Lichfield churches extend international mission links

Churches in the Diocese of Lichfield have welcomed a new international mission partnership with the Diocese of Singapore. The new agreement was enthusiastically endorsed by members of the Lichfield Diocesan Synod at the weekend.

The agreement was originally signed by the Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Rev Jonathan Gledhill, and the Dean of Singapore, the Very Rev Kuan Kim Seng on behalf of Archbishop John Chew, at a service in Lichfield Cathedral in July. During the service, Lichfield's existing mission links with the Dioceses of West Malaysia, Kuching in Malaysian Borneo, Matlosane in South Africa and Qu'Appelle in Canada were renewed.

While the Synod welcomed the renewal of the partnership agreements and the new link with Singapore, the Bishop of Lichfield told them a question mark hung over the existing relationship with Sabah in Malaysian Borneo.

Bishop Gledhill told Synod that the new Bishop of Sabah, the Rt Rev Albert Vun, had decided not to attend the Lambeth Conference and therefore had not taken part in the CrossTalk initiative, although members of his diocese did.

Bishop Gledhill said: "Sabah wasn't present at the re-signing of the agreement and we don't know if they are going to re-sign or not; so I will approach the bishop informally and see whether he does want to continue the link. We don't know the answer to that yet."

He added: "Because of our new links with Singapore there is the opportunity for us to be connected with Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos as well; and the Archbishop is longing for volunteers from here, maybe a young retired couple who will go and give a couple of years of their lives to teach English as a foreign language and join with building up a local church."

The Synod also welcomed the CrossTalk partnership scheme which uses the internet to link individual churches within the Lichfield Diocese with individual churches from the overseas mission partnership dioceses to share news, information, mission strategies and prayer. A pilot scheme had run in the two years leading up to the Lambeth Conference and now Synod is encouraging every parish or group of parishes within Lichfield diocese to participate.

In addition, members of the Synod heard that the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg in north-east Germany had asked if their partnership agreement with the Diocese of Lichfield could be renewed. This was unanimously agreed by the Synod and the new agreement will be signed during a celebration in Mecklenburg in 2009.