EPGM disbands after 21 years of service to the Episcopal mission community
By ENS staff, October 17, 2011
[Episcopal News Service] Episcopal Partnership for Global Mission (EPGM) has announced that it will officially disband as a mission networking organization serving the Episcopal Church, according to an Oct. 15 news release.
The decision to disband was made at EPGM's annual meeting, held at the Everyone Everywhere 2011 conference in Estes Park, Colorado, and approved by consensus of the attending membership organizations, the release said.
EPGM began in 1990 as the Episcopal Council for Global Mission (ECGM). It was renamed in 1999 when its structural organizing plan was approved by Executive Council. General Convention adopted the plan in 2000.
Financial issues due to loss of funding from the 2009 General Convention and loss of membership contributed to the decision to disband, according to the release.
"Budget issues for EPGM were accelerated in 2009 when funding from General Convention was lost because of declining resources," EPGM steering committee member Jesse Zink of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts said during the meeting, according to the release. "This was clearly part of a larger financial trend. Needs and causes do not disappear, but organizations do. And this requires new ways of thinking."
Former EPGM convener Titus Presler wrote in his history of the organization, "Networking for global mission has made major contributions to the world mission of the Episcopal Church. The vision of networking in world mission is itself a gift."
According to the release, some of the major accomplishments of EPGM include:
• compilation of a set of sending standards for mission groups, unique in the Anglican Communion;• implementation of a peer review process among sending agencies;
• consultations that resulted in the Standing Commission on World Mission's vision statement for the church's world mission in a new century, Companions in Transformation, presented to the 2003 General Convention;
• a meeting place for those of differing theological viewpoints;
• a focus on persecuted Christians throughout the world;
• four guiding covenants that honored partnerships in mission, theological diversity, extension of the church among unreached peoples, and sharing of mission information to encourage cooperation and discourage unhealthy competitive attitudes in the world mission field.
More than 60 organizations were members of EPGM in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The process of disbanding, which will take several months, will be overseen by the current steering committee, the release said.
Live webcasting, on-demand video make mission conference available to 'Everyone, Everywhere'
By ENS staff, October 11, 2011
[Episcopal News Service] Live webcasting and on-demand videos will allow people everywhere to watch worship, plenary sessions and selected workshops from the Episcopal Church domestic and global mission conference "Everyone Everywhere 2011."
See live and on-demand videos here.
EPGM Member Titus Presler appointed principal of Edwardes College, Peshawar
[Episcopal News Service] The Rev. Canon Dr. Titus Presler has been appointed principal of Edwardes College in Peshawar, Pakistan.
Diocese of Peshwar Bishop Humphrey Sarfaraz Peters announced the decision April 29.
Presler takes up his duties on May 1 at the century-old college of 2,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Read the full ENS story here.
EPGM Member Our LIttle Roses Featured on Episcopal News Service - March 1, 2011
In the March 1 edition of the Episcopal News Service, Lynette Wilson writes about the work of Our Little Roses in Hondurus. Read the online story here.EPGM Member African Palms Announces New Product
African Palms USA has added a new product to their line of items that supports development work including education and clean water in Africa. Hand totes are now available with each being unique and hand-woven from dried branches of the dwarf palm, Hyphaena coriacia, by a villager in Masasi, Tanzania. Each tote varies in size and pattern. Color may vary a bit as well, but most are beige and brown. Learn more and order online.
Chicago Episcopalians capture spirit of Sudan through video, images, music
By Matthew Davies, January 06, 2011
[Episcopal News Service] Capturing the spirit of Sudanese Christians and helping to tell their stories of living in and around the country's north-south border region has been a year-long passion and media project for a team of Episcopalians from the Diocese of Chicago.
The Renk Media Team has produced an educational video for those considering forming partnerships with the Episcopal Church of Sudan, and a documentary that focuses on the plight of Sudanese Christians and their resilience in the face of great adversity and challenge. The media team is named after the Sudanese Diocese of Renk, which has shared a companion relationship with the Chicago diocese for nine years.
Members of the media team accompanied Bishop Jeffrey Lee of Chicago on a visit to Sudan's border region in January 2010, and returned with a plan to raise awareness of the situation on the ground.
The videos, Partners in Faith and Voices of Faith, are available online here.
Read the entire ENS story here.
Further details and the study guide are available on the Renk Media Team's Facebook page here.
Randall Giles, Episcopal missionary and ethnomusicologist, dies at 60
[Episcopal News Service] Randall Giles, composer, ethnomusicologist, and an Episcopal Church missionary in India, died Aug. 27, 2010 at a hospital in Pondicherry following a brief illness and a heart attack. He was 60.
Since July 2000, Giles had been serving as director of the Institute for Indian Christianity and the Arts, a center that he helped to found.
Based in Chennai, India, Giles "shared his love for music and liturgy in India and other parts of Asia " as a missionary of the Episcopal Church from the Diocese of Western Massachusetts for more than 10 years, explained the Rev. David Copley, mission personnel officer for the Episcopal Church.
Copley described Giles as "a faithful servant and a passionate musician [who] will be missed by all those whom he touched throughout his ministry." Entire Episcopal News Service story.
