THE SOMA VISION

As a missionary agency within the Anglican church SOMA has pioneered the concept of  short term missions within the denomination.

SOMA’s birth took place in the context of the first International Anglican Conference on Spiritual Renewal which was held at the United Kingdom in 1978.  In a great celebration in Canterbury Cathedral, God spoke to the 300 gathered leaders in a prophetic word about,

 "minding the nervous system of the Body of Christ"

This was accepted as a call to the whole of Anglican Renewal and a core group of the leaders under the chairmanship of the late Archbishop Bill Burnett of  Cape Town met to consider the implications of this call.  The Revd Michael Harper picked up the burden of the call and was appointed to put the vision into effect under the covering of an international eldership.

The mandate of the call was discerned as

"the renewal of the Anglican Church world-wide"

with the understanding that this would also involve a ministry of encouragement and renewal to other denominations.

SOMA’s primary focus is to the overseas Church.  The concept of "sharing’ is understood in an international context which en-visions the body of Christ in one country sharing with the body of Christ in another country.   Hence, SOMA’s work is cross-cultural in nature.

SOMA’s work in its base countries is limited to promoting awareness, understanding, support and participation in ministry and mission.  SOMA national bodies work closely with its national Anglican Renewal Ministries body.

1979-1980 were the planning years when Michael Harper sought the Lord’s direction for the development of the ministry.  During these years, he also set out to establish SOMA’s credentials.  It was a period of contacting the Bishops to inform them of SOMA’s existence.  It was a time of promoting the vision to gain support in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia.

It is probably a fair assessment to say that the original concept was that the ministry would major on regional leaders’ conferences around the world with the aim of encouraging the renewal of the Church.  In 1980, planning began for SOMA’s first activity - a conference to be held in Singapore the following year.   It was during this planning that the idea of short term missions began to surface and that concept was included in the agenda for Singapore.

In January 1981, 160 Anglican leaders in renewal - bishops, clergy and lay people - gathered in Singapore.  The majority of the leaders were from Asian nations with only forty coming from the "West".  The non- Asian leaders were asked to make themselves available for ministry in one of the Asian nations after the conference.

The conference comprised keynote addresses, workshops on various aspects of charismatic renewal and small groups.  It culminated in a wonderful Eucharist in St Andrew’s Cathedral at the end of which the first SOMA Teams were commissioned for their ministry in a very moving dedication to service.

Asian leaders returned home to prepare and receive the teams that would minister in their countries.  Teams went to India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and South Korea.  The biggest team was a Commonwealth team made up of Australians, New Zealanders and Canadians which ministered in south India.

In 1983 a second conference - for African leaders - was held at Limuru in Kenya.  This conference marked SOMA’s entry into ecumenical involvement as leadership was shared by Anglicans and Lutherans.  After the conference, non-African delegates again formed teams which ministered in several African nations for 2-3 weeks.

A further conference was held at Suva in Fiji in 1984 for leaders in the Pacific region.  Delegates from Fiji, Tonga, Western Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea Tuvalu, Kiribati and French Polynesia interacted with those from Australia, New Zealand, Britain, the USA and Japan.  These delegates came from Anglican, Roman Catholic, Methodist/Uniting, Presbyterian and Congregational churches.  Once again, at the end of the conference those from outside the region formed teams to minister within the region.

THE MINISTRY GROWS . . .

By 1984 it was realise that the time had come for a further development - the establishment of SOMA offices outside the United Kingdom with the support of Anglican Renewal Ministries bodies around the world.

Episcopal Renewal Ministries in the USA were supportive as was ARM in Canada.  Approval in principle was given for SOMA USA and SOMA CANADA to be set up and a search began for national directors.  After the Fiji Conference, Michael Harper came to Australia as keynote speaker at the ARMA National Conference in Canberra.  He shared the SOMA vision and the conference approved in principle the setting up of an office in Australia.

In mid-1985 a SOMA Consultation was held outside London, bringing together delegates from all the countries from which SOMA Team members had come and in which SOMA Teams had ministered.  During the Consultation it was announced that SOMA USA had been established with Revd Brian Cox as the first National Director.  Revd Bill Ferguson was named as the first National Director of SOMA CANADA which was set up in February 1986.

A meeting of the SOMA International Board - following the London consultation - suggested that the Australian office should be a regional one at first and should be known as SOMA PACIFIC - with board members drawn from Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.  The office was opened in December 1986 with Revd John Wyndham as part-time director.  In May 1987 this role became full-time with the approval of the regional board.  A decision was later taken to change the name to SOMA AUSTRALASIA.

In 1992 with the expected establishment of SOMA in New Zealand a decision was taken to make the office a national one and a further change of name to SOMA AUSTRALIA was made.

SOMA IRELAND (Colann Ministries) was established in 1991; SOMA NEW ZEALAND in 1994.  SOMA SOUTHERN AFRICA followed in 1996.  A Regional Office has been established for the Diocese of Europe with a Representatives in the Diocese of Singapore.

General Information mail to: simosoma@treko.net.au
Send mail to Anthony Stevens with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 1999 SOMA - Sharing of Ministries Abroard
Last modified: March 22, 2005