Missioner Fall 2019

ANDERSON & LABIN
continued from page 5
I think a second lesson is that the church, and this
seminary, need more exercise of charity, such that
it becomes habitual, what we’re known for. I’m not
talking about bland niceness or naiveté but the
simple extension of kindnesses, best interpretations
of motives, empathy, and so on. A lot of tumult in the
church is self-imposed, and even when it isn’t, both
Jesus and Paul (and Peter, for that matter) told us to
overcome evil with good. When we think somehow that
we are on the right side of something, it becomes easy
to think that any of our means – to say nothing of our
attitudes – are justified. But this is the Devil’s snare.
Duke: What is the next frontier for the House?
Anderson: I like the question about frontiers because
we can never forget that we were founded on a frontier
to reach frontiers, and should we ever forget that, we
lose the heart and soul of this place. It is easy while
we are plugging away at our daily work to lose a view
of the horizon, and, like a young driver not looking far
enough down the road, we careen side to side rather
than moving straight ahead.
“God has a church full of incredibly
gifted people who want to be a part of
something that matters, and he seems
to think that some of those people
belong here!” - DR. ANDERSON
If I may take a liberty with the question, though, I see
two frontiers. The first is a kind of internal frontier.
When the quality of our faculty and programs and the
health of this community become known for what they
are becoming, this becomes the seminary option that
cannot be ignored. But then we need perpetually to “lift
our eyes” to the horizon of the Anglican Communion
and ask whether, as Isaiah puts it, “it is too small
a thing” that we find a place at the table of North
American Anglicanism as a niche or boutique product.
The next frontiers are missionary frontiers: secularized
urban centers, university campuses, unreached people
groups, military chaplaincies, and even amused-todeath
suburbanites. A church that is no longer the
self-propagating institution of previous generations is
a loss to the American religious scene, but it is a new
opportunity for missionary Christianity. What do you
think, Labin?
Duke: In line with what you have said, the next
frontier for the House is not a physical wilderness as
it was when the red and blue chapels were built. The
next frontier is a spiritual wilderness. Yet, the same
formation that prepared missionaries, church planters,
priests, and lay leaders in the 1840s is the same
formation needed to address the issues of our day.
The frontier is ever changing, but the mission of the
Mission remains the same! ╪
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THE MISSIONER