Partnership as Mission
Essays in Memory of Ellie Johnson
Edited by Kenneth Gray and Maylanne Maybee
Foreword by James Boyles
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
288 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 x 0.58 in
- Paperback
- 9781666779325
- Published: November 2023
$37.00 / £30.00 / AU$57.00
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This uniquely Canadian volume tells stories of Ellie Johnson, missiologist and director of Partnerships at the Anglican Church of Canada from 1994 to 2008. More than that, this book tells of God's mission, and how the Anglican Church of Canada participated in that mission with our ecumenical partners.
Since the Anglican Congress of 1963, through the years of the ecumenical justice coalitions of the 1970s and 1980s, through the drastic organizational restructuring of General Synod in the first decade of the 2000s, change in the church has been continuous and relentless. Ellie's skill in managing this change remains inspirational today. In standing with residential school survivors, identifying systemic racism, seeking peace and ecojustice, and contributing to global conversations about mission priorities and practices, Ellie shared her experience and insight widely and effectively.
Through personal memories and tributes, through detailed historical storytelling, friends, family, and colleagues describe their own rich experience working with Ellie. Others raise questions about the face and context of mission today, recalling Ellie's favorite dictum: all mission is local. The collection concludes with some of Ellie's own unpublished words.
There is so much to appreciate about this deeply spiritual person, whose legacy lives on, as we draw on her legacy to find resilience and strength for today's demanding ecojustice journey.
Kenneth Gray recently retired as dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral in Kamloops, BC, Canada. A trained musician and keen amateur photographer, he was the first secretary of the Anglican Communion Environmental Network. Gray was also a member of the Canadian General Synod Ecojustice Committee from 2001 to 2007. He blogs regularly on retirement, music, dogs, photography, and the arts.
Maylanne Maybee, deacon, recently retired from ministry as a community developer, social justice advocate, and theological educator. For fourteen years she worked as coordinator of justice education and networks for the Anglican Church of Canada, and for a further ten years as principal of the Centre for Christian Studies, Winnipeg, and interim principal of the United Theological College, Montreal.
“Through the leadership and witness of one lay woman, Ellie Johnson, we see how the promise of ‘mutuality and interdependence’ (Toronto Congress 1963) has taken root, transforming the life of the Anglican Church of Canada, locally and globally. Ellie embodied that transformation and launched our Church on a journey that continues today. These essays are an encouragement and prophetic call born from her witness.”
—Linda Nicholls, archbishop and primate, Anglican Church of Canada
“Kenneth Gray and Maylanne Maybe present this set of informative articles featuring the life and work of Ellie Johnson. She was a moving force in the evolving understanding of mission in the Anglican Church of Canada. From her perch as Director of Partnerships at the church’s national office, she led in developing close ties—partnerships—with Indigenous communities and overseas partner churches. This is a good book.”
—Jim Boyles, retired general secretary, Anglican Church of Canada
“This volume of essays is a marvelous multi-hued window into a church in transformation. At the heart of this living history is the life, work, and witness of an exceptional lay woman with her colleagues, family, and mission partners. This book is a gift for reflection and challenge for any who seek to more fully participate in God’s mission in the world today.”
—Cathy Campbell, retired Anglican priest
“Ellie Johnson persistently challenged us to move beyond our preoccupations with the mission of the institutional Church and focus instead on God’s mission of (in her words) ‘healing, hope, and transformation’ in the world around us. This important collection of essays extends Ellie’s missiological vision, locating the mission of God within the contexts of changing ecclesiologies, the full personhood of indigenous peoples, and ecojustice movements. It is a fitting tribute to Ellie’s life, ministry, and dedication to God’s mission.”
—Ian T. Douglas, former professor of mission and world Christianity, Episcopal Divinity School
“The woman who inspired this book said, ‘Our calling is to serve the world, as part of God’s transforming action.’ These essays testify to the ways in which the idea of ‘mission ‘has itself been transformed, in no small part by Ellie Johnson’s passionate persistence. The realities of global ecological collapse, homelessness, food insecurity, the scandalous history of residential schools are all faced firmly by the authors who yet inspire the reader to engage this world with hope.”
—Alyson Barnett-Cowan, retired Anglican priest
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