“Joining God’s Mission in Tension Times” will be the theme of this year’s Missio, the Global Mission Conference for the Episcopal Church, which will be convened online by the Global Episcopal Mission Network (GEMN), March 20-22. The Wednesday-Friday gathering will be held from noon to 3pm Eastern on each of the three days.
Many dioceses, mission organizations, congregations and religious orders are courageously and passionately engaged in mission companionships with people in places of civil unrest, violence and sometimes war. This Missio is an opportunity to learn from people on both sides of those companionships as they join God’s mission in danger zones such as Sudan, Haiti, Pakistan and Israel/Palestine.
The online conference will be held on Zoom. It is offered free, and donations are encouraged to help support the conference. Register here, where donations can be made via Stripe. (Checks with the memo “Missio Donation” can be sent to GEMN at PO Box 1434, Dublin, Ohio 43017.) Stay tuned here for the Missio speakers and detailed schedule as they are finalized.
GEMN’s Annual Meeting will meet online an hour before Missio on Thursday, March 21, at 11 a.m.
Last fall the GEMN Board renamed the annual conference Missio, the Latin word for mission. The 2024 dates occur in the week before Palm Sunday.
In deciding that this year’s Missio will be online, the Board recognized the importance of in-person gatherings, especially with the experience of the post-pandemic Missio on “Mission: Journey into Healing” that was held last May at St. Mark’s Church in Tampa, Florida. Meeting in person encourages friendship and enhances collaboration. The online format for 2024, however, was chosen in light of other events in the spring and General Convention in the summer.
For Missio after 2024, the Board has designated Wednesday-Friday in the second week of Easter as the gathering time. In 2025 Missio will be held April 30-May 2 in the Diocese of Honduras at the invitation of Bishop Lloyd Allen. In 2026 the dates are April 16-18; in 2027, April 6-8.
The purpose of GEMN is to gather, inspire and equip people to participate in God’s global mission. Its core values are humility, inclusion and companionship. The network includes dioceses, mission agencies, congregations, seminaries, religious orders and individuals.
Cracked planet earth . Geopolitical tensions and world economic crisis . This is a 3d render illustration.