Overseas Mission & Partnerships Policy Group

<typohead type="2">Recommendation

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1. That the Assembly reaffirm its commitment to working in mission with the Christian Communities in China and Taiwan.

2. That the Assembly affirms the decision to host a Conference of partner Churches in the Asian Region that are and have been significant to us, with a view to renewing contacts and developing strategies for future mission together.

<typohead type="3">1. Introduction</typohead>

1.1 The Policy Group is bringing the following themes to the Assembly. We feel that these themes are ones that Assembly can be asked to affirm and study over the course of the next year. There are 3 broad areas of concern – advocacy, ecumenical themes and new policy in Global mission. Each area has its own issues.

1.2 Over the last two years, the Policy Group has tried to identify and focus on what we believe to be the burning issues for our Church in Global Mission and Ecumenical Relations. We have also tried to be both realistic about what our secretaries can reasonably be asked to achieve in the light of their resources and time. We have tried to provide policies to ignite the imaginations of people in our congregations, and especially our youth, about global mission. We have done this by identifying priorities which will lead to opportunities for exchange and involvement overseas. The Global Mission and Ecumenical Relations secretaries have worked hard to make these possible.

1.3 As always, the Policy Group has born in mind the need to keep a creative interaction between the "five faces of mission"; evangelism, the building up of the Body of Christ, advocacy for justice, social concern and care for the environment. We have sought to identify where we may carry our ministry most faithfully and effectively and with whom. A fundamental policy is that we work with the local Christian community in any given place overseas.

1.4 Such policy is not new. The 2004 Assembly of our Church is an opportunity for our Church to remember with thanks that the Rev George Hunter McNeur began work in Canton in 1903, and that the "Canton Village Mission" of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand from then on carried out a ministry of evangelism, education and medical care until 1951. A vibrant, Chinese Church was established, as were significant hospital and school ministries. Some Chinese ministers have subsequently come from the area and from Hong Kong to minister in New Zealand. Such is global mission – hard work but full of grace and blessing.

<typohead type="3">2. Developments</typohead>

2.1 This report will not detail the work of the Global Mission and Ecumenical Relations Secretaries. Their reports are available on the website and through the Mission Gazette. They are present at Assembly to answer questions. The Rev Glenn Barclay is also present at Assembly. She has served in Israel/Palestine as an observer and has reported to the Church over the last year.

2.2 A Key Policy area has been the support of the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu (PCV). The PCV is a priority for us for a number of reasons. We have been involved in mission there since 1868 and we can discern no word that we should pull out now. On the contrary, the PCV has asked us for help and we have the people, skills and resources to meet many of these needs. The PCV is not a member of the Council for World Mission and does not have access to assistance that many other Pacific Island churches countries do. Also, the needs of Vanuatu are huge. It is the world’s 3rd poorest country. Last, but not least, the mission we exercise there calls on us to work with the PCV to develop our skills and resources in evangelism (through the bush missioner evangelism scheme) practical aid and assistance (Navota Farm) and through education (Onesua High School). These challenges are demanding but as always rewarding.

<typohead type="3">3. Global Mission is not just an Office</typohead>

3.1 The Policy Group wants to emphasize that global mission is about relationships. Global Mission is not primarily about budgets or administration or an office. The latter simply serve our relationships – both those overseas and those with congregations and other groups within and outside the Church in New Zealand. The policy group is aware of the need to adjust the way we work to drive our relationships forward. The next phase of policy formulation will deal most specifically with the ways we can engage our congregations, Presbyteries and people in global mission and ecumenical affairs. To quote the Rev Neal Whimp, ex Vanuatu missionary and Global Mission Secretary, we seek to be the Church’s ISP – International Service Provider.

<typohead type="3">4. Three Key Themes for this Assembly</typohead>

1. Advocacy

(a) Taiwan. A paper on this subject is attached. The Policy Group is not intending that the Assembly should make a decision against our sister Church in the People’s Republic of China. However, as the paper states, we are looking for the situation in which the tension between the People’s Republic and Taiwan can be resolved without violence or the threat of violence. We are looking to create the situation in which Taiwan has access to the resources of the World Health Organisation and the United Nations and can play a responsible part in the world community. We ask the Assembly to endorse this paper and to send it to our congregations and Presbyteries

Discussion papers will be available on the following at the Assembly:

(b) Asylum seekers; a separate paper is attached.

(c) AIDS

(d) Israel Palestine

2. Ecumenical

Our key ecumenical relationships are:

(a) Council for World Mission

(b) Christian World Service

(c) Uniting Church of Australia

There is extensive information about the first two on the website. The Uniting Church of Australia is a key relationship because our Churches are facing so many of the same issues. An example of the possibilities of "closer ecumenical relationships" with the UCA is the mutual interest in Indonesia. While both Churches retain their own perspectives, we have much to gain by working together more closely.

3. New Policies

(a) Peers Partners and Participants. Under this policy, we have defined where in the world our priorities are placed. It may be that some congregations will feel a real call to mission in a country or situation that is not on our list. The reason why that particular country is not on our list relates to the specific criteria that we have set. These criteria are geographic proximity, strategic importance, perceived need, our historic and current involvement in that country, and New Zealand residents from that area. Including the countries that are members of the Council for World Mission, which are in the priority category, the Churches on the "peers" or priority list are Vanuatu and New Caledonia.

(b) Korea. Discussion papers will be available at the Assembly.

<typohead type="3">5. Conclusion</typohead>

5.1 The Overseas Mission and Partnership policy group recognises the difficult situation in which the Church finds itself. We are committed to keeping the focus on global mission and ecumenical relations as a high priority within the Church. This is more important than keeping the Global Mission Office and the Ecumenical Relations Offices going in the present forms. The emphasis over the next two years will be on how to achieve that primary goal as defined by the policies we have set ourselves.

5.2 The policy group is enormously grateful for the work of its secretaries. We seek to define realistic policies that maximise the relationships in mission that we have overseas. At a time when the future of the policy group and the resources available to the wider work of mission are unclear, it is all the more important to have a clear focus on what we will be committed to.

Stuart Vogel
Nikki Watkin
Co-Convenors

Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand

Overseas Mission & Partnerships Policy Group

Appendices