Companion Diocese Relationships
Partnership in Mission is at the heart of all relationships, both within the Anglican Communion and throughout the wider church. Companion Diocese Relationships offer dioceses in the Episcopal Church opportunities to engage in mission activity with dioceses internationally, as part of the Partners In Mission process throughout the Anglican Communion. CD Relationships exist to strengthen each participant in ministry and mission. Ideally, such relationships will involve the partners in increased awareness of the single mission to which all are called.That mission includes:
- mutual encouragement and prayer for one-another;
- intensified knowledge of and concern for one-another; and
- the exchange of resources, both spiritual and material.
Companion Diocese Relationships are disciplined ways, agreed upon and shared in by the partners, to know from first-hand experience what it means to live inter-dependently. They recognize that the responsibility for mission in any one place belongs to the church in that place, and that each part of the world-wide church also carries responsibility for mission in every other place.
Companion Diocese Relationships are formally recognized by the national Executive Council at the request of the Episcopal Church dioceses involved, on the basis of the decision by both partners to enter such a relationship. The initial period can be as long as five years, with mutually agreed upon periods of extension.
History of the Maine-Haiti connection
At a time when the bonds that unite the Anglican communion are being tested, the phenomena of Companion Diocese Relationships is a way to remind us that ultimately our community is one of persons, more than institutions. What the Companion Diocese Program seeks to do is to foster enthusiasm for ministry and sharing between linked dioceses. Although we are often tempted to think of the relationship as merely a financial partnership, but it is really broader than that. Companionship goes beyond mere cultural exchange to remind us that we are one body of Christ.
The connection between Maine and Haiti began with conversations between our Bishop, Chilton Knudsen and the Bishop of Haiti, the Rt. Rev. Jean-Zache Duracin. In bringing us together both bishops responded to several unlikely similarities between our two dioceses We are both predominantly rural areas, dependent on agronomy and sustainable use of natural resources for survival. We are both places in which the French language and culture have a part. And although on somewhat different scales, we are communities in which people struggle to find work and to feed, house and clothe themselves and their families.
Haiti remains the least-developed country in the Western Hemisphere. About 80% of the population lives in abject poverty, making it the second poorest country in the world. Environmental issues such as deforestation and soil erosion are at crisis levels. Only 47% of the population has access to potable drinking water. At least 50 % of Haitians are illiterate. 2/3 the population cannot be described as having any sort of regular employment. Infant mortality rates in Haiti are the highest in the hemisphere. Approximately 60% the population does not have access to primary health care, more than half do not have access to medication, 76% of all births occur without medical attention, and only one child out of two is completely vaccinated. 24,000 people a year die of AIDS in this country of 8 million. Tuberculosis and intestinal diseases are major cause of mortality. The average life span is 52, keeping in mind that the average age in Haiti is 18. Millions of children live on the streets or in institutions, orphaned or abandoned by families who cannot care for them. For more information contact Emily Jenks or The Rev. Peter Jenks, haitimainechair@ymail.com
Sources for Statistics:
www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ha.html
www.who.int/hac/crises/hti/en/
