At the Church of England General Synod sessions in July, this motion was passed:
‘That this Synod, recognizing the Church of England’s historic and continuing participation in world mission as essential to our identity as members of the universal Church
(a) welcome the report entitled World-Shaped Mission and commend it to the dioceses, deaneries and parishes of the Church of England for further study;
(b) affirm the ongoing role of the Mission Agencies in resourcing the mission of the Church of England at home and overseas;
(c) affirm the continuing growth, whether through the Diocesan Companion Links, initiatives by parishes or otherwise in the relationships between the Church of England, the Provinces of the Anglican Communion and the world church
(d) encourage the building of continuing partnership between all involved in Church of England world mission and development relationships.
The ACNS has now published Continuing Indaba team welcomes “biggest change to mission policy in 50 years”.
The Church of England’s recent decision to move its model of mission from one of dependency to mutuality has been warmly welcomed by the Anglican Communion’s Continuing Indaba team.
The resolution passed at the York synod was not only a major step for Church of England, but also a boost for everyone involved with the Anglican Communion’s efforts to encourage dialogue across difference.
“This vision of a new way of doing mission has far reaching consequences for the Church of England and the Anglican Communion,” said Continuing Indaba’s Canon Phil Groves. “The World-Shaped Mission report endorsed at the Synod asks dioceses to commit to principles of partnership that encourage the continuation of a journey from former patterns of dependency towards mutuality.
“That means a move away from a model where Anglicans in the North are simply giving resources to those global South, to one where members of the Communion are genuinely giving and receiving to one another.”
What’s more, the report also contains commitments to partnership through listening and learning, listening across cultures through Indaba, and using Continuing Indaba and similar processes….
The Continuing Indaba website is here. It contains lots of resource materials.
Some earlier ACNS press releases:
Continuing Indaba is celebrated as “a wonderful gift to the Communion”
And there was this ENS report: Continuing Indaba enables ‘gospel-shaped conversation’ which includes some videos.
Indaba seems not to have worked too well in the past – even though the more eirenic Provinces are still in favour. I notice that the more conservative Provinces seem to place absolutely no faith in the process, so one wonders, will it bring the GAFCON provinces back to the Table of the Lord with the rest of us?
This is not to decry the efforts of those Anglican Dioceses around the Communion that continue its use. However, the Primates will really need to be on board for any hope of reconciliation of the whole Communion.
I note from another website that one of the participants in the Continuing Indaba event is a bishop who also signed the latest Global South missives.
Is this backing both horses in the race, or misunderstanding of the issues?
Interestingly, before the convening of Vatican II, there were theologians who had thought it might include some sort of ‘Indaba’ element – although that concept was not then known in Church circles.
One only has to read Hans Kung’s autobiography: “My Struggle for Freedom’ to realise that this did not fit in with the entrenched conservatives at the Vatican Curia. One wonders whether the same entrenched conservatives in the Anglican Communion have the same agenda; to prevent dialogue on modernisation at all costs. ‘Semper Reformanda’ can be a great threat to any reform in the Church.