connect - february 2014

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with the CMS community online www.cms-uk.org SHARING JESUS CHANGING LIVES WINTER 2014 Community voices inspiring each other in mission A new mission discipleship course from CMS has been called “relevant” and “practical” by participants. “The Possible World course is the first course where I’ve done something practical in response to it,” said a young woman from Oxfordshire. Designed for small groups, The Possible World contains seven sessions on vital issues facing all of us today: Session One: Jesus, a prophet. Me, a prophet? Session Two: Hospitality: All right for some? Session Three: Consumer culture: I want to live simply…but I like stuff Session Four: The environment: For God so loved the world Session Five: Human suffering: How can I show I care? Session Six: Injustice: So many issues, so few of us Session Seven: Now what? Joining the prophetic and the practical For each session, there’s a short film featuring candid interviews with Christians who are responding to these issues. Several of these interviewees have graced the pages of Connect — like CMS mission partners Ann-Marie Wilson and Dave Bookless, as well as CMS mission associates Johnny Sertin and Cyprian Yobera and CMS community members John Wheatley and Shannon Hopkins. Course author Debbie James said, “Like the Old Testament prophets before him, Jesus presents his followers with a radical challenge about how to live in the present, as well as a transforming hope for the future. The question is, how can we live out both this challenge and this hope in our communities? The Possible World helps small groups do just that.” Tim Dakin, Bishop of Winchester and former CMS community leader, agrees: “This is a really relevant and practical course that helps followers of Jesus live as agents of social transformation within our culture.” Jonny Baker, new director for mission education for CMS, says, “This course would be great to do any time of year, but I suggest people consider it for Lent.” Ash Wednesday falls on 5 March this year. To order The Possible World course for your small group, church group or missional community, go to cms-shop.org. uk or call CMS on 01865 787400 The Possible World pack contains: A DVD with films for each of the seven sessions A colourful 50-page course guide Handouts for participants A promotional trailer and poster you can use to drum up interest in your community Is another world possible ? New course from CMS brings both a challenge and hope – just in time for Lent

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Community voices inspiring each other in mission from the CMS Mission community worldwide - members' newsletter.

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Page 1: Connect - February 2014

with the CMS community online www.cms-uk.org

SHARINGJESUSCHANGING

LIVESWINTER 2014

Community voices inspiring each other in mission

A new mission discipleship course from CMS has been called “relevant” and “practical” by participants.

“The Possible World course is the first course where I’ve done something practical in response to it,” said a young woman from Oxfordshire.

Designed for small groups, The Possible World contains seven sessions on vital issues facing all of us today:

• Session One: Jesus, a prophet. Me, a prophet? • Session Two: Hospitality: All right for some? • Session Three: Consumer culture: I want to live simply…but I like stuff • Session Four: The environment: For God so loved the world • Session Five: Human suffering: How can I show I care? • Session Six: Injustice: So many issues, so few of us • Session Seven: Now what? Joining the prophetic and the practical For each session, there’s a short film featuring candid interviews with Christians

who are responding to these issues. Several of these interviewees have graced the pages of Connect — like CMS mission partners Ann-Marie Wilson and Dave Bookless, as well as CMS mission associates Johnny Sertin and Cyprian Yobera and CMS community members John Wheatley and Shannon Hopkins.

Course author Debbie James said, “Like the Old Testament prophets before him, Jesus presents his followers with a radical challenge about how to live in the present, as well as a transforming hope for the future. The question is, how can we live out both this challenge and this hope in our communities? The Possible World helps small groups do just that.”

Tim Dakin, Bishop of Winchester and former CMS community leader, agrees: “This is a really relevant and practical course that helps followers of Jesus live as agents of social transformation within our culture.”

Jonny Baker, new director for mission education for CMS, says, “This course would be great to do any time of year, but I suggest people consider it for Lent.” Ash Wednesday falls on 5 March this year.