Congratulations and Greetings on EPGM's 20th Anniversary
EPGM celebrates it's 20th birthday this year. Greetings have been coming in from around the Anglican Communion, giving thanks and offering continued best wishes for the next decade of mission networking. A sample of greetings:
From The Rt. Rev. Ian T. Douglas, Bishop of Connecticut, "For two decades The Episcopal Partnership for Global Mission has served as a key network for advancing the faithfulness of Episcopalians in God’s mission around the world. EPGM was forward looking and creative in 1990 when it developed a new model of networking Christians committed to world mission across significant theological and ecclesiological differences. Today The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion more than ever needs the united witness of The Episcopal Partnership for Global Mission and the many different mission agencies, voluntary societies, committees, commissions, and dioceses it embodies. The great leader of the Church Missionary Society, Max Warren, is credited with saying: 'It takes the whole world to know the whole Gospel.' Paraphrasing Warren, I would say, 'It takes the whole witness of the many organizations of the EPGM to know the wholeness of The Episcopal Church's participation in God's global mission.' As the EPGM enters its third decade of cooperation and collegiality, may we grow in the unity of the many and different ways we serve God's mission in Jesus through the power of the Spirit."
From The Rt. Rev. John Bryson Chane, Bishop of Washington, "May the next 20 years be just as wonderfully inspiring, compassionate and momentous as the last. I am grateful for EPGM’s vital efforts, and for its ability to respectfully reach out to a diverse array of communities. Your dedication to education, the environment, health issues, and civil rights is essential to promoting goodwill and peace across the globe."
From Canon Patrick Mauney, former director of the Anglican and Global Relations Office, "Congratulations to the Episcopal Partnership for Global Mission on its twentieth birthday. In a turbulent time in the life of our Church, EPGM gathered to engage conversation, prayer and action across divisions, undaunted by differences in origin, organization and conviction of its partners. No calling is more sacred today. May the Episcopal Church continue to hold high the prophetic example of EPGM and support it with time and treasure.
Joint 2010 EPGM-GEMN Conference - June 9-12, 2010
A major diocesan mission companionship in Africa, mission's parallel with mutuality in marriage, the challenge of mission in post-earthquake Haiti, the gift of mission networking, possibilities for mission education - these topics represented the wide range of Episcopal mission thinking highlighted at the joint annual conference of the Episcopal Partnership for Global Mission (EPGM) and the Global Episcopal Mission Network held at Virginia Seminary in Alexandria, June 9-11.
And those were just the plenary sessions attended by the 65 mission activists from around the church. Eight colloquia further enriched the practical, motivational and theological offerings of the conference. The gathering marked the 20th anniversary of the networking movement that began with the founding in 1990 of the Episcopal Council for Global Mission, which in 2000 became EPGM. Read the full report from Titus Presler, noted missiologist, on his blog Titus on Mission.
Photos from the conference may be found here.
Young Adult Service Corps volunteer, Andrew Thompson, wins prestigous Edinburgh 2010 youth writing contest
[Episcopal News Service] Andy Thompson, an Episcopalian from West Hartford, Connecticut, and former Young Adult Service Corps volunteer serving in 2007-8 in El Salvador, has been selected as the winner of the youth writing contest for Edinburgh 2010, a major ecumenical mission conference held June 2-6 in the Scottish capital. His prize -- a sponsored trip to the conference. The full ENS story is here.
After returning from the conference, Andy reports that, "The Edinburgh 2010 World Mission Conference is a powerful example of how much mission has changed in the hundred years since the 1910 conference. It is also a clear reminder of how little progress we've made.
The changes were clear; a cursory glance around the conference revealed a far different group from the one assembled a hundred years ago. Organizers made a sincere effort to include delegates from groups that had been included only marginally, or not at all, in the first conference: Roman Catholics and Orthodox, indigenous groups, participants from the global south, women, and young people. Worship was designed to be as inclusive and creative as possible (and indeed, under the leadership of the Iona Community's John Bell, worship was one of the highlights of the experience). Imbalances and abuses of power that have too often characterized missionary activities were acknowledged and lamented. These advances all call for celebration. Read his full account here.
Learn more about the Edinburgh 2010 conference here .
Episcopal News Service Highlights EPGM's New Social Networking Site
On Febrary 2, the Epsicopal News Service (ENS) online announced EPGM's new social networking aspect of the recently redesigned website, providing a platform for mission enthusiasts to connect with one another. Read the complete story from ENS here. To join the conversation about mission, go to the EPGM network sign up page to create an account , and log in. All who are interested in outreach and global mission are welcome to join in this exciting dialogue, regardless of membership in EPGM.
Episcopal Life highlights Young Adult Service Corps
Episcopal Life, the Episcopal Church's monthly newspaper, highlights the church's Young Adult Service Corps (YASC) in an extensive front-page story by Lynette Wilson in the November issue. The article includes insights from a number of YASC missionaries from diverse parts of the church and serving in diverse parts of the world, all illustrated generously with photographs. Check out the November paper issue, or view online. To learn more about YASC, visit the young adult page on the EPGM site.
EPGM Steering Committee considers networking future in mission
The future of networking among Episcopal mission organizations was center stage in the Oct. 25-28 meeting of the steering committee of the Episcopal Partnership for Global Mission (EPGM), the network of about 27 congregations, independent agencies, dioceses, and Episcopal Church Center units.
Meeting at St. Matthew's Church, Evanston, Illinois, the group found ground for encouragement in the quality of the annual conference it held last May with the Global Episcopal Mission Network (GEMN) in Burlingame, California, interest expressed by many at General Convention in July, and responses to EPGM's new interactive website.
Planning proceeded for the 2010 annual conference and membership meeting, again to be held together with GEMN, on the theme of mission education, to be convened at Virginia Seminary in Alexandria, June 9-12, 2010. Continuing collaboration with GEMN, forms the background of conversations going forward about other ways in which the two networks can more closely combine and integrate their visions and activities to stimulate the Episcopal Church's faithfulness to God's mission.