Never say Never

Our “little book”: Partnership as Mission: Essays in Memory of Ellie Johnson is now published and available for sale.

Kenneth Gray, Maylanne Maybee, Editors
Wipf and Stock Publishers; 288 pages
Available in softcover, e-book, and hardcover

Now through December 19, on sale at 40%off. Visit our publisher, Wipf and Stock and use the code JOY23 to receive your discount.

PLEASE FIND BELOW

Book launch announcements
Publisher blurb
List of contents and contributors
The story of the book itself
A note of thanks to the Anglican Foundation
A word from Ellie
Pictures, more pictures

BOOK LAUNCHES

Our first in-person launch will be at Ellie’s home church, St. Simon’s in Oakville on Wednesday, January 31^st at 13:00. This event is hosted by members of the congregation, many who knew Ellie well. Family members, the primate, and other Ontario-based contributors will share their thoughts and appreciations. Please contact me if you plan to attend.

We are finalizing plans for an online launch now scheduled for the next day, Thursday, February 1 at 16:00 Eastern time hosted by Jesse Zink, president of Montreal Diocesan Theological College. Registration details are forthcoming. We are pleased to welcome Dr. Ian Douglas, former professor of mission and world Christianity, Episcopal Divinity School as our guest presenter.

PUBLISHER BLURB

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.

CONTENTS

BIOGRAPHY, MEMORIES, PERSPECTIVES

Ellie, Ecojustice and me: The Education of a Climate Activist
Kenneth Gray

Remembering Ellie: Funeral eulogies
Alyson Barnett-Cowan, Verna Andrews, Terry Brown

Presenting Doctor Johnson
Susan Winn

Our mother, Ellie: Turning on a Dime
Sekoia and Kate Johnson
              
CHURCH HOUSE: EMBRACING PARTNERSHIP

Partnerships and Preparing the Way
Maylanne Maybee

From Colonialism through Partnership to Decolonization: An Appreciation of the Ministry of Dr. Eleanor Johnson
Peter Elliott

From Partnership to Friendship: How a Canadian Anglican became a bishop in the South Pacific
Terry Brown

The Living Legacy of Dr. Eleanor Johnson in the Anglican Church of Canada and Anglican Communion today
Andrea Mann
              
INDIGENOUS VOICES AND STORIES OF SOLIDARITY

Ellie Johnson and the Residential Schools Settlement Agreements
Nancy Hurn

Ellie in the Storm: A Reminiscence
Esther Wesley

Come Short of Breaking Camp: Re-entering the Land in the Diocese of Islands and Inlets
Logan McMenamie

Companions on the Journey: A Conversation
Alex and Nella Nelson with Logan McMenamie
              
MISSION AND ECOJUSTICE – REFLECTIONS AND ANALYSIS

The Promise of Place: Shaping a Local Anglican Response to Global Realities
Jesse Zink

The Climate Crisis and the Church: A Landscape for Theological Education
Sylvia Keesmaat

A Field Sketch on the Future of Anglicanism in Quebec: What the Woodland Caribou Might Teach Us about Going Extinct
Jeffrey Metcalfe

From Homelessness to Homefulness: Faith and Housing
Michael Shapcott

Ecojustice and Mission: Thoughts on a Relevant Missional Terminology
Kenneth Gray

Religious Communities and Mission: A Franciscan Perspective
Jeffrey Golliher
 
ELLIE, IN HER OWN WORDS

A Presentation on Mission

An Address to the Convocation of Montreal Diocesan Theological College, Montreal, May 8, 2006

ENDORSEMENTS

“Through the leadership and witness of one lay woman, Ellie Johnson, we see how the promise of ‘mutuality and interdependence’ (Toronto Congress 1963) has taken root, transforming the life of the Anglican Church of Canada, locally and globally. Ellie embodied that transformation and launched our Church on a journey that continues today. These essays are an encouragement and prophetic call born from her witness.”
—LINDA NICHOLLS, archbishop and primate, Anglican Church of Canada
 
“Kenneth Gray and Maylanne Maybe present this set of informative articles featuring the life and work of Ellie Johnson. She was a moving force in the evolving understanding of mission in the Anglican Church of Canada. From her perch as Director of Partnerships at the church’s national office, she led in developing close ties—partnerships—with Indigenous communities and overseas partner churches. This is a good book.”
—JIM BOYLES, retired general secretary, Anglican Church of Canada
 
“This volume of essays is a marvelous multi-hued window into a church in transformation. At the heart of this living history is the life, work, and witness of an exceptional lay woman with her colleagues, family, and mission partners. This book is a gift for reflection and challenge for any who seek to more fully participate in God’s mission in the world today.”
—CATHY CAMPBELL, retired Anglican priest
 
“Ellie Johnson persistently challenged us to move beyond our preoccupations with the mission of the institutional Church and focus instead on God’s mission of (in her words) ‘healing, hope, and transformation’ in the world around us. This important collection of essays extends Ellie’s missiological vision, locating the mission of God within the contexts of changing ecclesiologies, the full personhood of Indigenous peoples, and ecojustice movements. It is a fitting tribute to Ellie’s life, ministry, and dedication to God’s mission.”
—IAN T. DOUGLAS, former professor of mission and world Christianity, Episcopal Divinity School
 
“The woman who inspired this book said, ‘Our calling is to serve the world, as part of God’s transforming action.’ These essays testify to the ways in which the idea of ‘mission ‘has itself been transformed, in no small part by “Ellie Johnson’s passionate persistence. The realities of global ecological collapse, homelessness, food insecurity, the scandalous history of residential schools are all faced firmly by the authors who yet inspire the reader to engage this world with hope.”
—ALYSON BARNETT-COWAN, retired Anglican priest and member of the Church House Management Team

THE STORY OF THIS PROJECT

One year after her death (January 2023) I wrote this blog hinting about the development and production of this book. My satisfaction (and relief) is described in this blog. Who knew?

SUPPORT FROM THE ANGLICAN FOUNDATION OF CANADA

We acknowledge with gratitude a grant from the Anglican Foundation of Canada, which allowed this project to proceed with confidence.

A FINAL WORD, FROM ELLIE

“I really believe that God is especially close to people in their times of struggle, and at significant moments in their lives, so if we watch and listen attentively to their stories, we may catch a glimpse of what God is doing, and perhaps discern what our own role in that story might be. Personal stories are sacred gifts and need to be handled with care.”
—from an undated and unpublished presentation on mission