To order The Possible World course for your small group, church group or missional community, go to cms-shop.org.uk or call CMS on 01865 787400

The Possible World pack contains:• A DVD with films for each of the seven sessions• A colourful 50-page course guide• Handouts for participants• A promotional trailer and poster you can use to drum up interest in your community

Is another world possible?New course from CMS brings both a challenge and hope – just in time for Lent

Page 2: Connect - February 2014

“No man is an island, entire of itself,” wrote John Donne. Rather,

he wrote, “every man is a piece of the

continent.” We are all connected; each of

us to the other.

We in the CMS Community are

acutely aware of this. When most people

hear of fighting in South Sudan, however

much empathy they may feel, it remains

a distant conflict in a far away land. But

for us it’s a place where our community

members work, serving with a Church that

has been in partnership with us for many,

many years.

And although none of our people

in mission were directly affected by the

attacks last year in Nairobi and Peshawar,

there were people known to us in CMS

who lost either lives or loved ones there

– including children. No one, indeed, is an

island. And as Donne goes on to say, “Any

man’s death diminishes me, because I am

involved in mankind.”

If we in the Christian family feel

that loss particularly sharply, that only

reflects the fact that

we do truly believe

in the connectedness

of that family. We are

connected because we

know that our God is

our Father – and we are therefore brothers

and sisters in his son, Jesus Christ.

We have a particular sense of

connectedness within that family as

members of the CMS community. And

as a community committed to global

mission we should feel the pain from

other continents just a little more keenly.

That is why we need to stay connected

to each other, praying for each other, for

God’s Church and for God’s world. And

here in Oxford we want to do more and

more to enable the connectedness of the

CMS community to be

a living reality. Watch

this space!

But above all let’s

not allow the tragedies

and violence of our

times to lead us to withdraw into our own

sometimes comfortable – if isolated –

worlds. Let’s remain connected, in life as

well as in death, as together we commit

ourselves to the cause of mission, that

God’s kingdom may come – here on

earth, as it is in heaven.

“Community – what a pain”

By Philip Mounstephen, executive leader

“No man is an island, entire of itself”

As you may have heard, we are

delighted to be able announce that

the three CMS trustees standing for re-

election (Jonathan Brant, Peter Hyatt and

Dione MacDonald) have been re-elected.

In addition Jane Shaw and Salim

Munayer have also been elected.

Jane is a retired CMS mission partner,

who served in Pakistan. She has worked

at director level in the NHS, with Save the

Children Fund in Uganda and Pakistan, and

as a lecturer teaching international students

at Leeds University.

Salim is the director and founder of

Musalaha, a ministry of reconciliation

that aims to bring Israeli and Palestinian

Christians together as a witness to the wider

Middle East context. He is a professor at

Bethlehem Bible College and has published

several books on reconciliation.

As you can imagine we are thrilled to

have these two people, with their depth of

mission insight and leadership skills, joining

our board of trustees.

New trustees…drum roll please!Dione

JaneSalim

PeterJonathan

Page 3: Connect - February 2014

Meet new CMS member Dave Doran. Dave, 46, is a youth minister at St Mary of Bethany Church, Woking. Last Summer (2013), Dave and co-leader Helen Alder took a youth group to Rwanda for a CMS tailor-made two-week Encounter visit. After they returned to the UK, Dave, Helen and

three people in the youth group decided to become members of the CMS mission

community.

Dave, how did you first hear about CMS?

I have been in church-based ministry for a number of years and have been aware of a number of

mission societies, including CMS.

What made you decide to go on a short-term Encounter to

Rwanda with CMS?Ten years ago I worked with a

volunteer who had travelled to the UK from Rwanda through Careforce. She

was an amazing young woman who had lived through the genocide. Her

story helped me to look further into what had happened in that part of Africa. The

opportunity to take a youth group and to find out more was a dream come true and

the answer to a prayer I had prayed many years ago.

Describe your Rwanda experience. Did it meet, not meet or exceed your expectations?

Where do I start? Yes my Rwanda experience more than met my expectations.

The people we met were amazing, as were the opportunities to visit and share in the lives of so many people – from hands on practical work to praying. Other highlights included: sharing meals and church life, experiencing Kigali’s noisy busyness and travelling across rural Africa, listening to the stories of the 1994 genocide survivors and hearing how the church is living in a hopeful future for Rwanda and its people.

