wfn.org | Third Mission Conference

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Contact: Wendy S. McDowell, NCC, 212-870-2227
Internet:  news@ncccusa.org

NCC5/4/98                    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THIRD ECUMENICAL CONFERENCE ON "MISSION IN A NEW 
MILLENNIUM" INCLUDES EVANGELICALS WITH MAINLINE 
PROTESTANTS, CATHOLICS
To be Held May 14-17 at the Archbishop Cousins Catholic 
Center, Milwaukee, Wis.

 NEW YORK, NY, May 4 ---- The changing character of 
mission work and how that work might be better accomplished 
ecumenically in the next millennium will be discussed by a 
group of mainline Protestants, Catholics and Evangelicals 
at the Third Ecumenical Conference on Common Witness, to be 
held May 14-17 at the Bishop Cousins Center in Milwaukee, 
Wis.

 A stronger evangelical presence than at past 
conferences will join the U.S. Catholic Mission Association 
(USCMA) and Church World Service and Witness (CWSW), which 
represents Protestant and Orthodox communions, in the 11-
year-old effort to explore possibilities of common ground 
in mission work.

 The Most Rev. Rembert G. Weakland, O.S.B., Archbishop 
of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, will welcome the 
participants and the Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, general 
secretary of the National Council of Churches, will also 
bring greetings.  CWSW is the humanitarian relief and 
refugee assistance arm of the National Council of Churches.

Through plenaries, discussion groups and Bible study, 
an expected 65 participants will focus on four critical 
issues: 1) evangelism; 2) globalization of the economy 3) 
urbanization and mission in the city, and 4) refugees and 
displaced people.

The keynote address will be delivered by the Rev. Dr. 
Robert Michael Franklin, President of the 
Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta and an 
ordained minister in the Church of God in Christ.  Other 
speakers include: The Rev. Carlos Cardoza, a Puerto Rican 
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) minister; Immanuel 
Clapsis, Pastor of the St. Anargyro Greek Orthodox Church 
in Marboro, Mass.; Claudette LaVerdiere, a Maryknoll sister 
who taught for many years in East Africa; Radhika 
Balakrishnan from the Department of International Studies 
at Marymount College, and Joan Maruskin, a United Methodist 
Minister from Yoe, Penn. who coordinates People of the 
Golden Vision.

 "The millennium mandates that we get together and 
make a theological, missiological attempt to go outside our 
own programs and plan for the future," said the Rev. Lonnie 
Turnipseed from CWSW, who is organizing the conference 
along with Sister Mary Motte of the Franciscan Missionaries 
of Mary.  "This is a counter-cultural move to go against 
more divisive forces at work in society and in our churches 
and to struggle to find common ground."

 "The very fact that we are getting together is 
newsworthy," said Ms. Margaret Larom, Director of World 
Mission Interpretation and Networks for the Episcopal 
Church and a member of the Continuing Committee for Common 
Witness, a consultative ecumenical body which was formed in 
1987 by representatives from CWSW and the USCMA to foster 
unity in mission.  "That all three streams, not only 
mainline Protestants and Catholics but also Evangelicals, 
are discussing these issues, is worth noting.  
Institutionally, we do not do things together often, either 
in this country or abroad."

 Although Continuing Committee members said that 
Christians do sometimes end up working together on the 
local level, they stressed that divisions at the 
institutional level in the United States and abroad end up 
hampering local mission efforts, particularly in an age 
when there are limited resources for much church mission 
work.

"A positive example of what can happen when we do 
work together is the Asia Pacific Center in Washington, 
D.C., which brings together Protestants and Catholics to 
work for justice and peace in Asia," said the Rev. Joe 
LaPauw, Provincial of the Missionhurst Fathers (C.I.E.M.).  
"Working together from our common resource of faith allows 
for better monitoring and advocating in Asia."

 Members of the Continuing Committee readily 
acknowledge that the groups they represent - which number 
about 700 altogether - are remarkably diverse in terms of 
theological and political opinions.  Because of these 
differences, the evangelical participants "are coming to 
the consultation to assess and explore" before making any 
commitments to work cooperatively, said the Rev. Paul 
McKaughan, Executive Director of the Evangelical Fellowship 
of Mission Agencies.

 "The relationships we form are the most important 
part and are a model of what is happening everywhere as we 
are increasingly having to learn to live together as a 
multicultural, multireligious society," Rev. Turnipseed 
said.

The Continuing Committee on Common Witness has held 
two prior consultations, in 1987 and 1994.  Following the 
1994 meeting on "Common Witness in a Changing World Order," 
the Committee issued a final statement pledging to work 
together in four "concrete acts of common witness": 
ecumenical missionary orientation; ecumenical mission 
education; a communications network; and a new CWSW-USCMA 
relationship.

 As a result of this pledge, USCMA and CWSW have 
exchanged representatives at board meetings and Lutherans, 
Presbyterians and Catholics have cooperated in some joint 
missionary orientations.  To address its interest in 
communications, the committee held a conference on the 
"information superhighway" at Catholic University in 
Washington, D.C. in June, 1995.

 "Mission is not dead, but the context has changed 
with the collapse of the Soviet bloc and the changing 
global economy," said the Rev. LaPauw.  "There is a 
remarkable amount of stereotyping about mission.  It is not 
an old-fashioned word - it is always at the cutting edge.  
Mission is about sharing some signs of hope in the world 
today."

 One of the major changes in mission work in recent 
years is the move toward mutuality, committee members 
explained.  "The United States is now receiving 
missionaries, and in fact many countries that `first world' 
countries once missionized now consider those same first 
world countries to be their most urgent mission field 
because they have become so secular," Rev. LaPauw 
explained.

 "The foundation for all Christians is baptism, and we 
share a common vocation," said Rev. Turnipseed.  "Yet too 
often, we do not recognize that we are all seeking to share 
the gospel of Christ in a particular place.  We hope to 
find ways at this conference to share our common faith."

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