Sending Long-Term Missionaries
Version 5.0, as approved by the 2001 EPGM annual meeting, Camp Allen, TX, 19-21 March 2001
Qualifications of Missionary Candidates
EPGM organizations give serious consideration for appointment to missionary service candidates who exhibit the following qualities;
- Vital and growing Christian faith and practice
- Membership in the Episcopal Church or a in communion with the Episcopal Church, as provided in Canon I.4.9a (except that others may sometimes be appointed through ecumenical or other relationships, as provided in Canon I.4.9b)*
- Contagious witness that commends Christ and the Church
- Theological understanding
- Skills, education and experience appropriate for assignment
- Relationship with an Episcopal community of potential support, e.g., congregation, religious order and seminary
- Desire to serve and learn from people in the receiving community
- Personal integrity
- Family stability
- Eagerness for cross-cultural encounter
- Desire to work in companionship with others
- Ability and willingness to learn another language
- Physical, psychological and spiritual capacity to meet challenges
- Financial stability
- Willingness to work under the authority of the local Anglican bishop
- Desire to participate in the worship of the local Anglican community
*Canon I.4.9:
- Ordained Ministers and Lay Communicants of this Church, or of some Church is communion with this Church, in good standing, who qualify in accordance with the standards and proceedures adopted from time to time by Executive Council, shall be eligible for appointment as Missionaries of this Church.
- Members in good standing of Churches not in communion with this Church, but otherwise qualified as above, may, at the request of the Ecciesiastical Authority of the jurisdiction in which the requirements exists, be employed and assigned to positions as appointed Missionaries. The Ecclesiastical Authority of a jurisdiction may employ any qualified person for work in the jurisdiction.
Screening of Missionary Candidates
EPGM organizations include the following elements in their screening of missionary candidates;
- Comprehensive written applications
- References from responsible persons who know the candidate
- Participation of the home community in the discernment of call and placement
- Comminication with the candidate's bishop
- Interviews with the candidate and spouse (if applicable) by a team of interviewers of the sending agency
- Background check
- Psychological examination
Orientation of Missionary Candidates
EPGM organizations provide mission orientation that include the following elements;
- Biblical reflection on mission
- Cross-cultural training
- History and theology of mission
- Contemporary Episcopal and Anglican organizations, structures and movements
- Resources for evangelism, dicipleship, spiritual growth, and justice issues
- Inter-faith and ecumenical reflection
- Lifestyle reflection on family and finance
- Language acquisition techniques
- Country-specific orientation
- Ethnic and racial diversity training
- Certified participation in sexual misconduct prevention training
Development of Mission Assignments
EPGM organizations develop mission assignments according to the following criteria;
- Invitation by the Anglican bishop or appropriate ecclesiastical authority in the proposed place of service
- In situations where there is no Anglican ecclesiatical authority, as is the case with least evangelizaed peoples, collaboration wherever possible with regional Anglican entities or other Christian groups
- Rationale for missionary rather than national to fill position
- Potential for missionary to train national to carry on ministry
- Potential of project to become a model for other similar projects, multiplying it's benefit for maximum impact
- Placement collabloration among candidate, home church, receiving church and sending agency
- Match between missionary and assignment in theological identity, churchmanship, mission vision, and preferences of climate and locale type
- Match between assignment and the missionary's gifts and talents, including ability to work in a team setting and ablity to pioneer new work
- When feasible, the missionary should visit possible placement sites to facilitate the discernment process for both the missionary and the receiving site
- When practicable, the home church should participate in the discernment of the missionary's placement, including visits to placement opportunities
Pastoral Care of Missionaries
EPGM organizations provide pastoral care dfor their missionaries and will include;
- Commissioning events for missionaries that express prayerful care the sending role of the home congregation, diocese, other supporting congregations, the sending agency, and the participation of the Episcopal Church as a whole
- International prayer for missionaries by agency staff and support networks
- Consistent expression of honor and appreciation for missionaries
- Regular and frequent communication with the missionary
- Development of a pastoral care plan for missionary wellness, including, if possible, a designated pastoral caregiver in the region of the assignment
- Concern for needs of the whole family
- Exploration of ways to collaborate among agencies in providing on-site professional-level pastoral care for missionaries
- Periodic regional retreats, wherever possible, for refreshment of missionaries
- Encouragement of spiritual direction, weekly Sabbath rest and provision for annual vacation
- Provision of continuing education, events and resources
Home Ministry Assignment for Missionaries
EPGM organizations offer and require Home Ministry Assignment (HMA) for missionaries, which consists of a period of months in the home country after a period of years in the assignment including;
- Timely preparation for the HMA, in consultation with the home congregation and diocese and well in advance of travel, including attention to housing, compensation and transportation needs
- Debriefing and personal growth consultation with home staff
- Required rest and vacation
- Pastoral care, personal growth and retreat resources, as needed, with attention to the pastoral relationship between the missionary and the home congregation and diocese
- Opportunity for continuing education
- Speaking to congregations and other support groups to mobilize the Church for mission
- To the extent encouraged by the sending organization, raising funds for their work and recruiting partners for mission
Home Re-Entry of Missionaries
EPGM organizations make arrangements for a graceful transition at the conclusion of a missionary's term of service, which will include;
- Timely preparation for conclusion of service, in consultation with the home congregation and diocese, well in advance of travel. Includes attention to housing, compensation and transportation needs
- Liturgical recognition, in consultation with the home congregation, of the missionary's past contribution and future transition to a new stage of life and ministry
- Consultation and counseling for future employment, placement or retirement, as appropriate
- Exit interviews with sending organization's staff
- Transition seminar and/or retreat experiences, if indicated
- Attention to the needs of the whole family, including children
- Continuing pastoral support for six months to a year, as appropriate, with attention to the pastoral relationship between the missionary and the home congregation and diocese
Mutual Accountability
EPGM organizations and their missionaries minister within a network of mutual accountabilities, which develop and maintain the integrity of all relationships in the mission assignment.