Why did you decide to become a member of CMS?

Well, for me, this is the beginning of the journey and I hope to continue to work alongside CMS. We are planning another trip and I want to stay with CMS. I was particularly impressed by the training and support we received and on the whole CMS created a wonderful learning experience for me and the team that I was part of. What do you think your CMS membership will mean for you?

I hope it will help me to remain aware of the work that CMS is doing across the world. Staying in contact with the project and people we have met. Acting as a reminder to pray and support when I can. N

EW M

EMB

ER C

OR

NER

Meet new CMS member Dave Doran

From Helen Alder, who co-led the Encounter team of ten young people to Kigali, Rwanda with Dave Doran last summer:

I have always had a heart for mission anyway and it was a positive experience working with CMS. I appreciated the fact that the trip was organised well for us and am keen to support them in the future. I would encourage everyone to take part in an Encounter mission trip if they get an opportunity. It was for me a life changing trip and a real privilege to be able to go on it. It was amazing to be able to take part in so many different ministries and to gain an insight into the Rwandan culture and to understand how their traumatic past is shaping the future of the country. The experience for each of the young people who we took was an invaluable one and one that I think they will remember for the rest of their lives.

NEW MEMBER CORNERRwanda Reflections

If you would like to take your group on a cross-cultural Encounter, CMS can design a trip around your specific needs and provide training, advice and debriefing when you return. For more information, contact Helen Brook: [email protected] or 01865 787400

Over two weeks, the team participated in youth work, community outreach, church life and practical building projects.

They also listened to Rwandans’ stories. Team member Eleanor Challis said: “Seeing the [genocide] memorial was really touching and we learnt about what their people had been through. One man told us about how he had a family of 150 before the genocide, but now he has just four left.” (Source: Diocese of Guildford website)

“I would encourage everyone to take part in an Encounter mission trip if they get an opportunity. ”

Encountering Rwanda, Summer 2013

Page 4: Connect - February 2014

Can you tell me more about your parish and the needs you see?

I live in a parish that has an ancient church and picturesque village surrounded by a large housing estate and a second area that is bisected by a major road, and has quite a few transient occupants, many from Europe. The congregation has been mainly drawn from the village surrounding the church. The housing estate, Rose Hill, uses the

church for baptisms and weddings and funerals.

In many respects I imagine it to be a typical Anglican parish, a sandwich of the old and new. It has a growing number of children as well as an elderly but highly motivated group.

The needs that I perceive are for a pioneer presence in both Rose Hill and the other area, Donnington. I feel that a confidence to share the gospel is not easy for all and work is needed to encourage confidence.

How did you end up on the CMS course?

The pioneer course came my way when I was looking for something more than diocese training days. I was aware of

the gap between Sunday services and my work at that time as an advocate for adults with severe learning difficulties. I needed to ‘get my teeth’ into something. I felt as though I had swallowed a whale to begin with! I was very unconfident and

aware that I was much older than other students. I knew that it was the right thing for me to be doing, but I felt inadequate for the task! How do you feel the pioneer course has affected your life and ministry?

I hope that I am more the person I was created to be. My artist persona is comfortable in my work in the church now and I am more confident about sharing the gospel. I have at last met other people who also look at things a bit differently, handle faith without kid gloves, really see the world and people about them and the everyday relevance of Jesus and his stories and resurrection.

I realised at the very beginning of the course that I didn’t know who I was in God’s sight. Having four children and seven grandchildren and lots of relations had somehow fogged up my vision of myself.

The training has had a huge impact on my confidence to teach and preach in my parish as a Reader and children’s leader and to initiate things even if they are new, different, and cause some raised eyebrows. I have met some amazing people doing real gospel work in a way that I will never do, but with whom I feel at home.

Helen Harwood spoke to two women living in Oxford who have participated in the CMS Pioneer Mission Leadership Training Course.

Caption??

Sarah McKearney completed a certificate on the pioneer course and now joins for occasional modules.

Pioneer Perspectives

“I realised at the very beginning of the course that I didn’t know who I was in God’s sight.”

Page 5: Connect - February 2014

Can you tell us how you got into mission and pioneering?

