Save the Earth-Day dates for Earthkeeping Global Mission Conference: April 22-24 on Zoom!

Climate change and ecological degradation constitute the major planetary crisis of our time. How can Christians in global mission engage with the crisis through the Creator God, the Redeeming Christ and the Empowering Spirit? What can our mission companions around the world teach us about climate justice, and how can we collaborate with them?

The 2021 Global Mission Conference sponsored by the Global Episcopal Mission Network will address these urgent questions under the theme Earthkeeping: Creation Care in Global Mission. Mission activists from around the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion are invited and encouraged to attend.

This year’s conference will be held online via Zoom on Earth Day – Thursday, April 22 – & the following Friday & Saturday, April 23 & 24. So save the dates! Each day will have one 3-hour session: 10am-1pm Pacific = 1-4pm Eastern = 4-7pm UK = 7-10pm South Africa. Stay tuned for registration and connection details.

Attendance at the conference is free and by donation. In other words, there is no fee, yet attendees are encouraged to make a donation as they are able, especially to become a GEMN member. There will also be opportunity to contribute to ecological justice projects in various parts of the world.

Confirmed plenary speakers include:

• Canon Dr. Rachel Mash of Green Anglicans in South Africa and the Anglican Communion Environmental Network, who will speak on forming mission companionship for climate justice.

• The Rev. Leon Sampson of Navajoland, who will share how Native American spirituality can inform missional creation care.

• The Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas from Massachusetts, who will explore a theology and spirituality of creation care.

• Bishop Orlando Gomez of Costa Rica, who will share from the experience of his diocese in caring for the creation and promoting climate justice in Latin America.

• The Rev. Melanie Mullen, director of reconciliation, justice and creation care for the Episcopal Church, will relate creation care to racial justice and global mission.

Workshops in breakout rooms will include:

• “Repairing the Earth through a Carbon-Offset Partnership,” led by the Rev. Jeff Gill of Olympia, who will present how Olympia and Southern Philippines are collaborating in the Carbon Offset Cooperative Mission.

• “Creation Care in Haiti: What Does That Mean?” led by Janet and the Rev. Donnel O’Flynn, who will discuss opportunities and obstacles from their work as Episcopal Volunteers in Mission in Haiti. – awaiting confirmation

• “Call Waiting? Discerning a Missionary Vocation,” led by Elizabeth Boe, mission personnel officer in the Office of Global Partnerships of the Episcopal Church.

• “Best Practices for Mission Teams,” led by Bill Kunkle, executive director of the Dominican Development Group, who has led over 500 short-term mission trips.

This year’s conference picks up GEMN’s initiative from last year’s Global Mission Conference, which was canceled in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. The experience of successful GEMN online offerings, such as the Mission Formation Program and Mission Thursdays, as well as many online conferences around the church, makes GEMN confident that this conference will ignite and inspire the joy of God’s mission amid the planetary crisis.