FINDING HOPE IN OTHER PLACES: INSIGHTS FROM THE USPG 2021 CONFERENCE

The United Society Partners in the Gospel (USPG) is an Anglican mission agency with a long and complex history. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG), USPG’s predecessor, was founded in 1701 by the Rev’d Dr Thomas Bray, to support missionaries in America. In 1965, the SPG merged with the Universities’ Mission to Central Africa to form the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and in 1968, the Cambridge Mission to Delhi joined the newly formed USPG. More recently, the Society changed its name to United Society Partners in the Gospel in 2016. The story of USPG is one of change: from propagation to partnership and from sending missionaries to working with partners in mission. With declining church membership in some parts of the Anglican Communion, it can be hard to find hope. However, by looking to oft-ignored parts of our communion, we can see examples of living hope in the change these churches make to people’s lives. 

USPG’s 2021 Conference, titled For Such A Time As This, is testament to the vision of partnership that the agency seeks to embody. Each session of the conference centred voices from across the Anglican Communion. Rather than focusing on USPG’s work, the conference provided a space for partner churches to share their experiences of important topics such as racial justice, the climate emergency and the future after Covid-19. 

The conference panel on racial justice was a particular highlight of the event, as representatives from Jamaica and Malawi gave powerful contributions reflecting how the legacies of missionaries impacts church life to this day. The Rev’d Bertram Gayle, from the Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, spoke of “making the Church less English” and cultivating a truly Jamaican liturgy. One example of the colonial influence in the Jamaican church is the exclusion of traditional Jamaican drumming from worship – although traditional drumming is not banned, as it once was, the practice is still frowned upon. Moving forward, Bertram suggested that Anglican churches in Jamaica actively incorporate Black icons into worship, start to integrate drumming into worship and be unafraid to accept clergy with traditional hairstyles and fashion – Bertram spoke of his dreadlocks as a way of showing his heritage as a Priest within the Church.

While Anglicanism’s colonial history is intertwined with racism, the Rt Rev'd Fanuel Mangangani, Bishop of Northern Malawi, spoke about the positive legacy of the Universities’ Mission to Central Africa – a society established in the 1860s by members of the Anglican Church within elite UK universities with the aims of building a mission presence in Central Africa and actively opposing the slave trade. He said, “Many in the Church of Malawi see the arrival of the Universities’ Mission to Africa as a gift rather than a burden. The success of this mission is partly due to the participation of indigenous Africans in mission organisations, which allowed missionaries to better understand local religions and inculturate Christianity into this context. This process involved translating hymns and liturgy into indigenous languages such as Chichewa.” 

This is not to say that colonialism was a good thing, but to say that missionary efforts involving local people and centring local cultures allows for the growth of a distinct and relatable form of Anglicanism. This is a lesson that Anglicans everywhere could apply in the context of growing new church congregations.

USPG’s conference panel on Prayer, Provision and Presence during Covid-19 also demonstrated the contrasting experiences of the pandemic across the Anglican Communion. The Venerable Dr Rosemarie Mallett, Archdeacon of Croydon, spoke to what the Covid-19 pandemic had taught her and how to apply these lessons in the future. In stark contrast, the Rt Rev’d Jacques Boston, Bishop of the Diocese of Guinea, emphasised that we could not yet talk about “post-pandemic” as many countries across the world are still experiencing the devastation brought by Covid-19. He said, “We are still fighting against the pandemic. We do need to think about how life will look after the pandemic, but for now we must focus on surviving the pandemic.” Perhaps the most interesting contribution to this panel was from Attorney Floyd Lalwet, Provincial Secretary of the Episcopal Church of the Philippines (ECP). Floyd spoke of the radical actions the ECP had taken to emphasise the notion of “church property as community property,” including the waiving of leases and fees, as well as the opening up of church properties to accommodate frontline medical staff and families without homes. Even though the ECP was predicted to lose money from making such radical decisions, Floyd emphasised that they knew what they were doing was right. Fortunately, church giving, such as in-service collections, was not as low as had been feared. The ECP was therefore able to provide for those in need whilst staying financially viable. Floyd and his colleagues were blessed by the kindness of the ECP’s congregations, just as those in need had been blessed by the kindness of the ECP.

The Anglican Communion, an institution that is often depicted as conservative and even backwards on some issues, is home to a wealth of radical approaches on how to do church. USPG’s conference provided a brief insight into the bold ideas and powerful narratives that can be found across the Communion. If you want to find hope, you may need to look further afield than your own church. Look to the Episcopal Church of the Philippines and to the Anglican Church of Malawi. Look to the Church in the Province of the West Indies and the Church in the Province of West Malaysia. There is hope, if you look hard enough.