September 16, 2008

NEW YORK – "Hope and Change: A Call to Mutual Action" is the subject of a keynote address to be presented by Dr. Elizabeth Tapia at the Oct. 20-21 Church World Service forum for reflection on the theological underpinnings, strategies and conduct of the cooperative work of the faith community, in South Bend, Ind.

For Dr. Tapia, the gathering, which will bring together clergy and laypersons to discuss challenges and opportunities for mission cooperation, will be an important step in "forging mutuality in mission" in the 21st century.

"In the past century Christian missions had been fragmented and competitive in some ways. Now faith-based groups in the global South and North are called to act together in ways that will transform not only our churches and communities, but the world, in God's grace," she says. Trained as deaconess, theologian and pastor in the Philippines and in the United States, Tapia actively promotes ecumenism, Asian women's theologies and human rights advocacy. She currently serves as director of the Center for Christianities in Global Contexts at Drew Theological School in Madison, New Jersey.

Her approach to the work of the faith community is guided by a Filipino proverb: Nasa tao ang gawa, nasa Diyos ang awa. "The work or action rests on the people; grace comes from God."

Says Tapia, "I believe that is so and at the same time I believe that God works in us and around us. But we need to be open to new ways of doing mission in an increasingly diverse and pluralistic world." Church World Service, the humanitarian development and disaster relief agency of 35 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican denominations in the United States, works cooperatively with its member denominations and partner agencies to reduce poverty throughout the world. "We are fortunate to have an expert like Dr. Tapia joining clergy and laypersons involved in mission – from heads of communions and heads of mission boards to church staff-as we examine what we do, how we do it and why – and how we can better work together to accomplish the important work of the faith community," says the Rev. Dr. Cheryl Dudley, interim director of the CWS mission relations program.

From 2002-2005, Dr. Tapia, an ordained elder of The United Methodist Church, was a fulltime lecturer in missiology at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey in Switzerland. Prior to that, she taught systematic theology for ten years at Union Theological Seminary in the Philippines.

She says her presence at the convocation is not a time for her to "offer answers," but a time to challenge participants to seriously reflect on "how – through the grace and power of the One who called us to mission – we can be midwives of change and hope in this fragile but precious world."

Registration and program information for the convocation is at http://www.churchworldservice.org/pdf_files/MRWPConvocationFlyer.pdf.

Church World Service