Jesse Zink, an Episcopalian seminarian at Yale Divinity School is journaling his summer travels in sub-saharan Africa on his blog “Mission Minded”. Jesse is a former YASC missionary and is traveling around the Anglican Church in Nigeria this summer. He gives the background to his trip in this post on his blog.
It’s the latest post that fleshes out the incarnational meaning of the Anglican Communion and its bonds of affection that are worth meditating on this weekend (as we read through the a report by a special task force of General Convention on what the implications of the Anglican Covenant might mean for the Episcopal Church).
“The most touching moment for me was in the last church we visited. There were the three archdeacons who were touring me around, a lay pastoral worker, a seminary student, and four, older members of the congregation – two-thirds of their Sunday attendance. As is my wont, I started asking questions about Anglican identity, the structure of the church, and so on. The conversation was in danger of turning into a seminar, especially since one of the archdeacons is a seminary professor.
But then one of the old men stood up. He had something to say. “Sometimes,” he said, “we are ashamed to be Anglicans in this village. Other churches are much bigger and we are ashamed of our little room.
“But today you have come here. It is evangelism for you to come here. People in our village will be talking, “The white man went to that little Anglican church!’ It will be the talk of the town.”
I told him that we were both members of the Anglican Communion and that there are millions of us around the world and there is nothing to be ashamed of in being Anglican. On the way out, I made sure to smile and talk with as many people in the village as possible. One of the women in the Anglican church gave me a pineapple as thanks.
Everyone is always asking what Anglican unity “looks” like. The answer? A lot like a pineapple.”
More here along with pictures of the actual pineapple.