Ellie Johnson
Director of Partnerships
Over the past 18 months, the staff and members of General Synod’s Ecojustice and Partners in Mission committees have been developing a process to integrate the work of these two historically separate program units. Resolutions pertaining to this integration will be brought to the General Synod for approval next month. And if General Synod agrees, the newly integrated program will begin immediately thereafter, and the newly merged standing committee will hold its first meeting in the fall.
This integration is the outward expression of our evolving understanding of the church’s role in God’s mission: seeking justice with peace in partnerships of solidarity with those who are most vulnerable and marginalized, living in right relationships with one another, safeguarding the integrity of creation. We seek to inform our church’s collective missiology with this vision, and to encourage parishes and individuals to actively live the Christian Gospel of love toward abundant life for all in the created order.
Preparing for this merger has led to careful reflection on our use of the term “ecojustice”, and of the place of creation in our understanding of mission. Members of the Ecojustice Committee noted that in recent Anglican discourse on mission, mention of ecology has been included since 1996 as one of the “five marks of mission.” As a result, in considering the future committee, the doctrine of creation will itself become a focus of attention, and not just as a background to human life, but as a central expression of God’s divine action.
In addition to reflection, our participation in God’s mission of transformation is also advanced through experiences that enable Canadian Anglicans to travel to other parts of the world for visits or for work placements. Through the Volunteers in Mission and International Theological Student Internship and the Companion Diocese programs, many Canadian Anglicans have the opportunity to visit, study, and work alongside Anglicans, other Christians, and people of faith worldwide. Those who have this experience are forever changed. We are committed to continuing the programs that provide these transformative experiences.
What we are learning
As part of this exploration of the relationship of mission and ecojustice, we are asking the questions, “What does it mean to be an Anglican, to be the Anglican Church of Canada today, in our neighbourhoods, villages, cities, regions, and beyond? How are we living our faith daily, in relationships with one another, in responding to those in need, in speaking truth to powers and principalities about economic and social policies which undermine human dignity and threaten the integrity of creation?”
We have been assisted in this exploration by the church’s Anti-Racism discussion, exposure and training, in which we have participated over the past six years. We have learned a great deal, and now believe that until the sin of racism within our church is fully and completely exposed, all service in God’s mission is deeply flawed. We are learning that the existing structures and systems of governance in our church are hampering transformative change.
We are learning that the deep suffering and pain of former students of Indian Residential Schools, and their families and communities, continues to this day, and that healing will be a very long process. We are learning that it is very difficult for white, middle and upper class Anglicans to even acknowledge, let alone discuss the existence of racism within the church, and within themselves.
We are feeling energized by the proposed integration of mission and ecojustice into one program with one oversight committee. The energy is bubbling from anticipation of focused partnerships with other Anglicans around the world seeking justice, peace and the integrity of creation as mission in their local contexts and globally. We also find it a privilege and joy to send grants, mission volunteers and students in response to partners’ requests for practical resources and companionship. We are committed to building right relationships with other peoples and with the whole of creation.
Comments (6)
It is only short-hand to speak about the racism of middle class white Christians. People relate at different levels. One may have a phobia about another's skin colour at a personal level but be able to think and act in justice in societial relationships. It is at the less personal level that things happen; where equality is less difficult to achieve. I don't have to know the personal story of an attender at a residential school in order to see consequent, or subsequent, degradation of life. In fact all degraded human life commands compassion and treatment, whatever the schooling. it's the same with ecology. We don't have to know the personal story of everyone in order to get the message about the planet. We don't need intimacy to be just or to reduce our environmental footprint. Cheers
Posted by Harold Macdonald, Matlock MB | May 29, 2007 9:46 AM
Posted on May 29, 2007 09:46
Dear Ellie Johnson,
Our names are similar, and so are our thoughts! I greatly enjoyed your article and believe that, if enough Anglicans can understand, accept and implement this new mission, there's hope for our church, our society and our planet.
Two points:
An excellent role model is St. Gabriel's RC Church in Toronto; its guiding light is "ecologian" Thomas Berry (who wrote "The Dream of the Earth" and "The Universe Story"). There is a description of St. Gabe's in the June 2007 "Niagara Anglican."
