Annual Review 2003-2004: Church Mission Society
Annual Review 2003-2004: Church Mission Society
Annual Review 2003-2004: Church Mission Society
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What is CMS?
CMS is an international movement of people in mission,
engaged in evangelism, community transformation and health care, training and education projects, in 60 countries. Founded in 1799 out of the anti-slavery movement, CMS relies upon support from local churches, individuals and trusts. In this review, youll find examples of our work in five contexts where Jesus name is rarely heard: mission at the margins, mission in cities, mission with young people and children, mission among many faiths, and mission in a secular and materialistic world. But first wed like to highlight additional ways in which our mission movement comes alive, through celebrating, campaigning, leadership training and exchange programmes. These stories show how being a part of this mission movement helps Christians in the UK to unite with their sisters and brothers around the world as a voice for the voiceless, to serve their communities, to tackle HIV/AIDS or the challenge of Islam, and to inspire each other in witness.
Left: Former girl soldiers performing traditional Acholi dances to welcome CMS visitors to Kitgum Concerned Womens Association (KICWA), a rehabilitation centre in Kitgum (Photo: Jenny Taylor/CMS)
MISSION MOVEMENT
CMS is alive and well A breath of fresh air. Literally, we have been inspired.
These were just some of the comments from festivalgoers at Inspire to Witness the first-ever national CMS festival held in Coventry from 31 October to 2 November. As over 500 people chose from a rich programme of activities on Saturday, Chris Neal, CMS Director for Mission Movement, was among those who had to turn people away from packed workshops, such as his own on Re-imagining Church. Says Chris, I was inspired by the openness of people to exploring the challenges of being church in a new way. I hope we laid the first foundations of a new way of being CMS as well. As churches rediscover their mission, more and more people are wanting the global perspective that CMS can bring.
Left: A couple who represented Nigeria at the Inspire to Witness celebrations. The background picture on this page: Kevin Williams taking part in the Saturday evening celebration parade at the CMS Festival in Coventry (Photos: Richard Hanson/CMS)
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THE CAMPAIGN
Northern Uganda: a rebel cult called the Lords Resistance Army
has been waging a campaign of child kidnapping, rape and torture. In August 2003, CMS launched its Break the Silence campaign to draw attention to this forgotten 17-year civil war. Bishop Benjamin Ojwang came from the heart of the troubles to be part of the high-profile campaign and delivered a petition, signed by thousands of CMS supporters, to 10 Downing Street. I am overwhelmed by the response of the people of the United Kingdom to our peace campaign Break the Silence, a clarion call to the international community to show concern and act in order to save our people, said Bishop Benjamin. The international community heard the call. The UNs Jan Egeland visited Kitgum and declared the crisis in northern Uganda one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. The bishops of Uganda, with CMS Africa Director Zac Niringiye, visited the north of their country in February 2004 to show their solidarity. In Britain, major NGOs have responded to CMS invitation to act as a coalition to strengthen pressure for international action.
Right: Bishop Benjamin Ojwang points delightedly at a rainbow a Biblical symbol of Gods covenant with his people in Kitgum. (Photo: Ali Mao) Right (bottom): Kitgum crosses, which are being sold by CMS to raise funds for peace-building efforts in the Diocese of Kitgum. (Photo: Ali Mao) The background picture on this page: Christine Akidi (10) presenting, on behalf of Bishop Benjamin Ojwang, a petition to 10 Downing Street, asking the British Government to Break the Silence on the conflict in northern Uganda (Photo: Steve Waters)
LEADERSHIP TRAINING
The Rev Titre Ande is convinced that theological education
is vital to the future of his country, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Often the government invites the church leaders to give advice. In Congo, people trust the Church. So the church leaders must be well educated to help society. In January 2004, Ande returned to his job as principal of the only Anglican theological college in the DRC. The Institut Suprieur Thologique Anglican is currently displaced from its home in Bunia another casualty of Congos horrific war. CMS has supported Ande through four years of PhD studies, which will enable the institute to gain government recognition. Now hell be training many other church leaders, both lay and ordained. We need the sort of teaching which can open peoples minds, he says, to discuss issues which affect peoples lives, and develop critical thinking for vision and action not always an easy task.
