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Council for the Church Overseas – Report 2000

COUNCIL FOR THE CHURCH OVERSEAS
REPORT 2000
COMPOSITION OF COUNCIL
House of Bishops
The Rt Rev Edward Darling (chairman)
General Synod
The Rev Canon Patrick Towers
Mr Samuel Harper
Co-opted by Council
The Very Rev Leslie Forrest
The Rev Canon Patrick Harvey
Mrs Mary Armstrong
Association of Missionary Societies
Miss Karin Jonsson
Mrs Bobbie Moore
Mr James Myles
The Rev Cecil Wilson 
Mothers’ Union
Mrs Jessica Clarke
Bishops’ Appeal World Development Fund
Miss Elizabeth Ferrar
Diocesan Representatives
Vacant (Cork)
The Rev Eric Culbertson (Armagh)
The Rev Mark Taylor (Down, Dromore and Connor)
Mrs Bobbie Moore (Down, Dromore and Connor)
The Rev Canon Patrick Towers(Tuam)
Miss Olga Kerr (Cashel and Ossory)
Rev Michael Wooderson (Meath and Kildare) 
The Rev Canon Mark Lidwill (Kilmore)
The Rev Canon Paul Hoey (Clogher)
Mr George Clarke (Dublin) 
The Very Rev Maurice Sirr (Limerick and Killaloe)
The Rev Canon John Mayes (Derry and Raphoe)
Honorary Secretary
The Rev Canon DP Hoey
Magheracross Rectory, Craghan Road, Ballinamallard, Co Fermanagh BT94 2BT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.	Mission Resource Person
The Overseas Council sought and was given approval in principle from the Standing Committee for the appointment of a Mission Resource Person, subject to details of the proposed appointment being submitted to the Standing committee for approval.
A sub-committee appointed to deal with the project feels confident that the necessary arrangements are ready to be put in place in time for a suitable person being appointed.
2.	Council for Mission
A Joint Working Group of the two mission councils met several times throughout the year.
A Joint Pre-Millennium Conference took place 19-20 November 1999, at the Emmaus Centre, Swords. Eighty delegates attended, representing each of the twelve dioceses, the mission agencies, the Church of Ireland Theological College and the Mothers’ Union.  The purpose of the conference was to assess the state of the Church of Ireland as if faces the challenges of a new millennium and to discern priorities for the mission of the whole church in the next century.  The Bishops of Down and Dromore and of Meath and Kildare acted as leaders. 
A copy of the report produced by the facilitator Miss Elizabeth Hasill is to be available to all clergy and  members of Synod and widely distributed throughout the Church.
3.	The Churches’ Commission on Mission
During the first year of membership of the Churches’ Commission on Mission on behalf of the Church of Ireland Miss Karin Jonsson represented the Church at the bi-monthly meetings of CCOM.
4.	All God’s Children
A project entitled “All God’s Children” prepared by five mission societies (MAM, USPG, CMSI, SAMS, Crosslinks) was given full backing by the Council.  The project focuses on children in five different areas around the world.  Its aim is to educate and inform members of the Church of Ireland in the year 2000 and to focus on people in need outside the island of Ireland.  Church members will be given an opportunity to help through a special appeal.  Literature about the project has been sent to parishes and interested individuals and groups.
MISSION RESOURCE PERSON
The Overseas Council sought and was given approval in principle from the Standing Committee for the appointment of a Mission Resource Person, subject to details of the proposed appointment being submitted to the Standing committee for approval.
A sub-committee was appointed to deal with the project.  The committee consists of the Very Rev M Sirr, Miss O Kerr, Canon P Hoey, representing the Overseas Council, Ven K Good and Rev M Wooderson (representing the Council for Mission in Ireland) and Mr J Buttimore, appointed by the RCB.  The committee is currently addressing the issues raised by the proposed appointment and feels confident that the necessary arrangements (provision of suitable accommodation, terms and conditions, support and monitoring) are ready to be put in place in time for a suitable person being appointed.
Nominations for the post were sought through the Mission Agencies and other relevant Church bodies and the committee are in contact with a candidate who has been highly recommended by senior staff of UK Anglican mission agencies.
