THE
GLOBAL EPISCOPAL MISSION NETWORK
MISSION
STATEMENT
The
Global Episcopal Mission Network (GEM Network) is an association of dioceses of
the Episcopal Church, together with partner dioceses throughout the Anglican
Communion, committed to the engagement of diocesan people and leadership
in global mission.
The GEM
Network is Global, believing that in Christ bonds of affection, grace and
communion link people of faith throughout the world, and that each diocese grows
in strength and witness as it proclaims Christ by word and action in the context
of a worldwide communion.
The GEM
Network promotes this global perspective on mission by assisting dioceses in
developing global or world mission committees and providing them with
information and tools for their work.
The GEM
Network is Episcopal, committed to leadership in mission focusing on
dioceses as primary agents of sending and receiving, and in the bishop as chief
missioner, the outward and visible sign of the continuing Apostolic mission of
the church.
The GEM
Network is committed to providing venues in which bishops throughout the
Anglican Communion can affirm and share their experiences of service in mission
and to the education of diocesan mission leadership.
The GEM
Network is Missionary, believing that every member of the church, every
church and every diocese has been the recipient of the good news of salvation in
Jesus Christ, has learned from others and grown into the fullness of Christ, and
is sent to serve as was the Lord Jesus Christ . In mission the dynamics of
salvation, wholeness and service are continually witnessed to, giving strength
to all the members of the body and encouragement to communion within the body of
Christ.
The GEM
Network is committed to encourage dioceses throughout the world in sending and
receiving missionaries and in offering other visible signs of encouragement,
mutuality and communion.
The GEM
Network is a Network, a dynamic instrument for engagement in, and
knowledge of, the Network that exists in its fullness in the life of the whole
Church. The GEM Network is committed to the complex, dynamic and multi-leveled
network of relationships that constitute the Church as an organic whole, the
body of Christ.
The GEM Network, through its educational institutes and materials, conferences, newsletters, web pages and other communications, provides an open and dynamic network of resources, information and personal contact in the engagement in mission.
(rev.
12.23.06)
THE
GLOBAL EPISCOPAL MISSION NETWORK
A DEFINING VISION
by
The Rev. Dr. Mark Harris
Former Executive
Director, The GEM Network
The
Global Episcopal Mission Network envisions the diocese as the focusing lens in
the discernment and development of global mission. This vision of the work of
dioceses is grounded in the ancient principal of apostolic mission, in which the
bishop and people are by virtue of their baptismal faith committed to
proclaiming the Good News in Christ and working for the healing and
reconciliation of the world. For much of the church’s history this vision of
mission has challenged the church’s sometimes narrowly parochial sensibilities
and its sometimes controlling institutional structures, empowering individuals
to proclaim the Gospel in ways that transform and renew the world.
In
the Episcopal Church, many bishops and dioceses see their call to apostolic
mission as including a profound commitment to global mission. The widespread
engagement in companion diocese relationships is a sign of this commitment, as
is diocesan-based sending and receiving of missionaries. These activities can be
seen throughout the Anglican Communion; they reflect a similarity of commitment
to and interest in mission throughout the whole communion, and indeed the whole
church universal.
For
most of the twentieth century the Episcopal Church pursued its global mission
work through agencies at the national level of the Episcopal Church. These
agencies reflected to a greater or lesser extent the visions of global mission
first expressed in more local contexts by mission minded lay people, clergy and
bishops. Increasingly, however,
these agencies have blurred the incarnational link between the local church and
the larger ecclesial structures, and the vision has suffered.
At the same time there has been on the part of some bishops an increased
awareness of the bishop’s role as the chief apostolic agent of the diocese –
facilitator and agent of the mission vision both within and without the diocese.
In
the last years of the century it became increasingly apparent to several bishops
that the dioceses themselves had a central role in the work of mission - one
that could not be relegated to national-level agents. These bishops working
together with members of their dioceses developed the beginning vision for the
Global Episcopal Mission Network. The
Bishops who encouraged the formation of GEM Network also acknowledged that they,
as bishops, had little opportunity to develop their particular roles as chief
missioners of the diocese, and had few occasions to share their missionary
concerns with one another.
From
these initial sensibilities a renewal of a vision for global mission located in
diocesan context has found expression in the formation of the Global Episcopal
Mission Network. This Network is guided by the following understanding of its
work:
 | The GEM
Network exists to support dioceses committed to mission on a global level.
The GEM Network is a network of mutual encouragement among dioceses
engaged in global mission. As a network it is organic rather than
mechanical, unbound rather than bound, a product of relationship rather than
of structure. GEM Network
fosters and encourages among those who are part of its effort, the
responsible sending and receiving of Christians in mission. In the support
of diocesan role in sending and receiving of Christians called to share
their gifts, GEM Network affirms the mutuality of mission and hospitality
central to a worldwide fellowship of dioceses committed to building up the
body of Christ. |
| The GEM Network was born
in the conviction that if dioceses are to exercise their central role in
mission, greater emphasis on the development of diocesan skills and
abilities in global mission are necessary. GEM Network provides a series of
opportunities and tools from which member dioceses committed to the tasks of
global mission and to equipping their leadership for engagement in global
mission draw spiritual, intellectual, and experiential support.
These include conferences, handbooks, consultants to dioceses, a
website which acts as a clearinghouse and bulletin board for information,
and forums for the discussion of global mission activity. |
| The GEM Network affirms
the role of the bishop as chief missionary of the diocese and works to
encourage and expand the apostolic character of this office.
The GEM Network exists to support the bishops of the Episcopal Church
in sharing their experience, hopes, and visions as chief apostolic
missioners of this Church. The
GEM Network encourages and will provide opportunities for bishops to reflect
together on their leadership in mission, as well as opportunities for
discussion of mission between bishops of the Episcopal Church and bishops
from other Provinces in the Anglican Communion. |
| The GEM Network is
committed to being an instrument of mission for the whole church, whose
location is always situated in bishop-and-people-in-community, and whose
vocation is always universal, for the whole of creation. In this the GEM Network proposes to be an instrument of
unity in the Anglican Communion – a unity of focus in mission. |
(rev.
12.23.06)
