At its annual conference this week (25-27 June 2012), the 311-year-old Anglican mission and development agency USPG announced it will be changing its name.
The decision was taken by USPG’s trustees following a lengthy consultation with churches and supporters of the charity.
Delegates attending USPG’s annual conference were given a preview of the new name and logo, which have been designed to reflect the contemporary nature of the work today, and invite many more individuals and churches to find out more and get involved.
The new name ”“ United Society to be known as Us. ”“will be officially adopted at a launch event in November 2012.
This could just as easily have appeared in [i]The Onion[/i]; it’s beyond parody. Now it’s called [i]Us[/i], like some sort of supermarket tabloid, and they drop that [i]Propagation of the Gospel[/i] business because nobody uses words like “propagation” anymore. And besides, the “gospel” is different now:
[blockquote]over the decades, this view of mission has shifted, and the focus today is on inspiring local communities to unlock their potential so they can overcome whatever barriers they face, whether economic, political or spiritual.[/blockquote]
Apparently, “living out the gospel” really just means helping people believe in themselves. They’re right about one thing, though: it’s definitely time for a change.
I am 65. When I was young in the Sixties I laughed at old people, who seemed so stuck in the past. Now I find myself baffled by changes like this. I do not understand the reasoning, nor do I see the need. And I find the new name beyond parody, as # 1 says above. Perhaps I am out of joint, perhaps the times are out of joint. But those older people who hated change that I laughed at in the past no longer seem so risible. In fact I rather wish we had paid more attention to them.
Good thing that the “gospel” has been reduced to this level for it legitimates good ol’ Western Imperialism … get those ignorant savages up to our level and they’ll be better off forever.
Somehow seems disingenuous. Wonder what Bray would say?
No more of that embarrassing Gospel stuff; they can go all out for the Millenium Development Goals, Green issues, and Women’s ‘health’ promotion. As with TEC, so with Us.
Come to think of it, wasn’t the new CEO something to do with TEC? I shall have to try to remember what it was all about.
“Us,” “Me”. It’s all the same.
Or this.
Did you ever read such utter twaddle. So very tragic.
It seems part of a desperate set of moves to change itself. Already one veteran missionary who I know is threatened with being dropped – I find some of the leaders know little or nothing about at least my area of work in South America and they are meant to be a mission society! As I see it this is part of the slow motion train wreck of USPG under its new ex TEC director.
I am biased – just so you all know.
Ian M+
Agree with the above commenters. This is both beyond satire and so tragic. This line perhaps best exemplifies the total collapse of any commitment to Gospel witness and proclamation of Jesus:
[em]There is no “themâ€; we are all “usâ€.[/em]
Oh wow…we go from a name with Gospel in the acronym to an acronym “US.” The mind boggles at the sick irony.
Just over a century ago a celebratory history of S.P.G began with the confident assertion,
[blockquote]”The Society on entering on the two hundredth year of its existence recognised with devout and humble thankfulness to Almighty God the measure of success vouchsafed to its labours in planting the Church in the British Colonies and in evangelising the heathen….To “make disciples of all the nations ” was the great command….But though its primary aim has been to save our fellow-Christians from lapsing into Pagans, the work of converting Pagans into Christians has gone on simultaneously from the first.”[/blockquote]
It would seem that everything so assuredly taken for granted a century ago has been rejected. It’s a strange kind of pride in one’s heritage that entails replacing one’s entire foundational worldview. How weird that a charity that was founded precisely in order to focus on “them” – whether the heathen or christians in foreign lands – should want to communicate that we only work with “us” now.