You will publish one day – A lifelong dream has come true

PARTNERSHIP AS MISSION
Essays in Memory of Ellie Johnson
Edited by Kenneth Gray and Maylanne Maybee
Foreword by James Boyles
Wipf and Stock PUBLISHER LINK

My favourite English teacher was John Smallbridge. He taught me with a dozen others in a creative writing seminar at what was then the University of Western Ontario in 1981. During our first class he asked each of us to write something on “patterns.” I wrote something about twelve-tone music composition, something about daily routines, and something about something else. A few days later each student met with Dr. Smallbridge. In my session he applauded my inspiration with a caution that there was some tidying up to be done. He also said that I would definitely publish one day. Such tidying up has continued for about forty-five years. Now, at long last, I am a published author. (Insert smiley.) 😊

The project began with the death of Ellie Johnson almost two years ago. She was a director of partnerships at the Anglican Church of Canada. Dr. Terry Brown eulogized her on Facebook sharing the picture above. There she stood, a woman in western dress in a Solomon Islands jungle, comfortable in her own skin, standing in a setting few of us will never visit. Terry’s image (taken at his own episcopal consecration) inspired me to first blog, and then with Maylanne’s assistance, to develop this very special project.

I tell the story of my connection with Ellie in a chapter in the book. Others tell of their connections and working relationships with Ellie, with our national and global church, and with God. We then connect Ellie’s vision for mission with today’s global missional needs, especially concerning environmental justice and the climate crisis. The book description on the rear cover summarizes the content succinctly.

“This uniquely Canadian volume tells stories of Ellie Johnson, missiologist and director of Partnerships at the Anglican Church of Canada from 1994 to 2008. More than that, this book tells of God’s mission, and how the Anglican Church of Canada participated in that mission with our ecumenical partners. Since the Anglican Congress of 1963, through the years of the ecumenical justice coalitions of the 1970s and 1980s, through the drastic organizational restructuring of General Synod in the first decade of the 2000s, change in the church has been continuous and relentless. Ellie’s skill in managing this change remains inspirational today. In standing with residential school survivors, identifying systemic racism, seeking peace and ecojustice, and contributing to global conversations about mission priorities and practices, Ellie shared her experience and insight widely and effectively. Through personal memories and tributes, through detailed historical storytelling, friends, family, and colleagues describe their own rich experience working with Ellie. Others raise questions about the face and context of mission today, recalling Ellie’s favorite dictum: all mission is local. The collection concludes with some of Ellie’s own unpublished words. There is so much to appreciate about this deeply spiritual person, whose legacy lives on, as we draw on her legacy to find resilience and strength for today’s demanding ecojustice journey. “

Maylanne and I look forward to sharing not only the book and its contents, but also introducing its authors to a wider audience throughout 2024.

So much gratitude.