29.08.2017
Archbishop of Dublin and Church of England Rector Lead Cross Cultural Mission Seminar in Myanmar
Archbishop Michael Jackson together with the Revd Dr Joshva Raja, Rector of Cudworth, Diocese of Birmingham, England led a week–long seminar in the Myanmar Association of Theology earlier this month. Both of them serve the Anglican Communion as members of The Network for Inter Faith Concerns
(NIFCON). The area of study was Cross Cultural Mission and Theological Research Methods. The participants numbered around 25 and came from Theological Colleges and Institutes right across Myanmar. Last year they led a similar seminar on the importance of modern communications in contemporary theological life and witness, in response to the rapid changes in technology and society in Myanmar today.
The topic this year derived from the recognition that Myanmar (formerly Burma)
has borders with many countries in the Far East and also borders the sea. Cross cultural influences and experiences are manifold and continue to shape the theological life and reflections of the Christians in the country. Myanmar is developing and changing rapidly and its Christian population is in a missional and an Inter Faith space all the time, both in the dialogue of life and in the dialogue of ideas.
The seminars explored areas as diverse as chaplaincy and contemporary culture; the Five Marks of Mission and approaches to understanding church life and work which are instinctive to you in your context but, once taken within a wider academic framework, will enhance the understanding of ecclesiastical and theological life internationally when shared, analysed and criticised. This will enable them to be re–lived according to the canons of world–wide research. In this way the rest of the world will learn from Myanmar and Myanmar will see itself as a contributor to international theological understanding and Christian presence.
While in Yangon, the archbishop also visited the Anglican archbishop who,
together with his Provincial and Diocesan staff, and in particular his Provincial Secretary, had been and remain so helpful and generous in the organisation of the Consultation between Anglicans and Buddhists held in The Archbishop’s Compound in January of this year in association with a wide number of international Christian Agencies.
