TRUSTEE PROFILE THE REV’D CANON DR DAPHNE GREEN The Rev’d Canon Dr Daphne Green
‘I feel very privileged to be involved with USPG,’ says Daphne, who became a trustee in June 2016 and is currently Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees. ‘To be a part of such a long-established mission agency is amazing. The breadth of experience the staff and trustees have is very rich. I have hugely welcomed the opportunity through my role as a trustee to link up with USPG’s partner churches throughout the world. I was very privileged to go to Malawi and Kenya with USPG in 2018 and to have the opportunity to take part in the international consultation in Barbados in 2019. The consultation was a wonderful opportunity to learn how people were living out the Christian faith in the context of their very different - and in many cases, very challenging - situations. ‘What has surprised me most about USPG is the impact it has made on churches throughout the Anglican Communion and beyond, building on its very long history. USPG has managed to bring a fresh message and mission within each generation, which is unparalleled amongst many other mission agencies. That’s something I think we can be intensely proud of. When I think of USPG and its work, the scripture that springs to mind is John 10:10 and what it says about us having life in all its fullness. That verse, to me, encapsulates what USPG is about in enabling men, women and children throughout the world to flourish, and to flourish in a way that reflects the wholeness and the vitality of Christ and makes it a reality in the world.’ Daphne is Provincial Chaplain and Researcher to the Archbishop of York. Previously she was a parish priest in Leeds and a university chaplain. Before her ordination, Daphne worked in publishing and as a director of a marketing and PR agency. ‘I think that partly through my experience and calling as a Christian priest, I bring to the
trustee board a sense of a vision of what it means to be the body of Christ in many different ways throughout the world and the way we can build up and support and sustain one another,’ she says. ‘I believe that’s something really foundational. I also bring experience from other areas of life, both in business and in the Church, and also through my work in parish and other forms of ministry, to see how we can build up partnerships and relationships and bring transformation together. From my experience in both Christian publishing and educational publishing, I bring a commitment to see the power of the written word in communication. That’s something I think USPG has always done very well - and an area I was pleased to bring my experience to.’ But Daphne’s experience in negotiating ecumenical issues started even earlier. ‘My mother was raised Greek Orthodox but became Anglican in her teens, so from a very early age, we were used to experiencing different denominational Christian practices, which I think was good,’ she says. ‘A very similar influence on me was the year I spent teaching in India after I graduated from university. That was my first real experience of encountering people of other faiths, particularly Hinduism. After I did my training for ministry, I went on to do a PhD at Leeds University, in which I looked at links between Christian and Hindu spirituality in different faith communities. That increased my appreciation of the world Church, as well as engendering in me a deep love and respect for people both in India and in the other churches I've been involved with. ‘Since becoming a USPG trustee, I’ve learnt of the huge number of different situations and contexts in which Christians are working and living throughout the world – and a number of ways in which Christians can support and learn from each other. I’ve been encouraged by the partnerships that have been developed and the ways in which different partner churches are helping each other, especially through educational programmes such as the Asian theological Academy. Something that we’ve all had to learn from the current Covid-19 pandemic is all the new ways we can now connect with each other. A great example of that for me was Duncan Dormor’s 24-hour Zoom session in which he preached throughout different parts of Anglican communion. I thought it was both wonderful and a pointer to ways in which we can develop those links in the future.’ ■
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