October Synod: excellent articles on Mission (Main Forum)

by Nehemiah, Hong Kong, Monday, September 17, 2012, 10:18 (249 days ago)

If the October 7-27 Synod, or any other group, needs practical material for their discussions on Mission, the following articles by Fr Hugh McMahon SSC are excellent.
Fr Hugh recently returned to Ireland to be CEO of the Irish Missionary Union, after nearly 50 years in Asia.

What it means to be a missionary
My search has moved from "Is there still a need for mission?" to "What should the new focus for mission be?" to "Where can we find examples for this new direction?"

Completing the missionary task
Once in charge, the indigenous leadership felt its duty was to continue and stabilize the system they had inherited. It had not been made clear to them that they were expected to move out of their foreign shell and bridge the gap with the wider population by developing a church more suited to the local situation.

Why the lack of excitement?
For over 400 years missionaries took a confident faith from the west to the east. It may be time for modern missionaries to take that faith, refined and renewed, back to their home Churches and rekindle enthusiasm there

Refocusing for the future
With the dramatic decrease in clerical and religious missionary vocations, the challenge of preparing lay missionaries to take a leading role in mission is an obvious concern that has yet to be faced

Mission institutes - adapting to the new reality?
The new missionary situation is challenging, but it can be a wake-up call for mission institutes rather than their death knell. In a divided world where hope, concern for others and regard for the non-materialist is fading, the Ad Gentes mission institutes can show their worth

We need to work more on our identity
In the 1980s and 90s tens of thousands of young Koreans were drawn to the Church in a search to satisfy their deeper yearnings. I believe only Christianity has the answers to this search

Whatever happened to Mission?
I just felt that something was missing and wondered what it might be. It was only when I moved to China and a new missionary situation, that I began to see where the crux
of the problem lay. Somewhere along the line missionaries had wandered from their original task