Left: The Rev Titre Ande leading a workshop on educational methods used in Bible Schools at the Lweza Conference Training Centre, Kampala (Photo: Diana Bingham/CMS) Background picture: Titre Ande (Photo: Carolyn Cameron/CMS)
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EXCHANGE PROGRAMMES
The Church is an example of faith in action.
Where? South-west Uganda, according to Sally Johnson, a Reader in Winchester Diocese. Sally was one of a group of Readers who joined others for a CMS Praxis trip to Kabale and Rukungiri in 2003. Shes an example of a globallocal Christian, inspired and resourced by the international network that CMS has built up over more than 200 years. The name of the game is a mutual sharing of ministry, said Praxis leader, CMS Mid-Africa representative Richard Jones. Inspired by the positive, practical steps in the Ugandan Church to serve its community, Sally is enthusiastically working to reinvigorate her local churches link with Kinkiizi Diocese, south-west Uganda. Churches were responding to needs in communities: listening and helping people to achieve the next step, says Sally. If you transferred that attitude into our context, the Churchs ministry might look quite different.
Right: Ugandan children greet the Praxis team (Photo source: CMS) Background picture: The CMS Praxis team (Photo: Linda Beesley)
A VISION,
important contacts and ideas, and plenty of faith,
is what the Rev Joshua Omungo from Nairobi took away from a May 2003 conference of the International Substance Abuse and Addiction Coalition (ISAAC). The coalition works to share knowledge and training among Christian projects working to set others free from the tyranny of addiction. CMS has supported ISAAC with contacts, finances and expertise from the coalitions very beginnings. Now we are helping the network to expand into Russia and Central Asia, by forging links between drugs projects, and Africa, where Christian rehabilitation work is rare. Joshua Omungo was one of the 20 delegates whom CMS sponsored to attend the international conference and was among the first-ever Africans to do so. Another CMS-supported delegate, Canon Alfred Kweteisa from Kampala, said, I am taking away a vision to start a drug-addict counselling group and to mobilise churches to do likewise.
Left: Shaheen James and Julian Justine, both members of the Drugs and AIDS Workers Network, Pakistan, at the ISAAC training programme in Wadi Natroun, Egypt Background picture on this page: A workgroup at an ISAAC training programme in Wadi Natroun, Egypt (Photos: Philip Simpson/CMS)
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Right: Lalita Edwards (Photo: Adrian Watkins/CMS) Right (bottom): The red-light district, Budhwar Peth, Pune (Photo: Adrian Watkins/CMS) Background picture: A commercial sex worker in Kamatipura (the red-light district), Mumbai (Photo: WHO/P. Virot)
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MISSION IN CITIES
OUR VISION
is to live out the Christian message,
model sustainable life-styles in urban London and be an agent of community transformation, says Dave Bookless, CMS mission partner and UK Director of Christian conservation group A Rocha. Their first UK project is Living Waterways in Southall, west London.
Left: The Bookless family (Photo: Anne and Dave Bookless/CMS) Background picture: An abandoned vehicle in the vicinity of Yedding Brook (Photo: Richard Steel/CMS)
The team, led by Dave and his wife Anne, have worked for over two years to transform a barren industrial wasteland by a canal into the Minet Country Park. The park was officially opened on 14 June 2003. A Rocha runs a range of community events, play schemes and afterschool clubs, all seeking to nurture the enthusiasm of local people for Gods creation.
Dave, Anne, their four daughters and the team live in close community. Each day starts with prayer and we always eat lunch together, including whichever guests turn up.
Were trying to evolve our own understanding of what it means to live together as Christians in a way that we hope will be infectious.
ONE-AND-A-HALF MILLION
street children live in the Philippines.
Many survive by picking pockets, trafficking drugs and getting drawn into prostitution. Living Streams Ministries, a mission agency of St Andrews Cathedral, Singapore, has two aims for work in the Philippines: to meet the physical needs of the poor and to plant churches. CMS supports this work with a mission grant and through the ministry of CMS mission partners Kate and Tim Lee. Since May 2003 they have launched four childrens clubs, based in the slums, that regularly reach over 400 children: We see the children glow with joy when given time and attention, the chance to play, to hear of Gods love, to be children, Tim declared. Gemma Webb, currently working with the Lees through CMS Make A Difference programme, reports how the project is touching the lives too of the young mothers who volunteer to help it. God is using this work not only to enrich the lives of the children but also to empower the local people and highlight their individual skills and talents, she writes.
