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07260 May 3, 2007
Plans set for PC(USA) world mission blitz
Missionaries to visit 134 presbyteries after October conference
by Jerry L. Van Marter
LOUISVILLE - Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) missionaries and mission partners from around the world - together with mission volunteers, mission network participants, congregational, presbytery and synod mission leaders, mission trip leaders and other mission supporters from throughout the denomination - will gather here in early October for the largest PC(USA)-sponsored world mission conference in many years.
World Mission '07 [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=lq4qu4bab.0.9lgzu4bab.9dc9s4bab.2056&ts=S0248&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pcusa.org%2Fmissioncelebration], from Oct. 2-6, will include the commissioning of at least 45 PC(USA) missionaries for Mission Challenge '07 [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=lq4qu4bab.0.8lgzu4bab.9dc9s4bab.2056&ts=S0248&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pcusa.org%2Fmissionchallenge07] - an ambitious effort to spread the church's world mission story in at least 134 of the 173 presbyteries in the United States and Puerto Rico.
"Across our church Presbyterians are hearing the call to mission involvement, and they are pursuing it with passion," said the Rev. Tom Taylor, the General Assembly Council's (GAC) deputy executive director for mission. "It's an outpouring of God's grace that is permeating the life of our church and the lives of individuals."
PC(USA) missionaries-in-residence Bruce and Lora Whearty, former missionaries in Vanuatu who are coordinating Mission Challenge '07, agree. When the itineration program was first announced last year, the goal was to dispatch missionaries to 120 presbyteries. That figure was surpassed early this year and the number of participating keeps growing. "The response has been remarkable," Lora Whearty told the Presbyterian News Service in a May 3 interview.
More presbyteries are signing up each day, she said, and more missionaries are being recruited for the speaking circuit. "We won't say 'no' to anyone," Whearty added, pointing to a large chart on her Louisville office will that is filled with coded yellow post-it notes that she moves around as the Oct. 5 - Nov. 2 schedule for the mission challenge program solidifies.
Missionary speakers will itinerate in a given presbytery for a week. The GAC will pay for all travel to and from presbyteries, with the host presbyteries picking up the bill for travel within its bounds.
The short term goal is to get PC(USA) missionaries into as many congregations as possible to tell their stories, Bruce Whearty said. "The long-term goal is to reconnect Presbyterian congregations directly with missionaries."
When Mission Challenge '07 was announced, he added, just 15 percent of PC(USA) congregations had a financial stake in supporting PC(USA) missionaries. "Financial support was the only connection we could track," Bruce Whearty said, "even though we all know that support of missionaries extends to prayers, letters and other material support."
Bruce Whearty said the Mission Challenge '07 planners "couldn't figure out a goal for renewed direct congregational involvement with our missionaries. We just couldn't bring ourselves to say that anything less than 100 percent connection is okay.
"We know it's ridiculous, but we're trying to change the culture of the PC(USA), whether it takes one year or 10 years. We have a 40-year trend of diminishing connection that we have to reverse."
The effort will begin with "World Mission '07." Conference coordinator Kathy Reeves told PNS planners expect between 500 and 750 Presbyterian mission enthusiasts to attend the four-day conference, which will feature five keynote speakers, 24 workshops on all aspects of Presbyterian mission and a number of other special events.
At least 20 Presbyterian "mission networks" - organized groups of Presbyterians around a particular mission location or emphasis - will meet concurrently with the mission celebration, adding more focus and practical considerations to the festivities, Reeves said.
Keynote speakers include:
The Rev. Hendrik Shanazari, executive secretary of the Synod of the Evangelical Church of Iran, which traces its origin to the earliest days of Presbyterian mission activity and, despite the extremely difficult times in Iran, continues to be a faithful witness. In addition to his leadership role with the synod, Shanazari is pastor of the Armenian Evangelical Congregation in Tehran and a member of the Executive Committee of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches;
The Rev. Kenneth Bailey, an author and lecturer in Middle Eastern New Testament studies who lives in New Wilmington, PA. He spent 40 years as a PC(USA) missionary, teaching at seminaries and institutes in Egypt, Lebanon, Jerusalem and Cyprus.