Based on figures supplied by the Representative Church Body £32,000 will be necessary to fund the project over each of its three years.
The Honorary Secretary wrote to the Church of Ireland mission agencies, diocesan boards of mission and diocesan councils in June and again at the end of 1999 seeking a financial commitment towards the cost of the project.  Many of those approached have responded generously.  At the time of compiling this report approximately two thirds the required amount has been pledged.  A response is awaited from a number of the bodies which have not had opportunity to meet.
The Budget Committee of the RCB has indicated that although sympathetic towards the project it cannot offer finance at this stage but recommended an application to the Priorities Fund.  An application has been made.
ANNUAL SYNOD BREAKFAST MEETING
On Wednesday 12 May 1999 a Synod Missionary Prayer Breakfast was held.  This was an experimental form, a change from the normal pattern of  Holy Communion followed by address and meal.  The order of service, incorporating aspects of the early church Agape, was drawn up by Canon Patrick Towers, and was considered by many of those attending to be refreshing and appropriate.
The talk, given jointly by Lady Jill Brentford, President of CMS, and her husband Lord  Crispin Brentford, Chairman of the central Church Army committee, was on the theme of “Mission Home and Away”.  Lord Brentford spoke about the work of the Church Army, especially its strategy in inner cities.  Lady Brentford shared personal insights from her own experience of mission visits overseas.
The two missionary councils which are responsible to General Synod, namely the Council for Mission in Ireland and the Council for the Church Overseas, co-operated together in arranging the Breakfast, which saw the largest attendance for some years.
The Council is indebted to the staff of Church House, for their work in arranging aspects of the service and the Breakfast afterwards.
FINANCE
The Council carried out the task of collating the amounts given from Church of Ireland sources to the mission of the world Church through various agencies.  The results are seen in Appendix A.  In some cases it is not possible for giving from the Church of Ireland to be separated from general giving.
COUNCIL FOR MISSION
In consideration of the suggestion, made at Synod 1995, that closer links be established with the Council for Mission in Ireland a Joint Working Group met several times throughout the year.
Members of both committees receive copies of the minutes of each council meeting and are able to address issues of common concern.
A Joint Pre-Millennium Conference took place 19-20 November 1999, at the Emmaus Centre, Swords.  Eighty delegates attended, representing each of the twelve dioceses, the mission agencies, the Church of Ireland Theological College and the Mothers’ Union.  The purpose of the conference was to assess the state of the Church of Ireland as it faces the challenges of a new millennium and to discern priorities for the mission of the whole church in the next century.  The Bishops of Down and Dromore and Meath and Kildare acted as leaders.
A copy of the report produced by the facilitator Miss Elizabeth Hasill is to be available to all clergy and members of Synod and widely distributed throughout the Church.  A summary of this report is attached at Appendix B.
COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP
During the year Canon Arthur Houston, the Cork Diocesan Representative, resigned.  Thanks are expressed to him for his interest and involvement.  Rev Michael Wooderson was appointed as the council representative for the diocese of Meath.
BISHOPS’ APPEAL
Members of the Council were kept informed about the work of the Bishops’ Appeal Committee throughout the year.  Congratulations are due to the Committee for its work and for the attractive newsletter produced for information throughout the Church.
THE CHURCHES’ COMMISSION ON MISSION
During the first year of membership of the Churches’ Commission on Mission on behalf of the Church of Ireland Miss Karin Jonsson represented the Church at the bi-monthly meetings of CCOM.
Canon Patrick Towers and Karin Jonsson attended a conference “Re-Creating Community” in Belfast on behalf of the Council.  They visited various areas of Belfast and compared what they had seen with other situations around the world.
Members of the Council were kept informed of the various meetings and events held during the course of the year.  Copies of the Sri Lanka report “Making Peace Possible” were also made available.
