Continue to dream and act

Each morning in Swanwick this week, I have awoken to the sound of birds singling around this small lake below my window (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2010)

Patrick Comerford

The annual conference of USPG has heard very inspiring and challenging addresses by both Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and Archbishop Thabo Makgoba. The way they spoke and the way they were listened to was a good example of the role and mission of USPG, according to Clare Amos of USPG and the Anglican Communion Office.

But there has also been pain – and pain that has been expressed – created by both the divisions within the Anglican Communion and in reaction to decisions about the future of USPG.

The expressions of that pain reflected the measure of the love people have for USPG and for the Anglican Communion, according to the Revd Rachel Carnegie, International Development Secretary for the Archbishop of Canterbury, who led our closing reflections on the third and closing day of the annual conference of USPG this morning.

She quoted one person who had asked her: “How do I leave this place and tell a story of hope?”

But, she said, there is hope aplenty alongside the pain. These are challenging and painful times for USPG and for the Anglican Communion, but they are challenging times too for the poor, the hungry and those suffering injustice. Yet, in the midst of pain Christ is faithful.

She spoke eloquently of the main of many heard during the conference, including the pain of church leaders, the USPG leadership, trustees and staff, mission companions, and the pain of those voices not heard.

She asked us: “Where has the Holy Spirit been working in this conference?”

Her prayer was that each of us would continue to dream and act, in dreams that are inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Archbishop Makgoba is presiding at the closing Eucharist, according to the South African liturgy, in the Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick, Derbyshire. The preacher is Dr Evie Vernon, Director of the Selly Oak Centre for Mission Studies.

Canon Patrick Comerford is a member of the Council of USPG and a director of USPG Ireland

USPG Council expresses ‘shock and dismay’ at attack on Gaza aid flotilla

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town (left) with Irish delegates at the USPG conference in Swanwick: the Revd Ken Gibson, Kerry Giffin, Jan de Bruijn, Canon Patrick Comerford, and (in front) Linda Chambers de Bruijn; missing from the photograph is Bishop Michael Burrows of Cashel and Ossory

Patrick Comerford

The Council of USPG (United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel) – Anglicans in World Mission – agreed last night to sent a letter should be sent to the British Foreign Secretary, Mr William Hague, expressing “shock and dismay at what happened last week when the Israeli naval forces stormed a Gaza-bound convoy carrying humanitarian aid in international waters, killing nine people and injuring many more.”

The resolution was proposed during the council meeting by the Revd Dr John Perumbalath of the Diocese of Rochester and a USPG Trustee. The letter is being sent by Canon Linda Ali, chair of the Trustees, on behalf of the Council of USPG.

The council also urged the Israeli Government “to release the journalists who are still detained by the Israeli army and return their equipment.”

In addition, the letter urges the Foreign Secretary “to bring all the pressure you can bear upon Israel to follow the UN proposal for a multinational and independent inquiry” into last week’s events.

The council associated itself with a statement on behalf of the World Council of Churches by the General Secretary of the WCC, Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, “condemning the assault” on the Gaza-bound vessels.

In that letter, he condemned “the assault and killing of innocent people who were attempting to deliver humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza, who have been under a crippling Israeli blockade since 2007.” He also called for the reparation of those detained by the Israeli army, the release of the impounded ships, and an end to the economic blockade of Gaza. “We further condemn the flagrant violation of international law by Israel in attacking and boarding a humanitarian convoy in international waters. We pray for all those who are affected by the attack, especially the bereaved families.”

Speaking in favour of this resolution, I pointed out the people on board the Irish-owned ship in the convoy included a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, a former assistant secretary general of the United Nations, and pacifists and people committed to using only nonviolent methods. I said that the Israeli action amounted to piracy on the high seas, and that it could not be defended in international law as Israeli has not declared war on Ireland and so has no right to attack an Irish-owned ship in international waters.

Taking a quiet break during the USPG conference in Swanwick, Derbyshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2010)

Earlier in the evening, the General Secretary of Michael Doe, led a discussion about “building a sustainable future for USPG,” and members of the board of USPG Ireland had a fruitful meeting with the Primate of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town.

The annual conference of USPG enters its third and closing day at the Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick, Derbyshire, this morning. Our closing reflections are being led by the Revd Rachel Carnegie, International Development Secretary for the Archbishop of Canterbury. Archbishop Makgoba is presiding at the closing Eucharist, according to the South African liturgy, and the preacher is Dr Evie Vernon, Director of the Selly Oak Centre for Mission Studies.

Looking up ... the Victorian roof of the former Fitzherbert Wright family house at the Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2010)

Canon Patrick Comerford is a member of the Council of USPG and a director of USPG Ireland