Open / Summer 2001
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journal of the associated parishes OPEN for liturgy and mission Summer 2001 Vol. 47 No. 2 Santa Fé Statement of the Council of Associated Parishes he Council of the Associated Parishes for Liturgy and Mission, meeting in Santa Fé, New Mexico, in April 2001, calls upon the Inside TChurch to rethink completely its practice and understanding of mission. This issue deals entirely with Our hearts burned within us as our Canadian members shared the reconsidering the mission of the church. See also . story of how the Anglican Church of Canada embraced and implement- ed the government’s policy of assimilation of indigenous peoples as an Associated Parishes opportunity to further its mission. Children were taken out of their asks complete rethinking of homes and removed to distant residential schools, run by the churches. mission .................................2 Grave injustices were committed by the Anglican and other churches, Doug Tindal: Where we have with dire consequences to the peoples and ultimately to the churches been .....................................4 themselves. As a Council dedicated to the renewal of liturgy and mission, we Gordon Beardy: My hope is asked ourselves how the Church could have come to be an agent of the that we will journey together .6 kind of “mission” revealed in this story. It prompts us to acknowledge The system was wrong .........8 our own inherent racism, past collusion, and present complicity in such policies. Evangelism predicated upon the conversion of individual Catherine Morrison: Steps on a hearts to a relationship with Jesus is insufficient to prevent such evils healing path ..........................9 as the deprivation of culture, and may serve as little more than a means for achieving assimilation. The Gospel is not a possession of the A message from Archbishop Peers ..................................11 Church; nor a one-way gift; nor an instrument of the power of state or culture. Michael Peers: The way Accordingly, we urge the Episcopal Church to approach with caution forward ...............................12 the proposals of the U.S. Government for “faith-based initiatives,” to avoid the future occurrence of tragedies similar to those in Canada about Michael Peers: Excerpts from the presidential address ......13 which we heard. We further urge both churches to engage in the formation of faithful communities as signs of healing and reconcilia- Native bishop forgives church tion. and Primate ........................16 We therefore call upon the Episcopal Church in the U.S.A., the Anglican Church of Canada, and our brothers and sisters in other Mark MacDonald: A renewed mission? .............................18 denominations, to reconsider their foundational understanding of mis- sion, always beginning with God’s purpose for creation and the reign of I am the church ...................20 justice on earth. 2 / Open / Summer 2001 Associated Parishes Council asks complete rethinking of mission he Council of the Associated Par- During the 1860s, the Canadian gov- taking from you your language and ishes for Liturgy and Mission as- ernment and historic mission churches the signs of your identity. I am sorry, Tsembled in Santa Fé from April entered into a partnership to assimilate more than I can say, that in our schools 25-30, 2001, where we received a report indigenous peoples. They removed chil- so many were abused physically, sex- from our Canadian members on the present dren from their homes and put them in ually, culturally and emotionally. On crisis of the Anglican Church of Canada. residential schools hundreds of miles behalf of the Anglican Church of Can- Though most of us were aware of the away. This deprived them of their culture, ada, I present our apology. [For the situation, listening to the story and re- their families and communities, and placed full text of the Archbishop’s apology, flecting on it stirred our hearts and minds them in situations where they were vul- see p. 11 of this issue of OPEN.] in a new way. nerable. The loss and suffering was uni- versal. In some instances, children were However, the church’s good but in- subject to physical and sexual abuse. Yet complete work, and the developing con- the churches embraced the government’s sciousness and initiatives of the native policy of assimilation that led to these peoples, led to lawsuits against the church. O PEN is published four times a year by the Associ- conditions as an opportunity to further The costs of litigation and the potential ated Parishes for Liturgy and Mission. Copy dead- their mission. bankruptcy of General Synod have placed lines are March 1, June 1, Sept. 1, and Dec. 1 for We heard from our Canadian mem- the Anglican Church of Canada in crisis, publication the following month. Editorial office: bers about the harm done to aboriginal and caused it to rethink its legacy of Ruth A. Meyers, OPEN