Source:  American Anglican Council

By Ralinda Gregor

Public narrative seems to be the favored form of dialog during this General Convention. After opening addresses by Presiding Bishop Jefforts Schori and House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson, the assembled bishops and deputies were instructed in the art of public narrative by Marshall Ganz, a community organizer who teaches this leadership tool at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Public narrative is a technique of storytelling that translates values into action and inspires the listener to act. Ganz explained that public narrative is a not a type of spin, nor is it a spiritual autobiography. It is a way for the church to dialog about mission in response for the call to do that articulated by resolution D043 at the 2006 General Convention.

Hundreds of bishops and deputies have already undergone the first stage of training in public narrative and will be facilitating three practice sessions during this convention. After Ganz' presentation, the Rev. Michael Pipkin, rector of the reconstituted Falls Church, gave his personal narrative as an example, drawing on his experiences with conflict throughout his life that equipped him to deal with the conflict in his present circumstances. However, missing from his presentation was any tangible description of the mission and ministry involvement of his parish. There was nothing to inspire me to take his story back to my parish-or to commend to AAC member parishes as a mission project to adopt if the Lord is leading them in that direction.

In fact missing from most of the examples of public narrative seen at this General Convention is a clear articulation of what mission is and Christ's call to that mission. Most of the presentations have been vague and focused on self.

After Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams' presentation on Christian Faithfulness in the Global Economic Crisis, three young adults presented their personal narratives that were supposed to inspire the delegates to act. Perhaps their presentation was marred by the technical difficulties that plagued the introductory video. But with the exception of Dr. Stephen Dzisi's description of Nets For Life, a program that provides treated malaria nets and trains people in their use, the presentations lacked any solutions to the broad problems addressed by the presenters. There were no inspiring stories about how Christ had transformed lives and given people a new hope and future. There was nothing resembling the AAC's "Salt and Light" column that frequently runs in the weekly update-no stories of community or international ministries that meet the physical and spiritual needs of the people they serve.

The Episcopal Chuch has forgotten that the primary mission of the church is to make disciples of all nations and to teach them to obey what Christ commands. The good works, or mission, that TEC wants to focus on should reflect our love for Christ and our thankfulness for what he has given us. Most importantly, it should be in response to the leading of the Holy Spirit rather than our initiative. According to noted Baptist pastor and missionary, Dr. Henry T. Blackaby, we should look to see where Christ is moving and join him in that work. But at this general convention, many of the personal narratives have focused on the self and where the human spirit is moving. The participants try to focus on good works but can't get past talking about themselves.