A Model for Partnership : A model of partnership distilled from the relationship between Paul and the Philippian church as a tool to examine the partnership programmes of the Anglican Communion and to propose new directions

摘要

This interdisciplinary study is a work of missiology and aims to formulate a model of partnership for mission in the Anglican Communion which can be used as a critical tool in order to understand the failures of the past and enable planning for the future. Throughout the thesis a consistent method of modelling is applied. This consists of the formulation of explanatory models from the examination of real instances, and their application as exploratory models in other contexts. It is argued that the explanatory models guiding the development of mutual responsibility and interdependence between the provinces of the Anglican Communion have been insufficient. Evidence is given of their inadequacy as exploratory models. It is further argued that models developed in response to crises in the Anglican Communion do not take seriously The Anglican Way of “discerning the mind of God.” An alternative explanatory model is distilled from the relationship between Paul and his community and the community of Christians in Philippi. This is applied as an exploratory model and is shown to enable a critical assessment of past and present programmes, and to be useful in developing new initiatives.