Aloha,

I want to call the attention of the Diocese of Hawaiʻi to the following video:

"We are All Missionaries" viewable and sharable:
 http://www.episcopalchurch.org/page/missionary-society
 
downloadable:
http://vimeo.com/84250694


Without broad consultation, the senior members of the churchwide staff of what had been known as “The Episcopal Church Center” (“815”) is shifting  all language and titles to the “Missionary Society” when referring to  the churchwide support staff of “Church Center” (the “National Church”) for the Episcopal Church. Since there has been a move to shift staff out of the Manhattan office building (to provide rental income) commonly called “815” over the past few years, there are now relatively few staffers at “815 Second Avenue” in New York City, and so the “Church Center” is no longer the center of the Episcopal Church.  The full legal name of the Episcopal Churchʻs corporate body is the "Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America.”  There are two official names of the Episcopal Church specified in our Constitution: "The Episcopal Church" and the "Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America." "The Episcopal Church" is now the most commonly used name.  So, it is from our corporate name that the term “Missionary Society” arises and the video is a move by the churchwide staff to redeem “Missionary" for our common life.  It is a very a problematic term in Hawaiʻi (as it is much of the world) tied to Western imperialism and Euro-American cultural domination. We will see if it can be re-appropriated in a meaningful way for the 21st century. I wanted  the Diocese to know of its current use and that things marked “Missionary Society” are from the churchwide staff of the Episcopal Church. Let me know what you think of the video and the use of the term “Missionary."

Mahalo,
Bob

The Right Reverend Robert L. Fitzpatrick