27.09.2004
Update volume 14 number 1 (May 2004) - 1 -
Terror on every side
Ghanaian hospitality awaits WARC delegates
PILGRIMS TO VISIT SLAVE DUNGEONS - AND REVISIT THEIR PAST
IN THE ECUMENICAL BOAT, THE WARNING LIGHTS ARE FLASHING
Lessons from Cuba - WHY SOCIALISM MIGHT BE GOOD FOR THE CHURCH
SCHOLARSHIP FUND FOR WOMEN OILS THE WHEELS OF CHANGE IN SOUTHERN CHURCHES
ENCOURAGING CIVIL CONVERSATION ON GAYS AND LESBIANS
FROM THE DESK OF THE GENERAL SECRETARY
Terror on every side
This is an edited version of a communion meditation by Professor Marvin L Chaney in the chapel of San Francisco Theological Seminary on April 23 2004. The scripture lessons were Isaiah 10.5-7, 12-15 and Mark 15.24-32, and the quotes are from HWF Saggs, The Might That Was Assyria (London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1984), pp. 246, 247 and 248.
In the speech of many today, the term, "terrorist", has become little more than a pejorative epithet, used to slur enemies and opponents. Careful social-scientific definitions of terrorism, by contrast, emphasize that it is aimed far more at inducing target audiences to think and act out of fear than at making specific impacts on actual victims. These same thoughtful attempts at definition also distinguish routinely between terrorism from below and terrorism from above. The former involves terrorism practised by those outside dominant groups and institutions, intended to produce fear and anxiety in established groups, institutions, and their stakeholders. "Terrorism from above" refers to coercive intimidation practised directly by states or indirectly by their surrogates. With greater pith than nuance, Sir Peter Ustinov, the recently deceased British actor and UNICEF volunteer, captured the heart of this distinction: "Terrorism is the war of the poor, and war is the terrorism of the rich."
Such distinctions are of the essence when we ask, "What does the Bible say about terrorism?" The societies that produced the Bible were petty states whose misfortune it was to occupy the land bridge where the superpowers of their day met and clashed. From that geopolitical location, the biblical writers understandably have relatively little to say about terrorism from below. But they had a frequent and profound experience of state terror perpetrated variously by the imperial conquest states of Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Ptolemaic Egypt, Seleucid Syria, and Rome. Thus, the pages of the Bible are replete with accounts of and reactions to terrorism from above, told in the voices of the victims and the targets.
In today's Scripture lessons, Assyria stands representative proxy for the other states named. Any attempt to understand its particular use of state terror can learn much from the analysis of HWF Saggs, a British Assyriologist. While his judicious words were written twenty years ago to explain ancient Assyrian history to modern readers, they are trenchantly pertinent enough to quote at some length.
"Economic advantage and the quest for security were, then, certainly two factors in the growth of Assyrian military expansion... It has also been suggested that there was an ideological factor: that is, it was the will of the god Ashur that the king should expand his domains.
"Theological ideology appears to put Assyrian imperial expansion on an altogether higher plane than mere political and economic advantage. But the ideology cannot be divorced from practical considerations. There is no evidence that at the beginning of the second millennium the god Ashur claimed universal rule; this idea only begins with Assyria's expansion. It seems that the theology did not prompt an expansionist policy but rather evolved to reflect and give religious expression to that policy as it developed. The "theology of holy war' was not a driving force independent in itself, but an explanation in terms of myth of what was actually happening under the stimulus of economic and political forces. None the less, once it had developed, it did serve to maintain the momentum of the Assyrian imperial drive, represented as something which was not a mere human response to immediate circumstances but an activity decreed on the divine plane.
"To maintain a stability across the Near East based upon Assyrian power, it was necessary that other peoples should be persuaded that it was vain to attempt to oppose Assyria. This could be done on the one hand by a demonstration of overwhelming might, and on the other by propaganda. The two were by no means separate and unrelated. Demonstrations of Assyrian power, including the punishment of those who had offended against Assyria, were not infrequently consciously directed to the effect they would have, not merely upon those who suffered directly, but also upon those who heard of it at a distance. There are frequent references in the Assyrian annals to the king pouring out upon the enemy what we may approximately translate as "awesome fear'. Several different Akkadian terms are used for this, but all of them have a particular nuance; they refer to the kind of awe-filled terror which comes from encounter with something on the divine plane. Thus, the Assyrian king, in perpetrating actions - sometimes including atrocities - which put the enemy into a panic, thought of himself as, in the most literal sense, putting "the fear of God' into those who might have it in mind to oppose Assyria. This represented a conscious use by the Assyrians of terrorism not for sadistic purposes, but for psychological warfare."
