The Anglican Communion and Mission

Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane

Let me begin with some brief historic comments.
An understanding of ‘mission’ in broadly the way we use it today first emerged in the 1950s, and the Lambeth Conference of 1958 debated and supported the idea of an Advisory Council on Missionary Strategy. 
Over the years, the Mission Issues and Strategy Advisory Group gave way to MISSIO – the Standing Commission for Mission – and now we have IASCOME, the Inter Anglican Standing Commission on Mission and Evangelism.
All of these are answerable primarily to the Anglican Consultative Council, which was established by the 1968 Lambeth Conference.  Its constitution includes among its functions:
‘To develop as far as possible agreed Anglican policies in the world mission of the Church and to encourage national and regional Churches to engage together in developing and implementing such policies by sharing their resources of man-power, money, and experience to the best advantage of all.
It is entirely fitting that our global Communion’s most broad and representative body should take the lead in questions of mission, which are so central to our Christian calling.
I encourage you to look at the Anglican Communion Website’s pages on Mission, which have a wealth of useful information and background.  They also offer pertinent thoughts about how our understanding and application of the five marks of mission might evolve. 
Another important development came with the 1963 Anglican Congress, held in Toronto: a broad meeting of lay women and men, and clergy, as well as Bishops and Archbishops.  This made the centrality of mission, not only within our Provinces, but within the global Communion, an explicit part of our self-understanding.
This, the subsequent Lambeth Conference decreed, ‘summons our Churches to a deeper commitment to Christ’s mission, through a wide partnership of prayer, by sharing sacrificially and effectively their manpower and money, and by a readiness to learn from each other.’ 
The Toronto Congress significantly shaped our common life in subsequent years, through its enunciation of the principle of ‘Mutual Responsibility and Interdependence’ and promoted companion diocese relationships, and a range of inter-Anglican networks -such as Partners-in-Mission, Justice and Peace Network, Women’s Network, Youth Network, Refugees Network etc.
Solidarity in mission brings tangible results, especially in difficult times in Namibia, South Africa.  Senior Anglicans came from round the world to give support to Bishop Desmond Tutu when he was Secretary General of the South African Council of Churches, and under pressure from the apartheid Government.  I was involved in getting visas for them, and when I was asked why the Anglican Communion was getting involved, I quoted Archbishop Runcie’s words: ‘when you touch one Bishop of the Anglican Communion, you touch us all.’   There was also an Anglican Communion Pastoral visit to the people of Namibia as an expression of solidarity with them at a time of great repression.
Then there are our Mission agencies – not least USPG, of course.  Though by today’s standards, we might criticise their origins, their intentions were noble, and they have achieved a great deal in theological and wider education, and in health, in particular.  Today we have flourishing partnership relationships, and these can provide significant assistance to churches grappling to understand the needs of our globalizing world.  Conferences such as this can help in the continuing shaping of today’s calling to be partners in God’s mission.
I also want to pay tribute to the role that Anglican religious communities have played, not least in undergirding all we do with an authentic and relevant spirituality. 

