Five Talents offers virtual tours of its global work
Five Talents, the Virginia-based mission agency with the tagline, “transforming lives through microenterprise development,” is offering virtual tours of its work around the world to congregations and other groups, either in person or via Zoom, CEO Dale Stanton-Hoyle wrote in his weekly email on June 23. He invites people to call him about this at 703-472-7679.
Born at the 1998 Lambeth Conference, Five Talents, a GEMN member organization, has supported international companions in over 20 countries, and its current work is focused on Bolivia, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Myanmar, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
In other Five Talents News:
- Five Talents Burundi Country Coordinator Claudette Kigeme has received a 2022 Lambeth Award from Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby “for her outstanding work in one of the poorest countries of the world, Burundi, enabling over 78,000 people to transform their lives.”
- Five Talents appeared as one of three recommended charities in a column by New York Times columnist Tish Harrison Warren, an Anglican priest, on 19 December 2021. Warren quoted Elizabeth Ha, the Five Talents staffer who presented a workshop at the 2022 Global Mission Conference organized by GEMN.
Mission Personnel Officer’s “framing thoughts” about mission
Elizabeth Boe, mission personnel officer in the Episcopal Church’s Office of Global Partnerships, offered some pithy “framing thoughts” about mission as she moderated a panel of missionaries at the 2022 churchwide Global Mission Conference under the theme “Women in God’s Mission: Faith, Relationships & Transformation.” Here are her remarks:
We are always part of God’s mission – whether we serve halfway around the world or halfway down the block – and every encounter we have is an opportunity to meet God in a new and transformative way. We tell our new missionaries at orientation that the most powerful thing they will do is to be fully present and build relationships that reflect the love of God.
Everyone who is engaged in mission knows that there is also a lot of work that also comes along with this ministry, but at its core is an incarnational ministry of love and relationship. It is being with not doing for. In this, mission is mutually transformative, because being with gives us opportunities to listen, learn, and share with all of the vulnerability and courage that those actions require.
As we continue to live into our Baptismal Covenant promises of seeking and serving Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves, striving for justice and peace among all people, and respecting the dignity of every human being, we are constantly reminded that God’s story is always deeper, broader, and more truly inclusive than we can ask or imagine.
World Mission Committee hearing was well attended as group heard testimony on six resolutions
About 23 observers and witnesses attended the hearing conducted online by the World Mission Legislative Committee on Thursday, June 23, in preparation for the 2022 General Convention, to be held in Baltimore July 8-11.
The attendance exceeded the number of people typically attending a World Mission Committee hearing at a General Convention held in person. This reflects the convenience of people being able to attend from all over the church and at a time that does not conflict with the other multiple hearings occurring simultaneously at an in-person convention.
General Convention legislative committees are formally divided between deputies’ committees and bishop’s committees, but in virtually all cases, including World Mission, the two meet together, though the orders vote separately on whether to forward resolutions for action.
The resolutions on which the June 23 hearing focused were:
A016 Adopt, Study, and Promote Guiding Principles for World Mission & Initiate Global Mission Advocate Program
A017 Assessment of Past Colonialism in the Church’s World Mission Ministries
A018 Teaching World Mission and Theological Education Beyond the United States
A022 Commend the Work of Episcopal Migration Ministries
A028 Join, Participate, and Fund the Global Episcopal Mission Network
D079 80th Anniversary Programs Honoring Florence Li Tim-Oi
Among those testifying were: GEMN president Patricia Martin, GEMN Board member Alan Scarfe, Standing Commission on World Mission (SCWM) chair Martha Gardner, SCWM member and former GEMN VP Judy Quick, SCWM member Helena Mbele-Mbong, and GEMN executive director Titus Presler.
All the resolutions discussed received positive recommendations by the committee, several with minor amendments, most of them to be placed on the consent calendar of the House of Bishops. The bishops voted to take A017 (Colonialism) and A028 (GEMN) to the floor of the House of Bishops, meaning that they will receive discussion instead of being passed en masse with other resolutions.
Legislative committee hearings are open to all, but registration by two business days in advance is required to observe or testify. Committee member Adam Schoemaker reports that the World Mission legislative committee does not plan to meet again before convention. Here’s the link to the schedule of upcoming hearings by all legislative committees.
See here for Episcopal News Service’s report on the World Mission Committee hearing.
Videos of Global Mission Conference plenaries now available online
Videos of the presentations made by the plenary speakers at the churchwide Global Mission Conference in May are now available here on the GEMN website:
- The Rev. Carolyne Adhola, Anglican Church of Kenya
- Ms. Elizabeth Boe, Mission Personnel Officer, Office of Global Partnerships, Episcopal Church, and a Panel of Women Missionaries
- Dr. Dana Robert, Professor of Mission and World Christianity, Boston University School of Theology
- Ms. Lynnaia Main, Episcopal Church Representative to the United Nations
The Rev. Canon Hilda Kabia, Dean of Msalato Theological College in Tanzania, was to be a plenary speaker, but internet difficulties prevented her from giving her talk. The PowerPoint presentation she prepared is now available on the website in the section on conference plenaries.
Quote for the Day:
“It takes the whole world to know the whole gospel.”
– attributed to Max Warren, general secretary of the Church Mission Society, 1942-63