I spent a year in Argentina with Latin Link from March 2011–2012. For the second half of the year, I was volunteering at an NGO that had a space for at-risk girls in a poor community to hang out and attend workshops. Towards the end, I really wanted to stay and strengthen the link between this NGO and the local church. There were so many ideas I had, but the timing wasn’t right.

Through this, I grew an interest in community development, mentoring and discipleship, theology, missional communities, working with pre-teen girls in particular, as well as wanting to develop skills in entrepreneurship and a better understanding of sustainable business/community projects.

When I finally discovered the Pioneer course, I felt it covered a lot of those things, with the bonus of it being accepting and accommodating of creative people. Can you tell me a bit about Sunday@5, the weekly gathering of Barton Community Church?

It’s unpredictable, fun and chaotic. Probably about 90 per cent of those who come grew up in Barton and many have begun a journey in seeking God. We’ve had three baptisms , which were really exciting. Two teenage children and their mum; it’s amazing how transforming change ripples through a family.

We try to share leadership – one person leads the service, but they often delegate bits to people – to tell

their testimony, to provide the music, to lead discussion groups and craft, etc. At the end of the service we have a meal together – for that we have a cooking rota. We have an average of 30 people each week.

Can you tell me about the self-esteem course you are running?

The VIP course (Value, Identity, Purpose) is a 10-week course. The first course we did with five girls we already knew, and the second one with four girls who had been referred to us.

Although the discussion around self-esteem and healthy body image really impacts the girls, they also really value being able to meet with other girls their age and to be supported by older females. Many live in large families or don’t have much quality time with their parents.

I think it’s really important to provide a space that is just for girls. The topics are sensitive, and we spend time building trust in a safe environment.

What are the ‘best bits’ of your pioneering and missional work, and what has been hard?

I love getting to know the young

people, going for walks and just being a listening ear. Things that have been hard: working four days a week means that I can’t be as available as I’d like.

How has the Pioneer Mission Leadership Course helped you in your journey?

It has been a great resource in getting me to think about all sorts of things – work and vocation, culture and context, mission entrepreneurship. I feel really supported by the CMS pioneer course and friends there and by those who have ‘the gift of not fitting in’. Ironically, perhaps, we’re growing quite a family of non-fitting-in-ers!

Both of these interviews were edited from their original versions, which can be found at pioneer.cms-uk.org

Pioneer student Hannah Davis lives and works alongside young people on the Barton housing estate in Oxford. MORE

PIONEERING HIGHLIGHTS:• On Tuesday 12 November approximately 100 people gathered at CMS in Oxford for its first conference to present and facilitate discussion on academic research around pioneering.

• In our fourth year, we have around 15 new people doing something substantial with the course, including certificate, MA, foundation degree, training for ordination or several modules, and some others doing a module or two.

• Kim Hartshorne founded the Upper Room, a community in Cirencester and is in her second year of training with CMS. She is training to be an ordained pioneer in the Church of England. In addition to baptising five people, the Upper Room community recently received a Bishop’s Mission Order, a piece of legislation in the Church of England that enables communities who don’t fit the parish structures to be recognised as part of the church.

Page 6: Connect - February 2014

Include food and lift the mood!By Barbara Oakley with contributions from Ann Bower and Pat Ninham

We have learned much from Middle Eastern, Asian, African and other traditions, of the benefits of developing relationships over a meal. We have numerous biblical examples of special meals, ranging from Abraham (Genesis 18) to Jesus, who used meals as opportunities for teaching, and there are several meals mentioned in Acts, some resulting in people becoming Christians.

Some years ago we in the Birmingham CMS Association learned that, while few people came to CMS AGMs when we offered a cup of coffee and a biscuit, many would come to a buffet supper, hear a speaker, meet each other and have an AGM at the same time. Different churches host us each year and we have had catering representing the different cultures living in Birmingham.

The Harrogate CMS group also has a reputation for serving good food at their meetings. I visited them last year. When I arrived the church hall was beautifully laid

out and a group of CMS members and supporters were busy in the kitchen putting the finishing touches to the meal, which had been prepared in the home of Pat Ninham. Eventually about 100 people sat down to eat and to listen to mission partners.

