It all started with a Facebook post. In a group of Canadian Anglican and Lutheran clergy someone asked if they’d heard of anything like Gunn and Shobe’s “Walk in Love” an introduction to all things Episcopal, but for Anglicans in Canada. No one had.
But the Missioner for Christian Formation at the Diocese of New Westminster, Jessica Schaap, had had a serendipitous conversation with Scott Gunn, Director of Forward Movement at the last General Synod. They had talked briefly about the possibility of adapting Walk in Love for the Canadian church. The idea had dropped but maybe it could be revived? It could.
A team of enthusiastic adapters, editors, and re-writers formed: Jessica Schaap, Rhonda Waters, Debbie Noonan, and Grace Pritchard Burson. They adapted the book in a cross-country, online collaboration and the result is here.
To Love and Serve moves through the prayer, sacraments, creeds, organization, practices, and mission, known and practiced throughout much of our church today. It is certainly not the last word, but more of a wide-angle lens meant to stimulate learning, conversation, and discipleship.
IMAGE
The Reverend Jessica Schaap with a hot off the press copy of To Love and Serve
Photo: Randy Murray