The Rev. Titus Presler writes at Titus on Mission:
Mission and missionary identity are closer to the spotlight in USAmerican presidential politics than they’ve been in a long time because of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s 2½ years as a Mormon missionary in France.
Closer to the spotlight but not in the spotlight, of course, for a couple of reasons: First, the issues that many USAmericans understand as clustering around the separation of church and state make most USAmerican politicians reluctant to stress ecclesial engagements beyond a generalized faith in God and a commitment to charity. Second, as commonly reported, the long history of skepticism and hostility about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has made Romney ambivalent about highlighting his Mormon faith, his work as a missionary (beginning in 1966) or his service as a Mormon bishop and president in Massachusetts.
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
