Church Mission Society (CMS) | Community

Andy and Claire in Uganda
Painting!

This week's highlight has been starting to painting NMS Primary School - although at times we have felt like zoo animals as children crowd around the windows peering in to watch the mzungus at work; it has been highly rewarding see how much can be done - 'many hands make light work'! We hope to attach a picture soon - but internet connection is currently not strong enough!

Photo: Flickr tibchrisThe Eucharist is packed full of symbolism. One point that specially appeals to me concerns the bread and the wine. Jesus made use of elements where there is an added value factor because they are the product of human manufacture, not just raw commodities - "fruit of the earth and work of human hands." By using bread and wine in the central ritual of the Christian faith Jesus is affirming the world of every day work.So attending t...

11/03/2010 19:06:52

Bill and Wanda Lovett
Religion here – Another Peep

Another Peep Religion is such an important part of life in Uganda, that it is worth another look, telling you more. The faith may be the same, but the expressions can be quite different. On the Spirituality page, we’ve put two more articles. So who is in control looks at how some folk respond to tragic events in [...]

11/03/2010 18:12:48

Kouya Chronicle - Eddie Arthur
African Theology

Onesimus has transcribed an amazing conversation between a group of (mainly African) post-grad students discussing the issue of African theology. It is rather long, but it is well worth a read and there are lots of great insights:

When the gospel came to Africa, it was foreign to the way of life of the people. [...]

11/03/2010 16:22:40

Kouya Chronicle - Eddie Arthur
Mission To The Whole of Society

One of Bishop John V. Taylor’s legacies to the Church is his book The Go-Between God (1972). The opening words are: “The chief actor in the historic mission of the Christian Church is the Holy Spirit.”

It is a powerful reminder not to be seduced by such phrases as “The responsibility is ours”, [...]

11/03/2010 16:18:55

Mark Berry
Liturgy after the Liturgy... some words for tonights "table"

This is part of our worship tonight - along with using our labyrinth and St Patrick's Breastplate.Liturgy (The Eucharist) is always the entrance into the presence of the triune God and always ends with the community being sent forth in God's name to transform the world in God's image... Mission is concieved, in other words, as the "the liturgy after the liturgy," the natural consequence of entering into the divine presence in worship. - Bevans and Sch...

11/03/2010 12:13:04

Gerard Kelly
Had dinner at the House of commons Dining Room on Monday - great...

Had dinner at the House of commons Dining Room on Monday - great experience. I was embarassed to be wearing the wrong shoes as I had gone to the troulbe of putting on a suit and they really didn’t go with it. Partway through my lightly grilled plaice, I noticed Honourable Members at the adjacent table staring and pointing at the floor. Had they rumbled my innapropri...

10/03/2010 23:39:58

Asia CMS Prayer Blog
AL Bashir develops work in Bihar

Edison Christian of Al Bashir writes, " In Bihar we are taking a survey of ...

10/03/2010 23:03:00

In the Belly of the Big Fish (Ian Adams)
stations exhibition - work in progress

10/03/2010 12:44:00

Nick Drayson in Argentina
tribal technology

For all the criticism about the effect of text language on young people, be it repetitive stress syndrome, poor spelling and much more, here texting is actually an encouragement to young Indians who might otherwise not write their language to work out how to do so (albeit with a bit of wichi textspeak). It has also [...]

10/03/2010 02:15:11

John Martin's Notebook
A truer story 2: white man's burden

As I said earlier, truth telling is a big issue when writing about the missionary movement.It's a big temptation to indulge in hagiography, to over-blow the big personalities and edit out uncomfortable stuff. I hope one of my contributions at CMS has been to be create a culture that's hard-minded about the way we write about mission and the people involved in it.For CMS, one of the biggest challenges has concerned mission and empire. As Diarmid McCull...

09/03/2010 13:45:26

Distinctly Welcoming by Richard Sudworth
UK Under Attack Again: really?

I was sent a link recently to a broadcast from the States lamenting that "Christian Britain" was "under attack again". It's a polemical report scattered with stories about the persecution of Christians in the workplace and the inevitable and inexorable...

09/03/2010 10:22:02