Recent History
Sri Lanka has a history of unrest between its ethnic groups. The minority group, the Tamils, has often faced persecution from both the government and the Sinhalese. A long civil war that raged since the 1980’s between the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil Tiger Guerrillas has recently come to a violent end.
The Sri Lankan church is denominationally connected to the Church of South India, which is connected to numerous denominations in the U.S. including the United Church of Christ. The Sri Lankan branch is called the Jaffna Diocese. The Tamil Christians are weary from the decades of war and persecution. In 2008, there was a split in the Jaffna Diocese over the rightful Bishop. The break-off entity from the diocese calls itself the American Ceylon Mission Church. The UCC has been in contact with both the Jaffna diocese and the new church and wishes to maintain relationship with both. The Jaffna Diocese has a long standing relationship with the UCC and continues to pull for favor, but the American Ceylon Mission Church is a new start in need of support because, in breaking from the Jaffna Diocese, they have also lost their connection to all the denominational seminaries in India.
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” ~Matthew 28:18-20
Mission Plan
St. John’s has sponsored Rev. Muriel to go to Sri Lanka around the end of September to mid-October of this year (2011) for three weeks. She will be with a team who hope to inject themselves into the American Ceylon Mission Church in different areas. We do this to not only get a broader sense of what the denomination is growing to be, but also for the sake of covering more areas in less time and developing as many relationships as possible. The city of Jaffna is the Tamil epicenter and, therefore, has been an area torn by violence for over twenty years. Before war broke out, Jaffna was a cultural center for many educated Tamils and Sri Lankans of all races. When the war started, it became the headquarters for the Tamil Tigers or LTTE which created a culture of lower educated Tamil warriors. Now, the war is over and the culture is in flux, creating a unique opportunity for us to go in and create relations so we might influence one another's cultural development.
Sri Lankan Mission Team Bios
- Rev. Dr. Damayanthi Niles: Professor of Constructive Theology at Eden Seminary. Dr. Niles was born in Sri Lanka and is Tamil. She and her family fled the country when she was very young. Due to the violence and persecution, she hasn't been back since she was ten. She is now in close relation with many of the current professors at the American Ceylon Mission Church seminary in Jaffna. Dr. Niles will be a guest professor at their seminary.
- Rev. Dr. Chip Jahn: I call him Dad. Rev. Jahn has spent twenty-five years working with Peace and Justice in Sri Lanka. He has made many contacts in the Tamil Christian community. Rev. Jahn has made many trips to Jaffna and other war torn areas of Sri Lanka over the years. He helped develop many of the programs the UCC has in Sri Lanka today. Over our three weeks, he will be working on advocacy projects and will be going between the two Sri Lankan denominations finding a healthy balance of involvement for the UCC.
- Rev. Muriel Morley Jahn (me): I have been involved in Sri Lanka through my dad and church since a very young age. I know some of the people we will be meeting and have been educated both through classes, conversations and experiences of the culture and situations we will find. My focus while in Jaffna will be with the outreach programs supported by the local Jaffna churches. I will also be meeting church officials and exploring opportunities to develop the seminary library and begin exchange programs.
End Goal of October Trip: Assess the situation and find ways for St. John's, Eden Theological Seminary, local churches, the United Church of Christ and many other organizations to build a lasting relationship with this new and upcoming church. The traveling team will be working on a program during our travels to bring back to churches and communities who would like to be a part of this opportunity.