Episcopal Press and News
Episcopal Relief and Development Network Meeting: Rallying the Home Team
Episcopal News Service. April 15, 2008 [041508-05]
Episcopal Relief and Development's Network of diocesan and seminarian coordinators met in Minneapolis for its annual conference at the Crowne Plaza North Star Hotel in downtown Minneapolis from April 10-13.
The 3,000-member Network is a dedicated group of volunteers who advocate, support, and promote Episcopal Relief and Development throughout Episcopal parishes, dioceses and seminaries around the country.
An address by ERD President Robert W. Radtke opened a full-day of seminars attended by seventy-eight diocesan coordinators from 74 dioceses and 12 seminarians from eight seminaries participated in the meeting which took place.
"I am excited by the energy emerging from the 2008 Network Meeting," said Luke Fodor, Episcopal Relief and Development's Network Coordinator. "This meeting was successful in preparing diocesan and seminarian coordinators with tools to better engage members of the Episcopal Church."
The Millennium Development Goals and the Episcopal Church
"You are the Home Team because your work is of primary importance to the very soul of the Episcopal Church," said Bonnie Anderson, President of the House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church, in her opening remarks to Episcopal Relief and Development's Network of volunteers on Friday morning.
"Our Church is increasingly committed to end poverty, and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) both empower and challenge us to new ways of participation in God's mission," continued Anderson. "You, as the ERD Network, have the rare opportunity to assist the Church in its mission call. Now is the time, the Church is ready."
In a thought-provoking and compelling presentation, she identified three ways that diocesan and seminarian coordinators can be more effective in their service to Episcopal Relief and Development and their respective dioceses and seminaries.
Anderson spoke of the call to service experienced by Network members and how it is a conduit for others to live out their promises made in the Baptismal Covenant to seek and serve Christ in all persons, respect the dignity of every human being and love their neighbors as themselves.
"Your duties are not only on behalf of people around the world whom you will never see or know, but on behalf of the people of your diocese," said Anderson. "For it is those people who are your constituents and it is your pleasurable, but often difficult responsibility to bring the people of your diocese to new understandings of their own baptismal promises and encourage them to take action because of the promises they make."
Anderson also discussed the obstacles connected to "Mission Morality" and the challenge of arranging mission trips that often challenge international development work. She talked about Episcopalians yearning for more personal and face-to-face relationships with people living in extreme poverty around the world. Yet, she reminded the Network of the sense of dependency and imbalance of power that can take place during these trips. Conversely, Anderson recognized that it is difficult to criticize well-intentioned Episcopalians when many people in the world take no concrete action to help communities fight poverty and disease in a sustainable way.
"Why don't we develop communities in our parishes that meet regularly to truly become a people of mission?" inquired Anderson. "Perhaps through that community writing a check will be an act of love and a response to the mission call achieved through common worship and our baptism."
In her closing remarks, Anderson advised Episcopal Relief and Development's Home Team that they must be able to talk about relevant realities and how "mission" is defined within the Episcopal Church. Recognizing that many members of the Church do not understand sustainable development, diocesan and seminarian coordinators play a role in explaining how it is the only way to end world poverty.
"I think it is our job to explain sustainability to our constituents, to our dioceses or our seminaries," expressed Anderson. "Individuals and congregations and even dioceses cannot do sustainable development. But the Episcopal Church has an organization that does—Episcopal Relief and Development."
In response to Anderson's presentation, Abagail Nelson, Episcopal Relief and Development's Vice President for Programs, talked about the excitement around the MDGs as an opportunity for people of faith to engage in a social movement that is deeply rooted in the understanding of God's call for people to love their neighbors as themselves and through this process, transform the way the world operates.
"It is part of the mission that the Church has articulated for a long time," said Nelson. "The Missio Dei, the building of the Kingdom of Heaven. God calls us to love one another, and we respond to that call by being sent out in mission to love our neighbors."
