Anglican Communion Network

ACN and Diocese of Singapore Advance Mission Partnership

The Anglican Communion Network (ACN) and the Diocese of Singapore have taken the next step in their mission partnership which began last spring. The partnership is intended to spur on mission work in Nepal, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Indonesia. The idea was originally presented by then Bishop John Chew, Diocese of Singapore, while attending the Annual ACN Council meeting and received the enthusiastic support of the Council to move forward.

A more formal agreement was drawn up in early February 2006 by representatives of the Network and the Diocese during meetings held in Singapore just before the installation of the Most Rev. John Chew as the new Archbishop of Southeast Asia. Bishop Robert Duncan, Network Moderator, and the Rev. Canon Daryl Fenton, Chief Operating Officer, were in attendance as the invited representatives of the Network.

“The vision for this partnership is to assist the Diocese in extending the missionary enterprises it has already begun in these countries,” said Canon Fenton, “We’re not imposing a program, but rather responding to the leadership of Archbishop Chew by joining in this missionary work which has enormous potential.”

Canon Fenton expects the Anglican Global Mission Partners (AGMP) will be heavily involved in the implementation of the plan to support Anglican mission efforts in Southeast Asia. “There are many details to be worked out, but in the AGMP, we have the expertise of some 30 active mission agencies and ministries to draw on,” he explained.

The agreement lays out a system matching each nation where the Diocese of Singapore has a missionary deanery in place with a “mission advocate” in the United States. The mission advocate will mobilize prayer, financial backing, short and long-term mission trips and other support through individuals, parishes and dioceses that want to partner in the work in a particular country. Kevin Higgins of Global Teams, also an AGMP member, will be working with Singapore to help the Diocese of Singapore coordinate efforts from there.

Local parishes are already poised to begin this new work in earnest. Network-affiliated Truro Church located in Fairfax, VA is sending a mission exploration team to Vietnam next month. Truro’s interest in Vietnam springs from a relationship that Rector Martyn Minns formed through the Diocese of Singapore during a Mission Roundtable Meeting in 2004. “The Roundtable meetings are designed to build relationships and ignite new mission initiatives,” said Minns. “We’ve been praying and planning for this partnership to blossom for two years and we’re very excited that it is now beginning to take real shape.”

“One of the hopes we have is that eventually every Network parish will have an ongoing affiliation with a diocese or missionary effort worldwide,” said Bishop Robert Duncan. “This partnership with the Diocese of Singapore reminds us that we have Christian brothers and sisters everywhere. We are not an American denomination. We are part of the church worldwide.”