A missionary's primary accountability for ministry in the assignment is to the receiving bishop (or other comparable authority) and the supervisor disignated by the bishop. The missionary continues to serve with the blessing of the receiving bishop, according to the Partnership in Mission principal. A supervisory structure is clearly identified and maintained.
A missionary is accountable to the sending agency for general effectivenes in ministry and for fulfilling the responsibilities determined by the agency in relationship to the agency and the home community and network of support.
The sending organization is responsible for transparent communication with the missionary and the receiving bishop.
The sending organization seeks to develop an understanding in which the receiving bishop and institution is responsible for transparent communication with the missionary and the sending agency.
The sending agency staff is accountable to it's governing board and to neworks of sending agencies of which the agency is a member (e.g. Episcopal Partnership for Global Mission, Evangelical Fellowship of Mission Agencies, forum on International Personnel).
A missionary is expected to maintain integrity in all personal, financial and church relationships, avoiding financial and sexual misconduct and any appearance of misconduct.
The sending agency seeks to address missionary misconduct promptly, pastorally and firmly in consultation with the receiving bishop or other receiving partner, as applicable, taking into account the welfare of the missionary family and the receiving church.
Financial Support of Missionaries
EPGM organizations adhere to the following principles in assisting with the financial support of missionaries;
- Financial policies are understood mutually by sending agencies and missionaries
- Organizations ensure that missionary budgets are designed to provide adequate financial support, whether the source of funding is a centralized budget, deputation missionaries or a combination
- Missionary standard of living reflecs solidarity with the ministry setting in which the missionary works.
- Organizations ensure that the compensation structure includes provision for re-entry expenses upon completion of the service and for pention in retirement
- Missionaries are transparent with their budgets, including resources, needs and expenses
- Organizations are transparent with their ministry finances, including resources, needs and expenses
- Budgets for missionaries include support for food, housing, children's needs, clothing, hospitality, transportation, communications, health insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, continuing education, entertainment, vacation, pension, and re-entry
- Organizations abide by regulations of the Internal Revenue Service
- Organizations provide for an annual audit by an external auditor or, if financial resources do not permit a formal audit, provide for a credible financial review by an outside party
- Missionaries understand that funds they raise for their support are contributions to the sending agency or the receiving agency
- Organizations excersise responsible stewardship of gifts designated for missionaries' support and projects
Insurance of Missionaries
EPGM organizations will assess the risks associated with international mission assignments and develop appropriate insurance provision, which shall include no less than the following;
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Disablity insurance
- Medical evacuation, crisis evacuation, repatriation of remains and
- Liability insurance, including directors' and officers' liability, foreign general liability, foreign automobile liability, foreign voluntary workers' compensation and employer's liability, foreign travel accident and sickness, liability related to socio-political unrest, and umbrella liability
Implementation of EPGM Standards
EPGM recognizes that the Sending Standards are numerous and that even well estabished sending organizations may not meet all standards immediately. Nonetheless, the standards represent an ideal of mission sending to which all EPGM sending organizations aspire and which we will, over time, make consistent and good-faith efforts to achieve. Morever, the standards will be reviewed regularly and may be subject to change from time to time, according to a process outlined in the next section.
Compliance with EPGM standards will be fostered by EPGM through the following guidelines;
- EPGM estabishes a Peer Review Group responsible for reviewing implementation of sending standards, working with organizations to estabish processes of implementation, and consulting with emerging agencies regarding their development.
- The Preer Review Group is constituted principally of EPGM sending groups, with some representation from non-sending EPGM groups. Peer Review Group members are nominated by the EPGM Steering Committee and ratified by the EPGM Annual Meeting.
- Each EPGM organization, including missionary sending programs of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, conducts an initial review of it's own procedures and patterns using the EPGM Sending Evaluation Form, with relevant documentation, and outlining areas of implementation and areas of needed growth. This document is presented to the organization's own governing board and forwarded to the Peer Review Group. The Peer Review Group reviews the document and meets with the organization for mutual learning and for consultation regarding areas of needed growth.
- Each organization conducts an annual supplementary review of it's procedures, which is presented to it's own governing board and submitted to the Peer Review Group, which communicated with the organization as needed.
- Critical concerns raised by any parties about any EPGM sending organization are referred to the Peer Review Group for consideration and consultation with the relevant organization.
- The EPGM Steering Commmittee forwards to Executive Council, a list of EPGM sending organizations in good standing, following the annual review of the Peer Review Group, together with the names and assignments of missionaries to be recognized by Executive Council as missionaries of the Episcopal Church.
Revision of EPGM Sending Standards
The Peer Review Group may suggest to the Steering Committee revisions of the sending standards.
The Steering Committee is responsible for advising EPGM members of proposed changes in the Sending Standards and circulating them well in advance of the EPGM Annual Meeting.
Proposed changes in the Sending Standards must be approved by consensus of the EPGM Annual Meeting.
Revisions of the Sending Standards are submitted to the Executive Council for approval. They become effective upon such approval.