Nelson provided examples of how people can actively love their neighbor. This includes addressing the needs of all those living on less than $1 a day, enrolling children in schools that provide quality education, empowering women at home and in their communities, ensuring that all human relationships are sustained by love for God, self and neighbor. "This is the work of the Missio Dei—the striving towards a better world that honors all human dignity," said Nelson.
Nelson shared a story about a program in southern Afghanistan where Episcopal Relief and Development is working with several communities to help restore devastated economies.
"After the demise of the Taliban, ERD built a school that was intended to be co-ed to help generate opportunities for all children," continued Nelson. "The school was firebombed last year in an attempt by returning radical elements to erase the potential for educating girls."
This story depicts not only the struggles involved in empowering women, but also the daily threats faced by many people around the world.
"The world is not only out there, with those we touch, not only embodied by international mission trips and meeting our neighbors from across the world," continued Nelson. "God calls us to stretch beyond ourselves not only to the places we can know, but the places that we may never walk in and leave a footprint."
At St. Mark's Cathedral, a Eucharist was celebrated by the Rt. Rev. Mano Rumalshah, Bishop of the Diocese of Peshawar in the Church of Pakistan. Bishop Mano spoke eloquently about suffering in the world and the true meaning of partnership.
Discussing his field work with Mother Theresa many years ago, Bishop Mano defined both love and "true" partnership as being in relationship, sacrificial service, living for others and subjugating self. He spoke eloquently about how many lives were touched by the partnership with Episcopal Relief and Development after the earthquakes in October of 2005. Bishop Mano called upon the Network to participate and engage in what he termed the "tangible embrace of reconciliation".
"Coordinators of ERD—clones of Jesus Christ…we plant seeds that one day will grow and lay foundations that may not be complete, but it is a beginning," said Bishop Mano. "It is an opportunity for God's grace to enter and distinguish between the workers and the Master Builder."
Training and equipping the Home Team
Network coordinators were updated about the ongoing response to Hurricane Katrina in the Dioceses of Mississippi and Louisiana. The Episcopal Church was praised for its tremendous efforts on behalf of survivors who were provided with housing and other critical support such as case management, health services and counseling.
Network coordinators also participated in training sessions and workshops that focused on a range of topics from public speaking, cultivating parish and diocesan relationships and creative ways to promote Episcopal Relief and Development's programs.
During the last session of the Network meeting, the 2008 Joyce Hogg Award was presented to a coordinator in recognition of outstanding service and exemplifying the values of Episcopal Relief and Development.
The award was named after Canon Joyce Hogg, who served as Director of the Network for almost a decade and died after a long battle with Cancer in 2006. The Joyce Hogg Award was presented to Margaret Heckendorn, former Diocesan Coordinator from the Diocese of West Missouri, for her committed service to Episcopal Relief and Development's Network. Bill Hogg, husband of the late Joyce Hogg and current Diocesan Coordinator from Virginia, presented the award.
The meeting closed with a dinner and commissioning service led by the Rt. Rev. Harry Bainbridge, Chair of Episcopal Relief and Development's Board of Directors and Luke Fodor.
"This meeting marked a new season of partnership and empowerment for our diocesan and seminarian representatives with critical training workshops and seminars led by staff and Network members," said Fodor. "I believe that this new approach will sustain Episcopal Relief and Development's Network into the future."
For more information about Episcopal Relief and Development, visit the website.
Malaika Kamunanwire is the Sr. Director for Marketing & Communications at Episcopal Relief and Development.
Episcopal Relief and Development is the international relief and development agency of the Episcopal Church of the United States. As an independent 501(c) (3) organization, Episcopal Relief and Development takes its mandate from Jesus' words found in Matthew 25. Its programs work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Together with the worldwide Church and ecumenical partners, Episcopal Relief and Development strengthens communities today to meet tomorrow's challenges. We rebuild after disasters and empower people by offering lasting solutions that fight poverty, hunger and disease, including HIV/AIDS and malaria.