The TEAM Conference

Let me turn to the present.  In April 2001, a meeting of the Primates in Kanuga, USA, charged me with leading the response of the Communion to the HIV-AIDS pandemic.
The following August delegates from Anglican Provinces in Africa; People living with AIDS, Practitioner Partners met in Boksburg, near Johannesburg, for the first ever All Africa Anglican Conference on HIV-AIDS – Boksburg 1. 
Over three days, we considered the growing pandemic and its implications; and we drafted and adopted a consensus statement, with particular commitments to strategic planning together.   We came out with a TOOLKIT to help each of our Provinces in handling the pandemic.
We also made a commitment to report back on what we had achieved; and to share the experiences of those working at grass roots level.
This was the genesis of the meeting held in March this year - Boksburg 2.  
But when we began to plan for this, we realised that God’s call was to address far more than merely HIV and AIDS, and to look more widely than merely Africa.
So Boksburg 2 became the TEAM conference – Towards Effective Anglican Mission.
Over seven days, representatives from almost all our Provinces gathered in the context of prayer and theology, sharing diverse experiences and understanding on specific social issues, and renewing our commitment to respond to God’s call to service in the 21st century. 
We largely shaped our agenda around the MDGs – which the third Afro-Anglican conference, held in Toronto in July 2005, had recommended that all the structures of the Anglican Communion adopt and implement, in partnership with others. 
Though the MDGs are not themselves explicitly faith-driven, I make no apologies for this.
The MDGs give us an entry point in seeking to maximise the energies of the church in the service of God’s needy world. 
They describe the most comprehensive development programme ever formulated.  And they are underpinned by a commitment to partnership that moves away from paternalism and gives respect to all participants, regardless of wealth.
Archbishop Rowan Williams said to us in his address to the Conference that the church
‘ …must put questions to prosperous societies of West and North asking whether or not they have understood that they too are deprived and dehumanised by a global situation of injustice, a system that tolerates the idea of superfluous people who are allowed to remain invisible? St Augustine says that the problem of injustice is not only the suffering of the oppressed but the corruption of the mind and heart of the oppressor.   Working for the Millennium Development Goals is not simply working for the needy as a separate category of human beings, but working for the healing of all, including the healing of those who don’t see the problem.’
As I speak about each of the goals, I hope you will see how each connects with some aspect of God’s gospel good news for his world.

MDG 1 relates to the eradication of overall poverty and hunger.
As followers of the Bread of Life, who fed the multitudes, our first concern was that food be used for nourishment – and not, as seems to be increasingly the case, a tool of war or weapon of political pressure.
Furthermore, we want the international community to look beyond simply providing food to the developing world, and to contribute to creating sustainable food production systems globally.
I am greatly encouraged by developments in our African continent.  Agriculture has been recognised as a key sector of our economy.  As a consequence of this an alliance for a green revolution under the chairmanship of Kofi Annan has been launched.  It will be targeting small farmers.  Alongside that has been the creation of a Pan-African infrastructure development fund whose focus is energy, water, sanitation, transport, etc.  This augurs well for the future and the society needs to find a way of contributing meaningfully to Africa’s Development Agenda.
The church has been in the business of feeding both souls and bodies for centuries.  This is being increasingly recognised by other organisations, and we should be open to those who are prepared to develop strategic partnerships with us.

MDG 2 addresses education. 
The Anglican Church has had a longstanding commitment to universal education.
Indeed, I, and most of South Africa’s current leaders – in church, in politics, in business – owe our education to church schools!
In fact at present I am leading an initiative to Restorate Historic Schools – to be centres of Educational Cultural Excellence.  These are the schools that were run by the various church’s which were closed by the apartheid regime and are now dysfunctional which were deliberately run down by the apartheid regime.   This is a very specific opportunity for the mission of the church to partner government – and I hope it will stimulate support from beyond our borders.
Schools today often do far more than merely deliver academic learning.  For many children they operate as extended homes.  They must also serve as centres of social service delivery, especially where children have lost parents, and where extended families have limited capacity to care.
Again I want to call on the Society to consider very seriously how to partner us in this initiative.  We need missionary for a new era. 

MDG 3 concerns Gender Equality
Poverty disproportionately affects women and girls.
The church must recognise that for far too long, we have been a major part of the underlying problem, with religion being used to oppress women and render them second class citizens.
We must admit that our forefathers (and they were fathers), who shaped the interpretation and application of our holy texts, too often conspired, whether consciously or unconsciously, with the patriarchal tendencies of their times and places.
Today too many men still give religious reasons to justify unjustifiable patriarchal attitudes within contemporary cultures – of Europe, Africa, everywhere – and defend indefensible actions, which are certainly not what our faiths have at their heart.
 
