Anglicans from overseas may one day come to Canada as missionaries under a recommendation approved by synod.
The idea was discussed in the Partnerships forum and was included in an evaluation of the Volunteers In Mission program which arranges for volunteers to be placed with overseas dioceses requesting help in meeting special needs.
The evaluation affirmed it as “a worthwhile program … that should be enhanced.” It offered 12 recommendations to increase the effectiveness of Volunteers in Mission, including arranging placement of missioners from overseas in Canadian parishes.
Synod voted to affirm the program and have the recommendations implemented.
In presenting the motion, Archdeacon Stuart Pike said face-to-face encounters are needed to make partnerships real, and “the best vehicle for this is the Volunteers In Mission program where we send and receive volunteers who give of their time (usually two years) with the help of the local support group who funds them. This is national level work that goes right down to the individual parish.”
Volunteers In Mission was one of a dozen table topics discussed during the forum. Other issues included fair trade, foreign aid, immigration, refugees and uprooted people, the millennium Jubilee and multiculturalism.