Below left: Left to right: James, Tim, Kate and Rebekah Lee Background picture and below right: Children at the childrens club meetings in Angeles City, the Philippines (Source of photos: The Lees/CMS)
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CMS continues to support Agape, whose reconciliation seminars in Hoima camp led to 2,500 people becoming Christians and many more discovering the healing power of forgiveness.
IN A POST-9/11 WORLD,
how do Christians relate to Muslims?
This was the question posed by a CMS Dialogue study pack and video produced in 2003. It was one of CMS fastest-selling resources proof of the hunger of ordinary Christians to know more about Islam and how they can reach out to their Muslim neighbours.
CMS also hosted a series of faith conversations on ChristianMuslim relations this year in London, Bradford and Birmingham. Christians with wide personal experience whether academics or grass-roots workers gathered to share their stories stories like that of Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili of the Baptist Church in Georgia, another CMS partner.
Bishop Malkhaz works with Muslim Chechen neighbours, traditional enemies of his people. Without aggressively attacking their faith, without aggressively imposing our faith, but just by sharing our love and care, I believe we are sharing the presence of Christ with our neighbours, he affirmed.
Left: John Ray (far left) holds a keen discussion with John Hayward and David Fletcher at one of the CMS Faith Conversations. (Photo: Philip Simpson/CMS) Background picture: Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, Chair of the Mosque and Community Affairs Committee of the Muslim Council of Britain, at the launch of the Dialogue pack at Partnership House (Photo: Geoff Crawford/CMS)
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Those are the words of one Iranian man who wrote to Iranian
Above: The SAT-7 recording studio in Egypt (Photo: Richard Steel/CMS) Background picture: Patients (including Muslims) watch Pope Shenouda on the Sat-7 TV channel in the waiting-room of the hospital in Menouf (Photo: Gareth Powell/CMS)
Christian Broadcasting (ICB), which is based in Cyprus. A CMS mission partner works with the production team delivering six hours of programmes each week. The programmes are broadcast on Sat-7, the Christian satellite television service for Christians of North Africa and the Middle East, of which CMS is a long-term partner.
ICB encourages small, scattered Christian communities and offers Iranians and other Farsi speakers opportunities to share the gospel message in their own language, without unnecessary foreign cultural or political baggage.
Our mission partner says that hundreds of letters from viewers mostly non-Christians are great motivation for the work. Thank you for helping me to grow in faith, writes one Iranian woman.
Total expenditure (2003/4) 8.7 million Programmes: 7.8 million [89%] We work with partner organisations around the world, supporting the interchange of people in mission, education and training, health-care and development. Generating funds: 0.7 million [8%] We are responsibly investing in fund-raising in order to offer people the opportunity to share in our commitment to world mission. Management and administration: 0.2 million [3%] We believe in properly supporting the governance and management of CMS, to ensure that our programmes are efficiently and effectively delivered. During 20034 we received a total income of 7.2 million and we spent 8.7 million. This resulted in a deficit of 1.5 million. We explain more about our current financial situation on the page opposite.
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The response: Encouraging While giving from churches dropped slightly by comparison with last year, when supporters heard of our financial crisis, they responded generously and we saw an increase in giving from individuals and churches in the second half of the year.
The shock: A slump in legacy income CMS income from legacies had grown steadily for several years, peaking at 2.5 million in 20023. In 20034, it slumped to just over 1 million.
Changes: A vision-led focus Every area of CMS work came under scrutiny and significant savings were made sometimes painfully in terms of jobs and projects supported. Its important to note that radical changes were already planned to take CMS forward into the future. We havent let the financial crisis force us into scaling down our vision we have used it to help us focus on the core of our work.
The background: CMS financial reserves It has been CMS policy to reduce its reserve levels and release more money for mission. However, at the beginning of 2003, these had been further reduced beyond expectations by negative returns on the UK stock market.
Faith: Into the future Our budget for 20042005 reflects a necessary reduction but prioritises evangelistic mission as set out in our mission strategy. As always, we enter the new financial year by stepping out in faith with thankfulness to God for our committed supporters and seeking many more who will generously give to see the Good News reach more places where Jesus name is rarely heard.
