HORIZONS OF MISSION, by Titus Presler. Cowley Publications, 2001, 223 pp. (BV2500.P74. 2001). Titus Presler, son of missionary parents, is the rector of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Cambridge, MA. He holds a doctorate from Boston University. This is volume 11 in The New Church Teaching Series.

Presler explores the scriptural foundation of mission, important to stewardship commitment at St. Philip's. He addresses the historical and contemporary Anglican approaches to mission in the 21st-century encounter with other religions and interaction of gospel and culture. Many at St. Philip's will appreciate the author's respect for other traditions.

The centers of gravity for the Anglican Communion have moved from the West to Latin America, Africa, and Asia. But, this does not relieve the Episcopal Church in the United States of its responsibility to accept the challenge of Christ's worldwide commission. Furthermore, St. Philip's has a multifaceted outreach to greater Tucson that is integral to this global view. Presler lists ten principles for mission in our century to help parishes and dioceses "to engage in world mission as companions in mutuality."

Horizons of Mission can add substance to one's rationale for pledging annual support to the church's mission, and for deciding to make a planned gift for the future of ministries you know and value. Presler states, "Mission urgency is intensifying throughout the Anglican Communion," and quoting another, he adds, "The church exists by mission as fire exists by burning." (pp. 12-13). This is an excellent book.