It is true that through the centuries in which the Scriptures were written, women were not considered men’s equals.  But, like a golden thread running through them, we read how God repeatedly gives women a more equal position than the prevailing culture.
Over 3000 years ago, Deborah was the Judge of her time.  She held religious and political authority – and even directed her people to go into battle at God’s command.  She was like the Pope, the Queen and Mrs Thatcher, rolled into one – now there’s a scary prospect!
The New Testament gives vivid accounts of Jesus according to women a respect and honour that is way ahead of his time.
His mother is the herald of his ministry, at the wedding at Cana.  Martha makes the great declaration of faith ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of God.’  Almost all those faithfully watching at the foot of the cross are women.  And it is to women that the risen Christ first appears, sending Mary of Magdala to tell his followers, as the apostle to the apostles.
This may not be headlined in the gospel stories.  But it is there for everyone to read.  Jesus, ever the subversive, entrusts his ministry to women just as he does to men.
We need to approach our holy writings with new eyes.  What is the promise for women, for today, for tomorrow, for eternity?
If nothing less than equality before God is our final destiny, why settle for anything less now?
The Churches – too long part of the problem – must instead become leaders in promoting solutions.
Healthy families, where women and girls are treated with equal respect and dignity, are the fundamental building block of healthy society.  Where there is no such respect, gender violence flourishes, with the particular tragedy of rendering women and girls even more susceptible to HIV and AIDS.

MDG 4 aims to reduce child mortality
Children are the most vulnerable, and valuable members of our societies.  In the Global South – and in developed countries too, children suffer from the scourge of hunger, poverty, neglect and illness, and the consequences of environmental degradation.
An important part of the solution is ensuring that the voices of children are adequately heard in the formulation of policies to help them.  At Boksburg we affirmed the Communion should be active in ensuring that all young people have the opportunity to grow and develop into all that God has called them to be.

MDG 5 is the related question of maternal health
In most societies, mothers are primary caregivers, and their wellbeing ensures the wellbeing of the wider community.  Yet today in Africa, a woman has a 1 in 16 chance of dying in child birth, whereas in North America the risk is 1 in 3,700. 
The Mothers’ Union and other women’s groups are increasingly being recognized as key combatants in this fight – not least in their unrivalled reach into local communities, and potential to deliver basic health education. 
The Church, as the voice of the voiceless, must also call for better transport and health infrastructure, so that women in crisis can reach health facilities quickly, and receive adequate attention once they arrive.

MDG 6 addresses HIV and AIDS, and other diseases.
Speaking sensibly about HIV and AIDS remains an enormous challenge for the church.
Human beings never find it easy to talk about sex – and the church is worse than most!!  We are afraid to speak freely about sex, sexuality and gender – and we dress this fear up in the old clothes of Victorian respectability!
We must learn to speak openly and honestly, in simple and straightforward language that is accurate and informative. 
We must address the real needs of our people in ways that they can understand and put into practice;  and in ways that encourage and uplift, rather than bring fear or guilt.
Far too many people believe, or behave, as if HIV and AIDS are a punishment from God.  Far too many people believe, or behave, as if sexual sin is somehow worse than any other kind of sin.  This is nonsense, and we must say so!
Far too many people believe that the first response of the Church – the first response of God – is to judge and condemn those who are infected or affected.  Far too many people, wrestling with fears about life and death, feel that the Church is the last place, the worst place, to go for help and support.  This is a tragedy, and we must change it.
We must help them know that our doors are open, are arms outstretched in love – so they may see us as the first place and the best place to come in their greatest need.
There have been some interesting recent studies about the early centuries of the church.  We had been led to believe that what helped the church grow so rapidly in the first centuries was the witness of the martyrs. 
But it seems that what really made a difference was that Christians cared.  In times of plague and sickness, it was the Churches who looked out for the sick and suffering, and provided networks of both practical assistance and spiritual support. 
This is how the gospel spread and grew.
This is the true message of the God who is love.  This is true mission.
Let me say more about the particular responsibility to do better with young people.  15% of pregnancies in the Global South are among adolescents.  The rates of new HIV infections among the young in my part of the world are terrifying. 
The Rev’d Canon Rachel Mash heads our HIV and AIDS programme in Cape Town. She developed a research programme to discover why, even though our children had a high level of knowledge about the virus, and about the Church’s teaching that God created sex to be enjoyed within marriage, this had little effect on their behaviour. 
They told us the Church community did not address HIV, AIDS and sex in ways that helped them integrate this teaching into the rest of their lives.  They said they were not getting the practical know-how, nor the life skills, that would enable them safely to negotiate the transitions from childhood to adolescence and to young adulthood.
They wanted adults to overcome embarrassment and speak specifically and relevantly, and not to use abstract and spiritualized language which was beyond their maturity to grasp.
They wanted supportive, honest teaching about the realities of growing up, the choices people face, and the consequences life-decisions bring.  They wanted to learn about the best in relationships, learning how truly to love and be loved. 
Love ought to be at the heart of the Church’s life.  We are therefore having to move away from the image of ‘Thou shalt NOT.’  We must instead become the people who offer the most positive and joyful vision of life, in ways that can be understood and lived out.
Guided by the young people themselves, we have been developing peer education programmes.  These identify individuals who are leaders and opinion formers within their own age groups, and equip them with the skills and information they need to influence other young people to live healthy, safe and fulfilling lives.  
These peer educators become and model the change we want to see.  They influence the youth culture around them, by living the message as well as giving the message that allows others to make their own informed lifestyle choices. 
They are living demonstrations that behaviour change does not come primarily from education and information, but from affirmation and inspiration.
 
