Jerusalem
and the Middle East
Church Association

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‘Face to Face’ with The Council for World Mission

I am pleased to announce that St. George’s College has begun 2008 on an exciting new note. We have just launched our first course in partnership with the Council for World Mission (CWM) based in London. CWM was originally founded in the mid 1960s in the UK and operates mostly among churches of the Reformed tradition. Currently, it runs a series of ‘Face to Face’ encounters for seminarians from needy countries and situations around the world.

The idea is that participants meet ‘face to face’ with local people in a number of contexts of deprivation. CWM already has programs in Zambia, Fiji and India. Now they have Jerusalem, and it’s at St. George’s College!

On our Palestine of Jesus course this January we have had ten ‘Face to Face’ participants in addition to eight Australians and others from the USA, making a group of twenty-six. In addition to support from CWM, the ‘Face to Face’ group was supported on the College course by the Jerusalem and the Middle East Trust (JMET) in London which provided a substantial grant.

The ten ‘Face to Face’ participants come from the following countries: Fiji, Samoa, American Samoa, Jamaica, Malawi, South Africa, and the UK. In terms of denominations, the group was also very mixed: the Churches of Christ in Malawi, and the United Church in Jamaica were represented in addition to various Congregational and Presbyterian churches. There was also an Anglican from Fiji and the Diocese of Polynesia.

After the Palestine of Jesus course they went in pairs to pastoral placements lasting a month in the Diocese of Jerusalem. These are at: the Princess Basma Centre for Disabled Children on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem; St. Andrew’s Anglican parish in Ramallah (West Bank); St. Luke’s Anglican parish and hospital in Nablus (West Bank); the EMMS Hospital in Nazareth (Israel); and St. George’s Cathedral and School in Jerusalem.

Participants work with laity and clergy in the various places observing the work and ministry carried out there. At the end of the month they return to St. George’s College for a week’s reflection. The whole experience should make a world of difference to their future ministries.

The Executive Secretary of CWM, the Rev’d Randolph Turner from Jamaica, joined the group for part of the St. George’s course and two other CWM staff came to the College to lead the week of reflection at the end of February.

The partnership between St. George’s College and CWM provides a tremendous opportunity for the College to work with Christians of different denominations from around the world. It also connects us more with some of the many institutions in our own diocese. We look forward to similar exercises in the coming years.

Stephen W. Need,
Dean of the College

Information on the Diocese of Jerusalem