That means that all members of CMS try to participate actively in Christian mission wherever they are, in their home country or overseas.
Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted upwards of nine thousand men and women to serve as mission partners during its 200-year history. Today there are about 150 mission partners in 26 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. A budget of £5.75 million a year is needed to maintain and expand this work.

CMS six main priorities are:

• Leadership training and theological education;
• Support for small and struggling churches;
• Evangelism and church planting;
• Dialogue and witness with people of other faiths;
• Community development and health care;
• Work among refugees and migrant peoples.

The Church Missionary Society is an organisation that is dedicated to mission. CMS supports 700 people in mission and works in over 50 countries around the world. They have offices in Singapore, Seoul, Nairobi, Cape Coast and headquarters in Oxford. We, as a church, support CMS through our annual donation. This money helps sponsor Joanne Udal in Sudan. Her letters are posted on the church noticeboard regularly. CMS is focusing on the Five Marks of Mission in 2008 as this is a Lambeth Conference year. These are 'Proclaim, Teach, Respect, Seek and Renew'. None of this can be done without money so fundraising is important. Individually people can make annual donations to help the organisation.

Please watch out for the regular CMS magazine which is left at the back of the church and the monthly 'Prayerlines' booklet next to the vestry.

Who are CMS Mission Partners?
CMS mission partners combine professional skills with Christian commitment and take on the challenge of serving God with a local church in a different culture. Most CMS mission partners work under the authority of local church leaders. Openings are generally created at the specfic request of such churches.
People selected to be CMS mission partners are

• Actively involved in their local church
• Growing in their faith
• Sensing God's calling to service in a different culture
• Prepared to adapt to life in a different culture
• Able to discern that God is present and at work in cultures different to their own
• Capable of working harmoniously with Christian traditions which are different
from their own
• Suitably qualified to meet the needs of partner churches
• Able to meet the visa and work-permit requirements of host countries.

Our Mission Partner is Joanna Udal, who has been selected to serve in the Sudan as Assistant to their new Archbishop, Joseph Marona. She has also been chosen as the Archbishop of Canterbury's representative within the Episcopal Church in Sudan.
This is a two-way relationship which will be a positive way of focusing our commitment to the CMS.

At its meeting on 16th January 2001, the PCC agreed to the Parish taking on a mission partner with the Church Missionary Society Link Scheme.

The Aims of the Scheme
Through its mission partners the scheme connects congregations in Britain with the world-wide Christian fellowship. Mission partners serve in Africa, Asia, Europe and the middle East, and through them linked congregations can
• Gain a greater understanding of God's work in a different part of the world or a different culture.
• Contribute to that work through prayer, support, letters and visits.
• Be challenged in their own mission here through what they learn from Christians overseas.
• Give financially to the CMS to help to maintain mission partners in their work.
• Make connections between local and world-wide mission.

Our Mission Partner is Joanna Udal, who has been selected to serve in the Sudan as Assistant to their new Archbishop, Joseph Marona. She has also been chosen as the Archbishop of Canterbury's representative within the Episcopal Church in Sudan.

Many will know Joanna as the curate at St Augustine's, Whitton, through her involvement with Jubilee 2000 and with Churchlink West London. She has also sung with the Apocalypse Singers. She is a very able and committed person.

Joanna has recently visited the Sudan for three weeks, and begins her mission in April. Before she leaves she will be visiting St. James's so that we can get to know her and hear about the work she will be doing. She will also visit us when she is home to share her news with us.

What is required of us?
• A commitment to focus interest and informed prayer on Joanna's ministry and the people she works with.
• Action to initiate and deepen our interest in mission as a Parish, and a willingness to be stimulated in our mission by Christians in Sudan.
• Financial support for the CMS so that the Gospel can be made known through its work. This coming year we will be donating £750 to the work of the CMS.
• The appointment of a Link Correspondent to ensure continuous contact with Joanna, and make the best use of her Link Letters.
• To review the link for effectiveness on a regular basis.
• To enter into a covenant agreement on the above basis with the CMS and Joanna. (This has already been agreed by the PCC)

The Link Correspondent
This is the person who will correspond regularly with Joanna, and share her news with us by, for example:
• Arranging for extra link letters to be sent out for reading and prayer at home.
• Printing some or all of the letters in The Spire.
• Reading some letters out in church.
• Including prayer requests in intercession for Joanna and her colleagues.
• Displaying Joanna's picture, profile and letters on the notice board.
• Finding others in the Parish willing to correspond with Joanna.