This Annual Review contains highlights of CMS financial position but, at the time of going to print, the figures are still in draft form and have not been externally audited. From June 2004 you can obtain a free copy of our fully audited Report and Accounts for 20034 from the CMS Accounts Team by contacting it on 020 7928 8681.
Programme
Mission Partners
Left to right: Sarah Gill and Verda Sarfraz (Photo source: Verda Sarfraz)
Just two?
Verda Sarfraz and Sarah Siddique Gill from Pakistan are working for a year in inner-city Bradford, where they are helping local churches to connect with Asian communities through work with womens groups, teaching literacy and organising community events. They are just two of the 211 CMS exchange programme participants this year who have added their skills, experience and a cross-cultural dimension to the Churchs life in many countries. The numbers shown here represent hundreds of individuals, like Verda and Sarah, who are living the message of the Gospel in places where Jesus name is rarely heard.
in Africa in Asia (excluding Central Asia) in Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia
CMS also provides support in money, networking and expertise to mission projects, which range from micro-enterprise and community development to evangelism and leadership training, in 60 countries. The purpose of all of them is to share the transforming love of God with individuals and communities.
CMS Governance The Patron of CMS The Most Rev Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury The President of CMS Viscountess Brentford The Chair of CMS The Rt Rev David Urquhart, Bishop of Birkenhead The Trustees of the Church Mission Society The Rev Roger Bowen The Rev Canon Paul Butler Dr David Fulford Dr Bill Hawes Linda Hunter Gillian Knight Roger Marston Penny Minney The Rev Chris North Paddy Payne The Rev Diana Sanders The Rev Dr Kevin Ward
CMS Leadership Team General Secretary The Rev Canon Tim Dakin CMS Directors Paul Breckell, Finance Director Patrick Goh, Personnel Director The Rev Canon George Kovoor, Mission Education Director The Rev Canon Chris Neal, Director for Mission Movement The Rev Dr David Zac Niringiye, Regional Director for Africa The Rev Canon Mark Oxbrow, International Mission Director and Assistant General Secretary The Rev Phil Simpson, Regional Director for Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia The Rev Canon Chye Ann Soh, Regional Director for Asia The Rev Richard Steel, Communication Director
Major Donors CMS would like to thank all the trusts and foundations that have generously supported our work, including the following major donors: The Advent Trust, the Allchurches Trust Ltd, the Candap Trust, the Christian Arts Trust, Christian Book Promotions, the Christian Workers Trust, the Church In Wales Overseas Mission Fund, the Church in Wales Jubilee Fund, the Jerusalem Trust, the Kathleen Hannay Memorial Charity, the Kirby Laing Foundation, the Leonard Trust, the Madeline Mabey Trust, Maranatha Christian Trust, the Miss Ruth Wainwright Charitable Trust, Mr and Mrs F E F Newmans Charitable Trust, the Nancy Woodroffe Baker Trust, the Panahpur Charitable Trust, the Rowan Charitable Trust, the Seven Fifty Trust, the SMB Charitable Trust, St Christophers Trust, the Tisbury Telegraph Trust and the Womens World Day of Prayer National Committee.
Call 020 7803 3332 or e-mail info@cms-uk.org for more details about CMS resources.
Left: some of the Mission Movement team left to right: Chuli Scarfe, Jonny Baker and Ruth Hassall (Photos: Carolyn Cameron/CMS)
Church Mission Society, Partnership House, 157 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8UU. Tel. (020) 7928 8681. Fax: (020) 7401 3215. E-mail: info@cms-uk.org Website: www.cms-uk.org General Secretary The Rev Canon Tim Dakin Registered Charity Number 220297
Please help me to pray for the work of CMS, using Yes, the quarterly CMS magazine; Prayerline, the weekly e-mail bulletin; e-shorts regular e-mail anecdotes from around the CMS world.
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Church Mission Society, Partnership House, 157 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8UU. Tel. (020) 7928 8681. Fax: (020) 7401 3215. E-mail: info@cms-uk.org Website: www.cms-uk.org General Secretary The Rev Canon Tim Dakin Registered Charity Number 220297
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CMS bank details: The Royal Bank of Scotland, 62/63 Threadneedle Street, London EC2R 8LA. Sort code: 15 10 00 Account number: 11652886 CMS Reference Number: .......................................
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