A busy 10 days

March 9, 2008 by Stephen Day.

Greetings from Africa!

It has been a while since I have been able to post and this is mostly due to my busy schedule in the past two weeks. Things have changed dramatically since my first three months here when I had little to do. I am quite busy now and like it! I have been teaching now for two full weeks, although classes have been meeting for three weeks (the first week there were few students and my main goal was just to get to know them and find out where their previous Church History courses had left off. In my Church History II course for Diploma I students I have covered the Great Schism (the split between the Eastern and Western Churches) and the Crusades. The other course I am teaching, Church History IV for Diploma II, has been focusing on the Church at the dawn of the nineteenth century and missionary efforts during that time. At the end of next week I will be giving my students their first test/quiz. Also, at the end of this coming week the school will be going on an Easter Break for two weeks. During that time I hope to figure out what I will be teaching throughout the rest of the semester and work on my lecture notes.

On a different matter altogether… I recently got an email from the Mission Personnel Officer of the Episcopal Church. His email informed the missionaries of the Church of some recent changes that resulted from a recent meeting of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church. The email first explained that the Church had finally agreed to provide a pension fund for lay missionaries for the Church (ordained missionaries had been part of the Church Pension Fund for some time). However, the email continued by stating that because of the financial situation in the Church and the new expense of providing pension funding for lay missionaries, the compensation for appointed missionaries of the Church will be changed. The new compensation package provides for participation in the Church Pension Fund and health insurance. That is all. Appointed missionaries will now be responsible for finding their own funding for living expenses, travel expenses, language training, immunizations, and everything else. This is a dramatic shift and a sad one. The program that I am part of, the Young Adult Service Corps, is not affected by this change because its funding comes jointly from the Mission Personnel Office and the Office of College and Young Adult Ministries. I am not seeking to speak out against the Church that I proudly represent, my goal is simply to draw attention to the state of the Church. The Episcopal Church has been in some financial trouble ever since the events of the 2003 General Convention, after which several dioceses and many parishes decided to end their financial support of the “national” Church. This lack of support has had a direct impact on the Church’s ability to “seek and serve Christ in all people” as the Baptismal Covenant requires us to do. Now, more than ever, it is essential for the Episcopal Church to have a presence throughout the Anglican Communion. One of the key ways that this is done is by sending out missionaries, where invited, to help to build up the body of Christ. I encourage all of you who might agree with me to pray for a change in the priorities of the Church and for improved funding for missionary work. Also, if you know or happen to be a delegate to a diocesan convention/council or the General Convention of the Episcopal Church I encourage you to speak out and act on this issue. Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

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