Pat explains how she got involved: “Spending my childhood in a vicarage, I was always inspired by visiting missionaries. On retirement from teaching we moved to Harrogate. I joined the committee of the Harrogate CMS Action Group. I have catered quite a lot through our time in boarding education, so I started helping with the annual supper. We found the attendance at that event far exceeded that of the AGM, so we started doing two suppers a year; we get between 70 and 100 coming. We have a good team of helpers, which means we can all enjoy the excellent speakers.”

I wonder whether we can challenge CMS members to set an example of hospitality over meals in their own homes, to enable others to be enriched by meeting mission partners and people from other cultures. Perhaps as part of our fulfilment of our CMS promises we should challenge each other to meet our neighbours over a meal this season, possibly sharing the gospel, but at least getting to know our neighbours.

National events 28 February - 2 March CMS Southern Conference God at Work in CMS in 2014: Where are we going?” High Leigh Conference Centre, Hoddesdon, Herts. Contact: Jane Fulford, 15 Brandon Avenue, Woodley, Reading, RG5 4PU Tel: 0118 969 5039 Mobile: 07764947495 Email: [email protected]

8 March Short term team mission leaders’ training day Are you or someone at your church leading a team overseas this year? The day is for people planning to lead a cross cultural visit. CMS, Watlington Road, Oxford OX4 6BZ. Cost: £35 Contact Helen Brook: [email protected] or Tel: 01865 787493

20 March Mid-Northants CMS Group St Mary’s Rushden 7pm. Contact: Margaret Walker Tel: 01933 223614 Email: [email protected]

28 March Harrogate CMS Group St Mark’s Harrogate 7pm. Supper and speaker. Contact: Tony and Pat Ninham Tel: 01423 873 617, E-mail: [email protected]

29 March CMS in Scotland A meeting for friends, members and supporters. The Threshold, Church Hall of St John’s Scottish Episcopal Church, Princes Street, Perth. 10am for 10.30am start, finishing by 4pm. Bring your own lunch, drinks provided. Contact: Hannah Williams Tel: 01250 874002, Email: [email protected]

11-13 April CMS Northern Spring Conference “Sharing the gospel – here, there and everywhere”. Cliff College, North Derbyshire. Contact: Alan Nickless, 352 Carter Knowle Road, Sheffield S11 9GD. Tel: 01142364517 Email [email protected]

26 April Connect Live 2014 (formerly Members’ Day) for Southern members and friends Speakers: CMS executive leader Philip Mounstephen and CMS community mission facilitator Mark Berry. CMS, Watlington Road, Oxford OX4 6BZ. 10.30am-4pm. Bring your own packed lunch. Contact: Mark Berry Tel. 01865 787496 Email: [email protected]

6 May Worcester CMS Group annual meeting St Stephen’s Church Hall, Worcester. Light refreshments from 7.00 pm. Speaker tbc. Contact: Nick Fane Tel: 01684 566601 Email: [email protected]

10 May Northern regional meeting St Aidan’s Acomb, York. 10am-4pm. Please bring your own packed lunch. Drinks are provided. Contact: Miss Evelyn Wroe Tel: 01904 780852 Email: [email protected]

10 May Africa Day Conference Shirley Parish Church of St. James, Southampton. Bring your picnic lunch for noon. Formal meeting is from 1pm-4pm. Contact Charlotte and Nick Smith, 27 Kellett Road, Southampton, SO15 7PS. Tel: 02380 777810 Email: [email protected]

31 May - 1 June Hull & District CMS Association (which was founded on 1 June 1814) is having a special celebratory weekend. For more information. Contact: Allen Bagshawe Tel: 01482 702220 Email: [email protected]

House 244: Flying the Co-op!

Mission house hosted harvest and Christmas events

By CMS community house member Katharine Thompson

At House 244 in East Oxford, our life together as a community, and in our neighbourhood, is guided by a set of values including hospitality, creativity, graciousness, generosity, openness as well as being globally aware and locally focused.

