Robert S. Heaney - Gods Church for Gods World: A Practical Approach to Partnership in Mission

Gods Church for Gods World

Gods Church for
Gods World

A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO
PARTNERSHIP IN MISSION

Edited by Robert S. Heaney
John Kafwanka K & Hilda Kabia

Copyright 2020 by Robert S. Heaney, John Kafwanka K, and Hilda Kabia

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, the Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Church Publishing
19 East 34th Street
New York, NY 10016
www.churchpublishing.org

Cover design by Jennifer Kopec, 2Pug Design
Typeset by PerfecType Design, Nashville, Tennessee

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Lambeth Conference (2020 : University of Kent at Canterbury) | Heaney, Robert Stewart, 1972- editor. | Kafwanka, John, editor. | Kabia, Hilda, editor.

Title: Gods church for Gods world : a practical approach to partnership in mission / edited by Robert S. Heaney, John Kafwanka & Hilda Kabia.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019045499 (print) | LCCN 2019045500 (ebook) | ISBN 9781640650527 (paperback) | ISBN 9781640650534 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Missions--Congresses. | Anglican Communion--Doctrines--Congresses.

Classification: LCC BV2020 .L36 2020 (print) | LCC BV2020 (ebook) | DDC 266/.3--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019045499

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019045500

I t is no small task to bring together a diverse range of voices from throughout the Communion and beyond. The editors are, therefore, grateful to a number of people who have made this possible. Research assistants in Virginia Theological Seminarys Center for Anglican Communion StudiesJean-Pierre Seguin, Valerie Mayo, and Jean Cottingexhibited care and commitment in communication, proofreading, locating sources, and other tasks assigned! The centers staff, Hartley Wensing and Molly OBrien, in many and real ways ground the vision of promoting and practicing community for the Communion. The completion of this book is further testament to their hope in Gods future.

Leaders in the Communion and staff at the Anglican Communion Office have been thoughtful and helpful partners in this project. Without their suggestions and advice, this resource would be the poorer. It was a delight to work with Nancy Bryan and Milton Brasher-Cunningham at Church Publishing, New York. Their encouragement, vision, and professionalism have made this beautiful resource a reality.

We also wish to pay tribute to our authors. Each one of them leads busy lives and has busy and demanding roles in their communities. We are honored that, even amidst it all, they were prepared to offer such rich and reflective work on the nature and call of Gods people in Gods world. Archbishop Justin Welby has written a fitting foreword to the collection and we are deeply grateful to him.

Robert is thankful for the leadership and collegiality that Virginia Theological Seminary provides, the collegiality of the Lambeth Conference Design Group, and the many Anglicans from throughout the world he has the privilege of meeting and working with. He gives thanks to God for the grace and blessing of his wife, Dr. Sharon E. Heaney, and son, Sam.

John wishes to recognize the encouragement and support of the Most Revd Dr. Josiah Idowu-Fearon, secretary general of the Anglican Communion, and all the staff at the Anglican Communion Office. He is especially thankful to his wife, Martha, and children, Mwila and Limbani, for their patience, endurance, and love. Finally, John wishes to acknowledge the support of many leaders, lay and ordained, throughout the Anglican Communion who have enriched his understanding and appreciation of mutuality in partnerships and in Gods unconditional love for humanity.

Hilda gives thanks to God for his love and for keeping the authors and editors healthy during the fieldwork and composition of this book. Her sincere gratitude is extended to her fellow editors, Robert and John, for their patience, constructive thoughts, and valuable comments while editing this book.

T he first letter of Peter is a lesser-known treasure in the New Testament. It is a letter that explores the depth of what it means to be Church, to be a Christian, in a hostile world. It is a letter about the identity of the people of God, as holy and dearly loved. The Church is told to be holy, as the Lord our God is holy. The Church is to look like the face of God upon the earth, to radiate His holiness outward. This is why I chose 1 Peter for us to reflect on at the 2020 Lambeth Conference. It is a text that calls us back to the core of who we are before God; it is a text that reminds us of how precious the Church is, how precious every brother and sister is, however much we may disagree with them. It is a letter that bears both immense comfort and immense challenge, a letter which, at its core, is all about keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus as we wrestle with our place in the world, our calling as disciples, our engagement with all the big questions of our time.

At the heart of 1 Peter are the questions, What is your purpose as a disciple of Jesus Christ? What does it mean to live as one who has not only accepted but lives by the word of God? The text does not give easy answers, but instead invites us to walk the way of Christ. The letter looks to the heart of each disciple, to the heart of the Church, and invites them to consistently look outward and consider their engagement with the wider world. The purpose of discipleship is to transform the world by living as though Gods kingdom of heaven already reigns over all the earth. It is for the Church to be deeply involved in our world, to educate children, to treat the sick, and to provide refuge for the poor in our communities.

The Church has another identity: our identity as a family. We do not get to choose each otherand whether we argue or not, nothing will change the fact that we will all still be family at the end of the day. A key part in that familial identity is our diversity. How do we relate to those who are different from us? We start and end with our common bond that is stronger than anything else: Jesus Christ. We listen to the lived experiences of our friends in Christ; we stand with them in their struggles and rejoice in their triumphs. We return to His table, no matter how far we may have wandered, and welcome all others to sit beside us, to be nourished by Him and His unconditional love for us.

When we return to Christs table, it is a chance for us to look upon each other as God looks at us. We can take peace and comfort from the fact that God understands division, persecution, oppression, and violence intimately. He is the Christ who was crucified, mocked, and jeered. And yet he is still the Christ who died for our sakes, even when we had rejected him. How do we follow His examplewould we be willing to lay down our life for those with whom we argue bitterly?

As we listen, walk, and witness with each other in the pages of this book, so I hope we meet with God afresh. These chapters, written to and for people with a range of different backgrounds and experiences, illustrate perfectly how collaboration and partnership among different cultures and thinking can enhance our understanding of the gospel, build a better and more comprehensive picture of Gods Church, and help us to realize Gods great mission. The Church does not just look like those who think similarly, who agree on everything, who come from the same place and have the same experiencesit should look like every single one of us. It should look like God Himself.