And of course, there is much, much, more than we can do in the field of HIV and AIDS, for example pastorally, and through supporting home-based care programmes. 
We must especially utilise our grass roots networks that reach into communities in ways that many government agencies envy.  In Southern Africa, I am encouraging churches, especially in rural areas, to offer their premises as ‘One Stop Health Care Centres’ where professionals and volunteers can work alongside one another, offering a comprehensive range of vital services.
We must work similarly comprehensively against malaria and tuberculosis.

MDG 7 is to improve environmental sustainability.
In my earlier talk, I spoke about how the church has a particular prophetic role to play in the preservation of God’s creation.  We must also observe best practices ourselves.

MDG 8 is building and strengthening partnerships
As a world-wide Communion, spanning the planet, spanning rich and poor, donors and developing, we have particular opportunities to build links, strengthen dialogues, and pursue an all-inclusive advocacy that gives a voice to everyone. 
This comprehensiveness gives us the ability effectively to promote holistic mission with global partners, and make a greater difference than ever before in bringing the Lord’s abundant life to his children.
Let me also mention that last year I launched an initiative called African Monitor, which is designed to work for change through partnership with grass-roots communities, especially utilising faith networks.  We want to ensure that the voice of Africa’s people, in particular the poorest, and their priorities and perspectives, are heard in the corridors of power.  As our logo puts it, we are ‘African Voices for Africa’s Development.’

Two More Goals

At the TEAM conference, we identified two additional significant objectives for the church’s practical mission in the world.
The first was to work to reduce conflict and assist refugees, internally displaced people, and asylum seekers, not least by helping them have a voice.  
We also noted the major impact such forced migration had on many of our dioceses, and the particular expectations that local churches will provide tangible material support, given the Christian commitment to offer unconditional hospitality and pastoral care to the stranger.
Our second additional concern was to protect children’s rights, and preserve young lives.
Pilgrims for Peace reminded us that:
‘Children are created, known, and loved by God, they have their own potential and capacity to know and love God (even apart from their parents), and to exercise their own leadership.  All children, including those who do not yet know God, deserve the love and protection of the church, which has a unique role in developing children’s potential.’
On the basis of Holy Scripture, but recognising also the framework of United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child, we committed ourselves to address issues children’s rights and welfare, including child trafficking, child soldiers, gangs, child abuse, suicide, and addiction.
We also acknowledged the need better to include young people in every aspect of church life in order to nurture their full potential – and so that we also might be enriched by the full participation of every member of the body of Christ.

TEAM Conclusions

A detailed report of the Conference is now being prepared, which will be sent to all Anglican Provinces and extra-provincial churches, as well as networks, commissions, and other Anglican bodies, inviting them to adopt our recommendation and integrate them into their work.
A small team is also looking at how the conclusions can be presented to the Lambeth Conference and other Instruments of Unity with a view to strengthening coordination, capacity building, communication and resource mobilization.
Though I shall by then be well into the enjoyment of my retirement, I also hope that a further similarly comprehensive conference may take place in 2014.
Dear friends, let me end by saying this. 
Our Lord calls us to share in his mission to his world.
He will direct us.  He will equip us.
It is only for us to begin to take the first step.
May he bless us all richly; and may he make us a blessing to others

Talk given at USPG Conference, High Leigh, 18 June 2007 (Session 2)