The Food Co-op we run is one way we express these values practically and missionally, as we open our home to the local community around us, as we make ethical, fairtrade, organic wholesale products available at cost price and as we use our space creatively.

A Saturday morning Co-op on 5 October was a good example of this. It reflected the harvest season as we made corn dollies as well as fresh apple and pear juice using an apple press borrowed from another local community co-op. The most recent Saturday morning Co-op before Christmas

was a good example, too. There were handmade crafts for sale, the children made Christmas decorations and there was a cake sale with people from the local community donating cakes for sale in aid of Donnington Doorstep, a local family centre.

As I reflect on these great mornings I know I experienced the power of relationship in action.

The simple act of opening our home is a creative, joy-giving experience for all involved. Some come to share their creativity in different ways; others come with the hurts and joys of life. For all of us there is space to “be” and as Jesus said, to “rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn”. For me, it is a taste of the Kingdom here and now. And the juice and cake are delicious, too!To read more about Co-op 244: www.house244.wordpress.com/co-op244

Page 7: Connect - February 2014

to events: www.cms-uk.org/events

to CMS people

13-14 June CMS Wales Conference The Franciscan Retreat Centre, Pantasaph, Flintshire, North Wales. Bible sessions from Philip Mounstephen. Contact: Mrs Miranda Bowen Tel: 01792 391591 Email: [email protected]

20 September Connect Live 2014 (formerly Members’ Day) for Northern members and friends Venue in Sheffield tbc. Speakers: Philip Mounstephen and Mark Berry. For Contact: Alan Nickless Tel 0114 236451 Email: [email protected]

1 October Central South Regional Meeting (Mission Partners Fellowship) All Saints’ Church Hall, Greenbanks Close, Milford-on-Sea, Lymington, SO41 0SQ. Bring your own lunch. Drinks provided. RSVP to Dr E Edmunds by 2 September

2014 Tel: 01425 610797 Email: [email protected]

4 October CMS in Cheltenham celebrating CMS past and present Christ Church, Cheltenham. 10am – 4pm. Contact: Patrick or Val Harris Tel: 01242 231376 Email: [email protected]

14-16 November Africa Conference Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire. For details and bookings contact: Nick and Val Fane, 1 Woodshears Drive, Malvern, Worcs. WR14 3EA Tel. 01684 566601 Email: [email protected] CMS sponsored challenges 10 May Annual CMS South Downs Walk A gentler challenge

NEXT CONNECT: SUMMER 2014 Send your stories to:

[email protected]

have served for the last four years in Uganda, Nick with International Health Sciences University and Kate supporting a community clinic. Ian Harvey also ended service – after being in Lubumbashi, DR Congo for four years establishing and running a project for street children. David and Jean Hucker finished their service in Chile as church planters in Arica. Meanwhile, Cyprian and Jayne Yobera, based in Britain, transferred from being mission partners to mission associates (see above) as Cyprian has been appointed Rector of Eccles. Allan and Anne Lacey retired after serving seven years in Arua, north-west Uganda. Allan worked in theological training for Madi and West Nile diocese and Anne was a nurse tutor. After 14 years of serving in Nairobi diocese, Kenya, Anita and Colin Smith (with daughters Sheila and Sandie) finished and returned to the UK. Colin led the Centre for Urban Mission in Kibera, in Nairobi, while Anita served at All Saints Cathedral, Nairobi, with a wider ministry to the international community. Colin has a new post as dean of mission education at CMS.

Welcome and farewell: Oxford, UK staffWe said farewell to our head of finance, Stafford Cruse. His successor is Thomas Mitchell. Jim Barker joined as interim direct marketing manager, the role formerly held by Stuart Blackman. We said a tearful au revoir to Seth Crewe, our creative designer and welcomed Dan Misson into the post. Melinda Staines, head of HR, went on maternity leave at Christmas and Geraldine Shepherd has stepped into her shoes in the interim. Key relationships manager Theresa Chiew left CMS in December. Jonny Baker became director of mission

for everyone. Contact Danni at [email protected] for more information. CMS pioneer events:Pioneer Mission Leadership Training Course Open Days 2014: Tuesday 11 February and Tuesday 13 May: 10.30am-2.30pm. CMS, Watlington Road, Oxford OX4 6BZ. Contact: Helen Harwood Email: [email protected]

