Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will conduct a conversation about mission with Archbishop Desmond Tutu in a live webcast on Saturday, May 19 at 3:30 pm Eastern (2:30 pm Central, 1:30 pm Mountain, 12:30 pm Pacific, 11:30 am Alaska, 9:30 am Hawaii).

The live webcast will be available at no fee on the website of the Episcopal Church www.episcopalchurch.org and will be available on demand afterwards.

Hosted by Washington National Cathedral, the event will be moderated by David Crabtree, news anchor at WRAL-TV in North Carolina and an ordained deacon.

Framing the conversation on the Anglican Five Marks of Mission, the questions to be explored are: “What does Mission mean to me”; and “What does mission look like in the world.”

“I look forward to a stimulating conversation with Archbishop Tutu, and am very grateful for this opportunity to prompt wider conversation about God's mission,” Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori stated.

The May 19 event is the first in a series of discussions about mission with the Presiding Bishop and other prominent religious leaders.

The event is ideal for congregation and group viewing, adult forums, discussion groups, etc.

Archbishop Tutu

A 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Archbishop Tutu in well known in the Anglican Communion and throughout the world. A leader of peace, he was born in 1931 in Klerksdorp, Transvaal, and in 1954 he graduated from the University of South Africa. He was ordained as a priest in 1960.

In 1975 he was appointed Dean of St. Mary's Cathedral in Johannesburg, the first black to hold that position. Between 1976 and 1978 Tutu was the Bishop of the Anglican Church in Lesotho and the General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches. In 1976, protests in Soweto over the Apartheid government's enforcement of Afrikaans as a compulsory medium of instruction in black schools culminated in the massacre of dozens of students, which triggered widespread unrest and world outrage.

Tutu had become increasingly outspoken about Apartheid and the privations suffered by blacks. Although his criticism was unflinching, he constantly urged reconciliation between all sides. Like many who spoke out against Apartheid, he was harassed by the state security police and his passport was confiscated.

Desmond Tutu continued to speak out against the injustice of Apartheid and in 1984 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts, the first South African to receive the accolade since Albert Luthuli in 1961.

In 1985, he was appointed the Bishop of Johannesburg and a year later became the first black cleric to lead the Anglican Church in South Africa when he was named Archbishop of Cape Town. From 1987 to 1997 he served as president of the All Africa Conference of Churches.

Archbishop Tutu urged foreign disinvestment in South Africa as a way to pressure the government to dismantle Apartheid, and was the focus of harassment by the security police as a result. Like murdered activist Steve Biko, he also urged civil disobedience. It led to events such as the "purple rain" protest in Cape Town in 1989, where protesters were sprayed with purple dye to identify them to the police for arrest later.

Following the democratic elections in 1994, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was set up to bear witness to, record and in some cases, grant amnesty to the perpetrators of crimes relating to human rights violations.

http://www.tutu.org/bio-desmond-tutu.php

The Anglican Five Marks of Mission

The Five Marks of Mission were developed by the Anglican Consultative Council between 1984 and 1990 and have won wide acceptance among Anglicans, and have given parishes and dioceses around the world a practical and memorable "checklist" for mission activities.

The Five Marks of Mission are:

1. To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom

2. To teach, baptize and nurture new believers

3. To respond to human need by loving service

4. To seek to transform unjust structures of society

5. To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth

Washington National Cathedral

Washington National Cathedral is called to be the spiritual home for the nation. It seeks to be a catalyst for spiritual harmony in our nation, renewal in the churches, reconciliation among faiths, and compassion in our world.

The Episcopal Church welcomes all who worship Jesus Christ in 109 dioceses and three regional areas in 16 nations.  The Episcopal Church is a member province of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The Episcopal Church: www.episcopalchurch.org

Washington National Cathedral: http://www.nationalcathedral.org/

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