ALL GOD’S CHILDREN
A project entitled “All God’s Children” prepared by five mission societies (MAM, USPG, CMSI, SAMS, Crosslinks) was given full backing by the Council.  The project was approved by the Standing Committee as a millennium project for the Church of Ireland.  The project focuses on children in five different areas around the world.  Its aim is to educate and inform members of the Church of Ireland in the year 2000 and to focus on people in need outside the island of Ireland.  Church members will be given an opportunity to help through a special appeal.  Literature about the project has been sent to parishes and interested individuals and groups.
MOTHERS’ UNION
Copies of the MU millennium pack were made available to members of the Council.  It was commended for its professional production and colourful presentation of material.
EVANGELISTS
A copy of the booklet “Evangelists in the Church of Ireland” recently produced by the Council for Mission in Ireland was presented to each member of the Council.

APPENDIX A
MISSIONARY SOCIETY CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE 
CHURCH OF IRELAND 1999
| Donations | Legacies/Gifts
Society | IR£ | £ | IR£ | £
Bible Society (NI) | | 6,608 | |
Church Army | | | |
Church Missionary Society, Ireland | 109,115 | 476,136 | 16,114 | 2,698
Church’s Ministry among the Jewish People | | 29,111 | | 2,000
Church Pastoral Aid Society | | 39,500 | |
Crosslinks | 21,183 | 215,496 | | 3,848
Dublin University Far Eastern Mission | | | |
Dublin University Mission to Chota Nagpur | 615 | 262 | |
Feed the Minds, Ireland | 5,200 | 103,000 | |
Intercon | | 2,806 | |
Interserve | | | |
Jerusalem and the Middle East Church | 483 | 1,735 | |
Leprosy Mission | 28,490 | 61,208 | |
Mid-Africa Ministry (CMS) | 9,657 | 57,678 | |
Missions to Seamen (NI) | | 30,920 | | 36,034
Missions to Seamen (RI) | 6,882 | | |
Mothers’ Union | 28,000 | 76,000 | |
National Bible Society | 8,855 | | 100 |
Society for Promotion of Christian Knowledge | 7,291 | 6,538 | |
South American Missionary Society | 6,939 | 109,217 | |
United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel | | | |
| _______ | _______ | _______ | _______
Total | 232,710 | 1,216,215 | 16,214 | 44,580

APPENDIX B
MAPPING THE MILLENNIUM IN MISSION
‘An imaginative vision of mission’
‘Let the rest of the Church of Ireland know about the passion expressed for God’s mission at this conference’ was the cry again and again as 87 members of the Church of Ireland gathered, under the auspices of the Council for Mission in Ireland and the Council for the Church Overseas, at the Emmaus Centre in north Dublin.  Too often we reserve the term ‘eccentric’ for those who express their sense of mission with an enthusiasm which seems normal in politicians at their annual party conference, or in champions of the New Age but the delegates at the pre-millennium conference on mission were keen to articulate their own strong feelings on the importance of mission which they provisionally defined as ‘what God sends us to do in his world’.  Against a backdrop of celebration for the extensive work in mission being undertaken in Ireland and overseas by the Church of Ireland and moments of quiet reflection and worship, the conference discussed its sense of direction for the next decade.  The Decade of Evangelism had provided a focus for mission and helped facilitate the formulation of questions for this conference, some of which we might not have thought about or perhaps dared to voice a decade ago.
We have a gospel!
The theme of the Conference, ‘We have a Gospel’, provided opportunity for delegates to discuss their varied experience of mission at home and overseas.  The parable of the talents was used by Bishop Richard Clarke as a starting point for our reflections and he reminded us that the greatest sin is not failure, but rather not trying to succeed.  Bishop Clarke and Bishop Harold Miller led the conference and so important is the sense of urgency for mission in the church that no less than five bishops took time out to participate.  Participation was indeed the methodology adopted and at all stages delegates had the opportunity to speak out, in groups and individually, while each session ended with a series of sound bites to give every delegate to opportunity to be heard. 
