The Church Mission Society has appointed a Lima-based mission partner as the agency’s first Latin American mission development manager.
Paul Tester has been working alongside young people and the Anglican Church in the region various ministry roles since 2007. He will succeed Bishop Henry Scriven, who led the society’s work in Latin America for the past nine years.
CMS said that amid Bishop Scriven’s retirement it had “taken the opportunity to reshape its approach in view of the way mission has changed over recent years. Consequently, the new role of mission development manager for Latin America reflects the facilitating and complementary nature of mission in the 21st century, where mission organizations like CMS work predominantly with local partners who are already based in the region.”
Tester said about his appointment: “First and foremost, my intention will be to discern God’s direction rather than follow our own intuition as we seek to develop mission growth in Latin America, through both the traditional models of sending missionaries from the U.K. to Latin America but also enabling, advocating for, and inspiring mission within and from Latin America.”
Tester “will enable CMS to grow its mission work in and from Latin America in collaboration with the Anglican Church of South America, and other strategic partners in region,” said Paul Thaxter, the sicety’s director of international mission. “It is a privilege to be part of the dynamic growth that is sweeping through the church in Latin America.”
Originally from High Wycombe, in Buckinghamshire, England, Tester studied at Durham University before working in construction. He and his wife, Sarah, have three children.
Adapted from ACNS
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.
