Registration is now open for the 2023 Global Mission Conference to be held at St. Mark’s Church in Tampa, Florida, from noon on Wednesday, May 3, to noon on Friday, May 5.  Sponsored by GEMN, the conference will focus on “Mission: Journey into Healing.” 

Mission activists and Global Mission Advocates are also encouraged to consider arriving a day early for the Mission Formation Program, which will be held in tandem with the conference from noon on Tuesday, May 2, to noon on Wednesday, May 3.  The program provides background in biblical mission, mission history, mission theology, cultural dynamics, and organizational strategies.

Register for one or both events here.  The conference page on the GEMN website provides information on accommodations, the conference schedule, and a Networking Form to fill out.  People can also register for an online option for plenary sessions.

Healing is central in God’s mission.  “Your light will break forth like the dawn,” wrote the prophet Isaiah, “and your healing will quickly appear.” Jesus restored people to physical health and healed them spiritually as he interacted with their faith and hope.  Christians anticipate that God’s mission will culminate in “a new heaven and new earth,” the healing of the cosmos.

Healing is the process of becoming well, being restored to health.  Spiritually, we are healed as we enter into a reconciled relationship with God in Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.  People are healed both physically and emotionally from illness and injury.  Economic empowerment helps heal the hurt of poverty and deprivation.  Wounds inflicted by oppression, injustice and conflict are healed as ethnic and political groups forge justice and reconciliation.

The Mission Conference will focus on healing in God’s mission:

– Healing in medical mission and post-Covid mission revival

– Healing from the traumas of conflict and catastrophe

– Healing from the oppression and degradation of poverty

– Healing from legacies of racism and colonialism

– Healing of the missioner who ministers as a “wounded healer”

Gather with the Global Episcopal Mission Network to reflect on mission as a journey into healing – our own healing, the healing of others, God’s healing in the human family.

This is the first in-person Global Mission Conference since 2019.  The 2020 conference was canceled because of the pandemic, and the 2021 conference on creation care and the 2022 conference on women in mission were held online only.  Networking opportunities will abound Tampa, including for healthcare missioners, groups working in Haiti, and the newly appointed Diocesan Global Mission Advocates.

• Mission Thursday on Mission Companionship with Christians in the Sudans – Feb. 16 at 1pm Eastern.  Sponsored by GEMN and hosted by the American Friends of the Episcopal Churches of the Sudans (AFRECS).  Free registration at Eventbrite is here.

• World Mission Sunday is Feb. 19 – Check here for wide-ranging suggestions about how to celebrate it in your congregation or other church institution.

• Young Adult Service Corps Applications are due Feb. 17 – People ages 21-30 serve Christ and God’s people abroad for a year.  Put this opportunity in front of young adults you know – it could be life-changing!  Apply here.