The Rev. Jerry Cannon, pastor of the C. N. Jenkins Memorial Church in Charlotte, NC. He is president of the National Black Presbyterian Caucus, a trustee at Barber-Scotia College and teaches at Davidson College and Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, VA.
The Rev. Hunter Farrell, a career PC(USA) mission worker who will become director of the GAC's World Mission program area on Aug. 1. He began mission service as a volunteer in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) at age 23 and for the past decade has served with his wife, Ruth, in Peru.
The Rev. Sherron George is a missiologist with more than three decades of missionary experience in Brazil. From 1996 to 2001 before returning to Brazil, where she is the PC(USA)'s regional liaison and theological consultant for South America.
The conference will also include a panel presentation on Islam, moderated by the PC(USA)'s coordinator for interfaith relations, the Rev. Jay Rock.
The purpose of both "World Mission '07" and "Mission Challenge '07," said Reeves, "is to energize people to go back to their presbyteries and congregations with renewed appreciation, passion and commitment for Presbyterian mission."
Added Lora Whearty: "The response we've received is clear evidence that Presbyterians CAN unite around world mission and evangelism."
The 134 participating presbyteries in "Mission Challenge '07" represent all 16 synods. Twelve presbyteries have committed to having 100 percent of their congregations in a supporting relationship with at least one PC(USA) missionary: Cincinnati, Central Florida, Glacier, Middle Tennessee, Mid-Kentucky, Shenandoah, Upper Ohio Valley, Western North Carolina, Whitewater Valley, Winnebago, Wyoming and Yellowstone.
PC(USA) missionaries who will be visiting presbyteries, synods and congregations as part of "Mission Challenge '07" include: Dan Adams, South Korea; Joseph and Kathy Angi, Hungary; Sook Hee Bae, South Korea; Doug Baker, Northern Ireland; Beverley Booth, Nepal; Jeff and Christi Boyd , Cameroon; Carol Brees, Pakistan; John Butt, Thailand; Elisabeth Cook, Costa Rica; Ellen Dozier, Guatemala.
Also, Bob and Julie Dunsmore, Bolivia; Dusty Ellington, Egypt; Harry Horne, Peru; Magda Iskandar, Egypt; Art and Sue Kinsler, South Korea; Sue Makin, Malawi; Burkhard Paetzold, Germany; Dennis Smith, Guatemala; Don Snow, China; David and Susan Thomas, Mexico; Doug Tilton, South Africa; Nuhad Tomeh, Lebanon; Don Wehmeyer, Mexico; David Wiseman, Guatemala; Sue and Ted Wright, Zambia.
And, Bill Yoder, Thailand; Gary Payton, Russia; Frank Dimmock, Malawi; Katie Griffin, Argentina; David Walter, South Pacific; Mary Ferris, Romania; Tricia Lloyd-Sidle, Caribbean; Susie Frerichs, Mexico; Hunter and Ruth Farrell, Peru; and Dorothy Hanson, Ethiopia.
For more information about "World Mission '07," contact Kathy Reeves by phone at 888-728-7228, ext. 5539, or by email [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=lq4qu4bab.0.7lgzu4bab.9dc9s4bab.2056&ts=S0248&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pcusa.org%2Fform2mail%2Fform2mail.jsp%3Ff2name%3DKathy%2BReeves%26subject%3DWorld%2BMission%2B07]. On-line registration is available.
For more information about "Mission Challenge '07," contact Lora Whearty by phone at 888-728-7228, ext. 5916, or by email [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=lq4qu4bab.0.5lgzu4bab.9dc9s4bab.2056&ts=S0248&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pcusa.org%2Fform2mail%2Fform2mail.jsp%3Ff2name%3DLora%2BWhearty%26subject%3DWorld%2BMission%2B07]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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