Mission, leadership explored in Diocese of Missouri conference
The Right Reverend George Wayne Smith, Bishop of Missouri
Growing up in Hawaii (and for a couple of years before that in the western Pacific region of Micronesia) I learned to think of “missionary” as a dirty word. My childhood experiences taught me to understand mission primarily as the thing that well-meaning but clueless people did when they were sent off to convert the natives, an enterprise that all too often ended up destroying the indigenous culture in the process.
My understanding of mission has evolved in recent years, so that I now think of it more in terms of social justice, but social justice always rooted in the Gospel and especially the message and work of reconciliation. In the first chapter of Mark, Jesus gains a lot of attention as he travels through Galilee, healing people and performing exorcisms. But while the people are focused on these miraculous doings, Jesus tells…
