaims the Gospel, and promotes justice, peace, and love.
Visit the MissionWorks website.
What is the mission of the Church?
The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.
How does the Church pursue its mission?
The Church pursues its mission as it prays and worships, proclaims the Gospel, and promotes justice, peace, and love.
Visit the MissionWorks website.
Day 2: Being the Church: having fun together!
So, I'm not a great photographer...but this a photo from the bonfire that was built just outside our dining 'huts' tonight. Following a great dinner with an amazing group of people, I sat with some friends at the bonfire and watched my fellow Anglicans dancing along to marimbas and bongos. Ok, ok, I danced a little too. Unfortunately for my Canterbury Cards there is no evidence. Maybe the best way to be the Church is to have a little fun together.
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