I grew up in the United Church where the leaders (administrators at Church House and theological professors) were exploring exciting and valuable new ideas that the average church-goer rejected as strange and heretical. Now I find a similar gap in the Anglican Church. I hope that this new forum will help bridge it.
Cheers,
Eleanor Johnston
Posted by Eleanor Johnston, Fenwick, ON | May 29, 2007 9:57 AM
Posted on May 29, 2007 09:57
Integrating the ministries of EcoJustice and Partners in Mission can be viewed only as a small positive step in the right direction. The following comment could not be more true or more appropriate within the context of being a servant to the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized around the world:
"We are learning that the existing structures and systems of governance in our church are hampering transformative change".
Although a new vision is needed for the Anglican community to become really effective,nothing of import will transpire until the implementation of that vision with all the associated mistrust, apprehension, and resistance to meaningful and productive change becomes a reality.
We must take the opportunity,by parish, diocese, province, and denomination to begin to explore a new vision and lay the groundwork for reaching out beyond our current expectations and embracing the challenges arising from those needs that are both obvious and hidden from our limited viewpoints.
Posted by Fred Stephens, Weyburn SK | May 30, 2007 12:55 PM
Posted on May 30, 2007 12:55
What is the role of evangelism in the Partners in Mission program? And in combining ecojustice into the mix, what will the resulting proportion of energy and funding be for evangelism? The ultimate justice is found at the white throne of judgement, and Christ sits as judge. His only concern in that role will be examining each person to see if his name is written in the Book of Life. [Rev 20:12] And that is based on each person's works, and those works are the works of God, which Jesus says "is to believe in him whom God has sent." [John 6:29]
The role of the church is try to ensure that as many people as possible get their name in that book. Everything else is ancillary.
Providing transformative experiences for Canadians through various programs as described above hardly touches the possible goal of offering the good news of Jesus Christ, especially to people who have never heard it before.
Is not the goal and purpose of Christ's work on the earth to claim a people for himself, from every tribe and tongue and language, who will offer him praise for his sacrificial death upon the cross for sin?
Let's get on board with that mission. That's powerful. That's transformative, that's ultimately meaningful.
Posted by Brian Johnson, Little Trinity Church, Toronto | June 2, 2007 10:35 PM
Posted on June 2, 2007 22:35
I urge the General Synod to allow local parishes to decide whether or not to give same sex blessings. I feel this "grass roots" initiative will eventually lead to a general acceptance of homosexuals as natural human beings, and leave Anglican leadership free to get on to the consideration of more desperate issues facing humanity today.
Posted by Carol Jean Hethrington, | June 13, 2007 10:20 AM
Posted on June 13, 2007 10:20
To answer Brian Johnson’s question, “NO!, not if you are living in the present century.”
I appreciate Fred Stevens’ comment that “nothing of import will transpire until the implementation of that vision with all the associated mistrust, apprehension, and resistance to meaningful and productive change becomes a reality.” Many believers (Christians as well as those of other faiths) cling to rigid systems of outdated theology that unfortunately scare off prospective believers. It could be a fear of evolution, that is, of the natural evolution of theology through time.
Christians are now “voices crying in the wilderness,” as were the early Christians. Perhaps this is where God wants us to be, outside the belief structures of old systems that are rapidly alienating their people. Maybe something “of import will transpire” from this position.
I’m currently fascinated by the gospels that have been discovered in the 20th century. Most people to whom I mention these works recoil in fear, as if their faith might be contaminated by contact with such “heresies.”
Here’s a relevant quotation from the Gospel of Thomas: “Fresh wine is not put into old wineskins because they might burst. Vintage wine is not put into new wineskins because it might be spoiled.” We have to be careful that our new ideas don’t spoil the vintage concepts of our tradition. But we cannot live in the past: we must find new wineskins, new forms and ideas, for the good news that is fresh in our time.
Posted by Eleanor Johnston | June 15, 2007 10:09 AM
Posted on June 15, 2007 10:09