Editor, Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, 2122 Sheridan Rd., Evan- peoples and communities, about the An- mission. ston, IL 60201, office (847) 328-9300, FAX (847) glican Church of Canada’s pain and strug- Members of the AP Council heard 328-9624, E-MAIL: [email protected] gle to come to terms with its role in other stories of peoples dominated by the operating such schools, and the uncer- powers of empire in South Africa and Editor Ruth A. Meyers tainty about the way forward. Thirty years Australia, stories of loss and devastation, Editorial Committee ago, the church withdrew from its partic- but also of dignity and hope. We read Ruth A. Meyers, Elizabeth Morris Downie, Or- ipation in residential schools and from the from a statement, delivered in January monde Plater, Marilyn Haskel, and John W. B. Hill. policy of assimilation. Over the next twen- 2001, by Rodney Bobiwash, Director of Manuscripts (preferably WordPerfect files on 3.5- ty years steps were taken to build a new the Forum for Global Exchange, to the inch disk), cartoons, letters, and other communica- relationship with aboriginal peoples. The World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, tions may be sent to the editor at the editorial office. journey toward a new relationship has Brazil. Speaking with the voice of indig- been one of self-determination and find- enous peoples, Bobiwash challenged the Book Review Editor Please send book review copies to Elizabeth Morris ing new voice for indigenous Anglicans, people of the Americas to examine anew Downie, 106 E. Elizabeth St., Fenton, MI 48430- and one of repentance and new behavior their history, a history premised not only 2322 or [email protected]. for non-indigenous Anglicans. In 1993, on the devastation of native populations at a national native convocation, the pri- through violence and disease, but also on Production Manager Ormonde Plater Proofreader Art Jenkins mate, Archbishop Michael Peers, apolo- the enslavement of black people: gized for the church’s involvement in The Associated Parishes, Inc., is a nonprofit orga- residential schools: Black people in America share with nization. Office: PO Box 27141, Baltimore, MD Indigenous people staggering rates of 21230-0141, (410) 752-0877, call before faxing. Membership dues of $30 per year ($15 for students) I accept and confess before God and incarceration, illiteracy, infant mor- include subscription to OPEN and all brochures. you, our failures in the residential tality, ill health, and lack of opportu- schools. We failed you. We failed nity. Dwelling in inner-city ghettos Coordinator Ronald H. Miller ourselves. We failed God. I am sorry, they are further victimized by eco- Web site www.associatedparishes.org more than I can say, that we were part nomic and environmental racism and of a system which took you and your a social system that holds out the hand Copyright © 2001 by Associated Parishes, Inc. All children from home and family. I am of plenty while striking with the other. rights reserved. sorry, more than I can say, that we ISSN 1071-5614 tried to remake you in our image, Open / Summer 2001 / 3 Rather, genuine conversion involves turning to Christ, individual hearts to a relationship with Jesus Christ is not adequate to address becoming members of living communities such evils as the deprivation of culture within the Body of Christ, and discerning and the breakup of families. Rather, gen- uine conversion involves turning to Christ, through the Spirit what is being redeemed becoming members of living communi- in one’s life and culture ties within the Body of Christ, and dis- and what must be renounced. cerning through the Spirit what is being redeemed in one’s life and culture and We therefore urge the Church to engage what must be renounced. in the formation of Christian communities We therefore urge the Church to en- gage in the formation of Christian com- that live their liturgy, munities that live their liturgy, becoming becoming true signs of healing and reconciliation true signs of healing and reconciliation among peoples. among peoples. And we earnestly call upon the Episcopal Church of the U.S.A. and the Anglican Church of Canada, and our brothers and sisters in other denomi- Bobiwash restated a plea from Aborigi- awareness among the U.S. members of nations, to reconsider their foundational nal people, made in December 1999 in the AP Council of our own situation, understanding of mission, always begin- Belem, Brazil, that the non-Native people convicting us of our own racism, our own ning with God’s purpose for creation and there might go into their cities: collusion with the forces of domination, for the reign of love, justice, and peace on our own need to repent and begin anew. earth. and standing there in the wilder- Listening to these stories of mission ness of those urban deserts, water the history also convinced us that participa- parched streets of humanity with their tion in the agenda of government, indus- tears.