IACM NEWS UPDATE & EXECUTIVE SECRETARY’S LETTER - December 2002

 We wish to send you our greetings for the Christmas and the New Year  celebrations. We join you in asking for God’s protection in all our undertakings.

This letter is to keep you informed about your membership of our nascent Association  IACM:

1) IACM clocks two years
2) Areas of collaboration
3) Future Projects: a) Next Plenary; b) Secretariat: c) Membership List

IACM was formally inaugurated on Saturday 21^st October in Rome during the Jubilee Year 2000. The first elected Executive Board of the Association was  also inaugurated on that particular day. The first formal meeting of the Executive Board was held in Rome from 22^nd  to 24^th  June, 2001.

IACM exists to encourage collaboration among Catholic missiologists for the purpose of promoting missiological research, studies and educational activities. IACM aims to be at the service of the evangelizing mission of the church, in particular of the local churches in different continents. Although the Association and its members affirm their specifically Roman Catholic identity, the IACM wishes also to achieve its objectives in genuine collaboration with other existing missiological associations.

Our joy at least for the moment is that we have been able to establish an Association which has started to bring together Catholic missiologists and share information on mission studies among them, particularly among those of them who could not have otherwise had the opportunity of coming to know each other or be linked with each other in all the six continents. That such an Association exists is already a thing of joy. Moreover, many members of IACM are coming to hear and know of other existing missiological associations (such as IAMS) for the first time only through their new link with IACM. This is why many are beginning to appreciate the need for IACM in the world of missiology. Within a space of two years, IACM can count on about 350 registered members. 

Evangelization is primarily the mission of the local churches. But our mission as members of IACM is to be at the service of the local churches by promoting research on mission. In the last Executive Board meeting we highlighted the importance of formation of regional or continental associations of Catholic missiologists as one of the ways we can meet this objective of the IACM. Some regions, especially in Asia and Latin America have started to respond to this call. It is the wish of the Executive Board that other zones will sooner or later do the same.

          In the last Executive Board meeting we discussed also what members could gain by their membership of the Association. IACM is to promote an on-going formation on mission studies for its members. One of the ways of achieving this objective is through continental or sub-regional conferences and congresses on mission. The IACM Executive Board  encourages its regional representatives and local association of missiologists who are already or about to be begin such a project. Their efforts corroborate with the international conferences and congresses on specific mission issues that we intend to organize from time to time.

          IACM underlines the fundamental importance of missiology in theological education and in training agents of evangelization (as was emphasized also by John Paul II (cf. Redemptoris missio 83). IACM encourages it members to collaborate with the Episcopal Conferences in giving a wider context to the importance of mission studies, to help them have common approach in mission formation and participate actively in each serious congress on mission taking place in different continents.

          IACM has as one of its top  priorities promotion of regular interactions and exchange of information on mission studies among its members. We have already gotten our website (hosted by IAMS): www.missionstudies.org/IACM/.

 The Executive Board has also agreed to begin a publication of an IACM Newsletter and to explore possibilities of organizing regional encounters of missiologists, the one that our economic strength at present could carry. It is also hoped that each local association of IACM could explore ways of enhancing regular communications among its members. We would also like to inform the members that the Acts of the last International Missiological Congress in Rome has been published under the title: Cristologia e Missione Oggi (G. Colzani, P. Giglioni, S. Karotemprel, eds), Urbaniana University Press, Rome, 2001.

          The IACM treasurer, Dr. Sr. Madge Karecki, SSJ-TOSF, has written to inform us that now we have a bank account in the United States where you can deposit your membership subscription or annual dues. As agreed at our plenary meeting of 2000 the subscription fees are:

          $10.00 a year for members from 2/3s world

          $30.00 a year for members from other nations

You can pay your subscription in two ways:

i) By direct transfer using the following information:

Account name:      International Association of Catholic Missiologists

Bank:                      LaSalle Bank NA,    Chicago, Illinois;
                                 ABA 50969120
                                Account number:   5200956596

 Or ii) by check in US Dollars:

The check should be made payable to:   International Association of Catholic Missiologists.

It should be sent to:

                   IACM
                   Divine Word Missionaries
                   Mission Office
                   P.O. Box 6099  - Techny, IL 60082 United States.

Please enclose a note or indicate that your check is for subscription.

            We are most grateful to the Divine Word missionaries in Chicago for their willingness to help us set-up this account.

          With deep gratitude we thank the Very Rev. Raymond Finch, M.M., Superior General of Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers and his Council for the special financial grant which we have received from them for two years now and which is helping us a great deal for the very realization of our Executive Board meetings. Rev. Dr. John Gorski, M.M. after his election as President of IACM through the then Bolivia Region of Maryknoll, requested this grant.

We are also grateful to members of the IACM who have been very supportive through the regular payment of their membership subscription. If you have any questions or problems you may e-mail our treasurer at: karecm@unisa.ac.za or write her at Missiology Dept., P.O. Box 392, Unisa  0003, South Africa. 

3. Future projects

The next Executive Board meeting which is expected to be held in July, 2003 will among other things, decide on the venue, date and theme for the next IACM Plenary Assembly. In this regard we look forward to your suggestions.

          In keeping with one of the main objectives of the Association, the Executive Board has decided to give priority to strengthening the IACM Secretariat with necessary infrastructures and tools for communication to enhance the interaction and mutuality among members. All of us in the Executive Board render our service to the Association ad honorarium. With the increasing volume of work for the Executive Secretary, there is a felt need for a part-time (employed) assistant secretary for the day-to-day running of our Secretariat. We hope also to get a befitting office-space here in Rome for the IACM Secretariat. However, all this will depend on the financial strength of the Association and the understanding to be reached with  the institution hosting our Secretariat for the time being.

          We are about to begin the revision of the membership list. Kindly inform us of any change in your profile and postal address.

 If you have any questions regarding the Association, please feel free to contact the Executive Secretary.

Peace and blessings of the Infant Jesus,

 Francis A. Oborji
Executive Secretary
Pontifical Urban University
00120 Vatican City.

e-mail: iacmsecretary@catholic.org