Priorities: Reconciliation, prayer and worship, education
‘Change’ can be a difficult word and unless accompanied closely by clear policies or plans for the future its difficulties tend to intensify.  The Conference identified the priorities which would form the basis of its plan for the next decade, reconciliation, prayer and worship and education and agreed that changes would need to be made, from time to time, to further this end.  Equipped with these tools, when properly administered, motivated by the Holy Spirit and acting in good faith with a generous sense of purpose, it was felt that we will be able to accommodate each other’s preferences, enhance our sense of unity and that God’s mission, our mission, the mission of every soul who belongs to the Church of Ireland, can be fulfilled.
Reconciliation can mean everything or nothing; the conference agreed that it is much more than being ‘nice’, it has a cost attached.  It may mean reconciling ourselves within our church, or even acknowledging that there is a need for reconciliation among ourselves, it may involve developing new friendships between dioceses in all part of Ireland and with the countries south of the equator, it can include reconciliation and trust between nationalists and unionist, employed and unemployed, travellers and settled community and homosexuals and heterosexuals.
Liturgy and worship:  The conference felt that it must generate more discussion in order to locate the interface between mission and prayer and worship.  It suggested that we think tolerantly and imaginatively about liturgy and any changes we would like to introduce.  It recognised that using the book ‘I’ am attached to continually can hinder the message, whether our preference is for charismatic or traditional forms.  The broadest interpretation of mission will allow for the tastes of others.  The conference tried to imagine what it is like for an outsider to come to our church, perhaps someone who has no knowledge of church, whose parents never went to church, who wears torn off jeans and has a nose ring and ear rings.  How do we respond?  What do they think?  Other questions included the language of metaphor and symbol; images with which we feel safe don’t necessarily mean anything to outsiders, what can we do about this?  Much of what we say in the church could be said by a Buddhist or a human rights activist, what exactly do we have to add?
Education and training:  Education in its proper sense is empowerment; in our context this may mean the empowerment of clergy and laity.  The conference asked whether we really want to see this?  It will involve listening, identifying and releasing gifts.  It may involve changes in status, including the loss of status for some and it will certainly involve making priorities.  It may involve employing people, at the going rate, for posts which have heretofore been fulfilled by willing volunteers, who have received no money and often very little thanks.  Are we brave enough to accept these challenges and to allocate our resources?  The councils for mission are keen to employ a resources person, whose job description has been very clearly defined.  This will cost about £32,000 per year and will provide a service to every diocese.  Decisions like this are a real test of our convictions and whether we have the courage to sustain them.  Can we embrace this cost without ‘begrudgery’, confident that the mission for which we exist will be furthered this way?  As is often the case in real discussion, questions were refined and superseded by more questions while challenges and perceived obstacles to mission were also discussed.  Evaluation is part of every well planned programme and our scheme for the future needs continual assessment.  Measurements must be taken regularly, both quantitatively and qualitatively, to ensure the programme stays on course.  Methods of decision making in the church centrally and locally were discussed and the appeal to be heard and taken seriously was reiterated, while the fear of being censored out of mainstream church policy through lack of time or not being in membership of relevant committees, in addition to difficulties with bureaucracy, were seen as obstacles to mission and therefore legitimate components of our agenda.  The final report of the conference will suggest that methods of decision making in the church need open and transparent discussion and that learning to disagree without falling out is a technique which should be developed. 
The role of overseas mission agencies was considered at some length and the Association of Mission Societies gave a presentation of its work.  Local mission initiatives may find models in agencies some of which have 200 years experience of working in cultures sometimes radically different from our own, yet have been able to move with the times, developing a methodology and building new understandings of partnership and equal status in the sharing of God’s purpose and the resources of our world, into their programmes.
The Councils for Mission are to prepare a strategic plan which they will present to Synod, and to produce a full report of their findings.  Yet throughout all the business, interspersed with devotional moments led by Bishop Hannon and Bishop Darling, we remembered repeatedly the faith and personal commitment on which our plans are based. Discussions are taking place between the Council for Mission in Ireland and the Overseas Council about forming closer ties, as each recognise the value in working together and learning from each other’s traditions and experience.  Having the courage and commitment to suggest and then host such an open and refreshing conference, from very limited resources, is a sign of hope for the church and its mission.
The vision for mapping the millennium is a serious one… we have a gospel to proclaim!