Pioneer Mission Leadership Modules Anyone can join in modules on the Pioneer Mission Leadership Training course. The module on Pioneer Ministry Skills starts Tuesday 4 March and a module on Mission Leadership starts on Tues 22 April. For more information about the course and individual modules, email: [email protected]

ReSource Weekend Immerse yourself in mission for the weekend and meet people building community in diverse contexts. 21-23 March Holding the Tension, Southall, 16-18 May Forest Church, Wales For more information: www.resourcemission.com Special Invitation Did you know that 2014 marks 200 years since the gospel was first shared in New Zealand by CMS missionaries? To honour this bicentenary, New Zealand CMS (founded in 1892) is recruiting individuals and groups from across the globe to help with nationwide creative mission events in August and October. If you or your group would like to help NZCMS celebrate 200 years of the gospel in New Zealand, contact Helen at [email protected]

education, a newly created post, having previously been pioneer team leader. Colin Smith, previously a CMS mission partner in Nairobi, became dean of mission education, another new post. We also said farewell, or rather, see you soon, to CMS mission learning and development advisor Berdine van den Toren, who continues her connection with CMS as she and her husband Benno are now mission partners. We love our volunteers! Mike Stranks, who provided amazing audio engineer amazing support, has ended his time with CMS in this capacity. Mavis Swailes has joined CMS as prayer intercessor volunteer – faithfully coming in each week to pray. Liz Winson has been appointed volunteer counsellor. Christopher Roy and Ruth Roach are offering their time and skills to CMS. Catherine Mohamed worked alongside the HR team as a volunteer administrator during the summer. Malcolm Herbert is going to join CMS as vocational recruitment adviser – a new volunteer role.

Thank you! By Henry Scriven, CMS mission director for South America As community chaplain, Pippa Soundy did something within CMS which had never been done before. Ordained in 2010, she had a special licence from the Bishop of Oxford, which allowed her to work part time in a parish and part time with CMS. She did her ‘curacy’ in the CMS office and wider community, exploring what ordained pioneer ministry looks like in those contexts. Many of us will remember with gratitude her creative leading of our Wednesday@12 meetings. She was also invaluable as a Christian listener to staff who needed to share and pray with

someone outside the structure. Thank you, Pippa, for all you gave to CMS! We know we will continue to benefit from your ministry as a member of the CMS community in the future!

DEATHS

May Vera Hammer, Japan 1950-64 (with husband Canon Dr Raymond Jack Hammer) Noreen Mardon, Sudan 1949-62 June Helen Badcock, Nigeria 1960-62 Margaret Mary L Pirouet, Kenya 1957-63 and Uganda 1963-70 Michael L Wolf, Honorary Treasurer, Ruanda Mission and in 1970s for five years, SAMS financial secretary July Rev Canon Peter Tong, On general council of SAMS and selector for SAMS for many years Vivien Winstanley, Peru 1981-93, with husband Bishop Winstanley August Dr Margaret Edith Coles, Sudan 1962-72 October Betty Mario Houghton, India 1945-71 November Dr Agnes Compton, India 1954-62, Uganda 1962-70 and Sudan 1971-74 December Teresa (Nan) Foster, Egypt 1956 and Sierra Leone 1958-64 Dorothea Marjorie Wedgewood, founder of St Andrew’s School, Asuncion, Paraguay in 1963 and SAMS mission partner 1958-74

