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Conference Statement
Transformation and Tradition in Global Mission - Mission Organisations Conference - 12-18 February 2003 - Lordos Beach Hotel - Cyprus
From: 110 mission practitioners and advocates from 40 countries representing mission organisations, voluntary agencies and synodical bodies.
To: The Churches of God in the Anglican Communion. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We have come to the Anglican Communion Mission Organisations Conference in Larnaca, Cyprus, to take counsel, learn and explore how to be more faithful to God's mission in the world today.
Our theme: Transformation and Tradition in Global Mission. Transformation stands at the heart of mission. Tradition is dynamic, the body of faith we have received and are called to 'hand on' to others in the same spirit in which Jesus 'gave himself up' on the Cross.
Our setting: Cyprus offered important resonances. Our host diocese, Cyprus and the Gulf, serves a region that has always been a crossroad in mission. Here Paul and Barnabas launched their mission to the gentiles. The diocese includes Iraq, so the threat of war is felt deeply. Separation between the peoples of northern and southern Cyprus continues.
Through our Bible studies, particularly, we have reaffirmed that:
- God's grace (charis) has been poured out in order that we should be united with the whole world in a sacrifice of service, praise and thanksgiving (eucharistia). The Church thus exists for and by mission in the world
- the incarnation is the supreme model for our mission engagement
- we are called to live out our faith on the fault lines of a divided world
- faithfulness to God's mission is the principle from which the unity and strength of the Church is derived
We thank God for:
- the chance to meet globally, learn from one another and be inspired by the stories of risk and sacrifice for the gospel we have heard
- the Inter Anglican Standing Commission on Mission and Evangelism (IASCOME), its role in fostering mission and evangelism, and developing and hosting this conference, the second in 18 years
We commend:
- hosting another such conference by IASCOME within the life of its next five year term
- the proposal for a global gathering of Anglicans in 2008, for bishops, clergy and laity, to discern God's will for the renewal of the Church in mission
We pledge ourselves to:
- ongoing transformation and renewal of our mission structures
- closer sharing between mission organisations and to seek new ways of working together in mission
We challenge the Provinces of the Anglican Communion to:
- appreciate the diverse cultures and contexts in which we live, work and witness, and find new ways to use these positively in our mission
- recognise that nurturing fellowship is more important than transaction of business
- greater understanding of how mission and evangelism is to be conducted in a post colonial Communion, and taking seriously the communication needs of non-English speaking contexts
- seek new models for mission engagement and being Church alongside traditional ones
- undertake conscious and sustained engagement with the world of Faiths
- encourage renewal in prayer and fresh approaches to fostering international chains of prayer and intercession
- work for justice, peace and reconciliation in places torn apart by war, violence, poverty and human misery
- strengthen work on behalf of refugees and displaced persons
- raise up a new generation of children free from the scourge of HIV/AIDS
- renew commitment to God's mission by providing sufficient resources for the task
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