Welcome and farewell: People in mission CMS is pleased to announce newly accepted mission partners: Miranda and Tim Heathcote, with their daughters Keziah and Emmanuelle have gone to Spain to work in mission training and communications. Anna Sims is in Peru – doing outreach work using the arts. Benno and Berdine van den Toren have moved to The Netherlands, where Benno lectures and from where Berdine will travel to teach future Christian leaders, particularly with a new mission training course being developed by AsiaCMS. Ephraim and Ruth Vilella and toddler Max, who were mission partners in Brazil are now working out of the UK with Opportunity International and planning to move to Uganda. Ruth Sayers (Jordan) and Martin and Pam Lawson (North Africa) have re-located to new ministries in Britain, still as CMS mission partners. Newly announced mission associates are Caroline and Peter Finch (Zimbabwe), Robyn Langford (Thailand), Jonathan Lamb (Rwanda), Anna and Dave Bishop (Uganda), Cyprian and Jayne Yobera (Britain) – the latter couple have transferred from being mission partners.New short-termers are Elsbeth Priestley (Tanzania), Maria Ball (Uganda), Bethan Taylor (Tanzania), Tyler Overton (Chile), Jonathan Crozier (Greece), Josh and Nina Cleaver (Nepal), Stephen Hatch (Tanzania), Ceri Arkins (Argentina), Lynn Treneary (South Sudan) and Joseph Venable (Jordan).

The following mission partners have ended service: Usha Harry who served in north-west London in the UK for many years. Kate and Nick Wooding, with Ben and Anna, who

Page 8: Connect - February 2014

CMS is a mission community acknowledged by the Church of England A company limited by guarantee. Registered in England and Wales, charity number 1131655, company number 6985330, registered office: CMS, Watlington Road, Oxford OX4 6BZ

Ways to connect to the CMS communityMission community facilitator: Mark Berry: [email protected] or 01865 787482Link with mission partners: Julie Hinckley: [email protected]

or 01865 787524

Giving: [email protected] or 01865 787468

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Whilst taking a sabbatical in Cape Town, South Africa, I attended a meeting; the aim was to see how churches could build bridges between one another, and to examine the obstacles which seem to stand in the way.

Twenty years after the end of apartheid, South Africa is still a nation with deep divisions. There are suburban estates and shopping malls that would not look out of place in the most privileged parts of Britain. But there are also vast townships of iron sheet shacks. Sadly, this division is also apparent in many churches.

In the meeting, the pastor of a Pentecostal church in an affluent, largely white, suburb was talking about the challenge of building relationships with pastors in the townships. For him, the primary stumbling block was the way conversations seemed to revolve around finance and the expectation of funds flowing from the wealthier churches to the townships. His deepest frustration was that he felt the relationships were not genuine, but simply a means to another end.

The next person to speak was a Pentecostal pastor from one of the townships. She talked about how many of the affluent churches would visit them to do training, preach and teach. But they would never be invited in return to teach or preach

in the visiting churches. She said: “They don’t see that we have something to teach….” For her, the deepest crisis was in the very understanding of these relationships. They seemed to be built upon a deception that equates possession of material resources and social advantage with spiritual maturity – even though Jesus indicated the very reverse.

In some ways it seemed as if this conversation in Cape Town mirrored some of the challenges facing the church globally. Sometimes our eyes need to be opened to the poverty of our affluence and our disabling self-sufficiency, which blinds us to the way we need others to help us see more clearly what it means to follow Jesus.

What would it mean to admit our need and dependence on one another in the task of mission? Can we come together in ways which help us understand much more richly (but perhaps less comfortably) what it really means to be in Christ and to be his church?

One of the ways the church in Cape Town has attempted to address what it means to

be community in a divided city is to host a weekly community meal for anyone who shows up, and so each week between 70-90 people sit down to a shared meal. Over 80 per cent of them will be people living on the streets. Many struggle with addictions and painful histories.

There is always the risk that the church will find itself running just another soup kitchen, but the purpose has always been more than that. While meeting a physical need is a service to those who come, the real aim has always been to be community together, breaking bread together (also washing up together!) and expressing

something of the hospitality that lies at the heart of the gospel.

In Luke 14 Jesus tells a Pharisee that to have a real party he needs to invite the poor, the crippled, the blind

and the lame to share around his table. There werre certainly moments, in the middle of a curry, where I sensed, among friends and strangers, that I might just be enjoying a little feast of the Kingdom.

“What would it mean to admit our need and dependence on one another in the task of mission?”

Colin Smith (blue shirt) at a pastors’ meeting in South Africa

Building real bridgesBy Colin Smith, CMS dean of mission education

Church Mission Society, Watlington Road, Oxford, OX4 6BZ t: 01865 787400