Each of us must attempt our own prayerful discernment of whether Saggs's words about ancient Assyria presage in any way the actions and self-understanding of some contemporary Americans. Conscientious Christians will almost certainly continue to disagree about that. What seems to me less open to disagreement is that our Christian Bible, at least when read with a hermeneutic of dynamic analogy, says little of a direct nature to victims and targets of terrorism from below, but speaks volumes on behalf of victims and targets of terrorism from above. For all of us who are citizens of the world's one remaining superpower that fact should lead to sober and prayerful reflection when we ask, "What does the Bible say about terrorism?"
When we approach our Lord's Table, moreover, we draw very near to the epitome of terrorism from above, even if we are often not consciously aware of it. The Romans reserved crucifixion mostly for non-citizens who dared to challenge the will and purpose of their conquest state. Crucifixion was far more than a humiliating, painful, and slow means of execution. It completely annihilated the personhood of the victim and left the bloody corpse hung up as a very public warning to any and all who were tempted to resist Rome's will with an alternate vision of how things could or should be. It is the ultimate symbol of rule by state terror.
At this table in this particular Eastertide, we are called again to reflect upon the meaning of the resurrection. Alongside the more usual dimensions of this reflection, the Bible's discourse on terrorism, read in the context of our own times, reminds us that state terrorism, no matter how powerful or persuasively justified, does not have the last word. The resurrection is the victory of love over state terror. This victory is not the kick-butt payback so widely touted and believed in our culture. Today's gospel account could not be more explicit in its rejection of such notions. Nor are we as followers of the resurrected Lord exempted from experiencing the whole range of human fears. We are rather freed from living out of fear, from having fear control our consciousness and our behaviour, and from having fear efface the image of God in us and in our perceptions of others. The Bible's discourse on terrorism involves mostly terrorism from above, and we need to ponder that fact long and hard. But in its New Testament form that discourse also offers us the antidote to the fearful behaviour that terrorism from below seeks to evoke in us. That is yet another facet of the good news that we come to our Lord's Table to celebrate!
Ghanaian hospitality awaits WARC delegates
Two months from now, 800 participants will descend on Accra, Ghana, for the 24th general council of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. The Presbyterian Church of Ghana and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, are looking forward to welcoming them. Elaborate local preparations by our host churches are almost complete.
Sam Prempeh, moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, says his church is "overjoyed" to host "this historic event". He sees it as a way of asserting the place of Ghana's Presbyterian churches in the worldwide Alliance family, and in a world church whose centre of gravity has shifted from Europe and North America to the southern hemisphere - above all to Africa. He is happy that the council is meeting "at a time when the country is enjoying relative peace in a sub-region plagued by internal conflicts" and hopes to make the council "one with a difference, the memory of which will remain for a long time to come".
The gathering will take place from July 30 to August 12 2004 at the University of Ghana, Legon, and the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). The theme, drawn from John 10.10, is "That All may have Life in Fullness" - meaning, not just material wealth, but health and wholeness and spiritual wellbeing in a world of peace and justice. Preceding the council will be a Reformed youth forum and a women's preconference.
This is the second general council to be held in Africa, Ghana-based national coordinator JOY Mante noted. The first, in Nairobi in 1970, was when the International Congregational Council (1891) and the World Presbyterian Alliance (1875) united to form the World Alliance of Reformed Churches as we now know it. [Photo: Accra folder, JOY1; Caption: "JOY Mante with Alliance youth secretary Yueh-wen Lu"]
One of Ghana's high-profile musicians, Walter Blege, has composed a special song for the opening of the 24th general council on July 30. Written in the ever popular Ghanaian "high-life" rhythm, and with characteristic African embellishment, it will be given a rousing rendition by a 120-member choir selected from the two host churches.
The council will expose participants to the richness of worship life in Ghana in other ways as well.
On August 2, they will gather for an "ecumenical Durbar", a great open-air service in Independence Square in Accra that will be attended by leaders of the Ghanaian Christian community, political leaders and representatives of civil society.
The following weekend, they will pile into buses for visits to churches in Accra and elsewhere in Ghana and in neighbouring, French-speaking Togo.
According to the national organizing committee, the aim is to give the visitors a taste of local worship and to see how local tradition and culture have influenced and inflected the western styles of worship imported by missionaries in the 19th century to what was then the Gold Coast.
The atmosphere during the church services will be enlivened by drumming and dancing and the singing of African lyrics based on the teachings of Christ.
To commemorate the meeting, the national organizing committee has also printed a special fabric incorporating the Accra logo (the "gye name") and the logos of the two host churches. Lengths suitable for making up into shirts and other garments will be on sale at the council.
On April 22, a special conference in Accra brought together Christian leaders from the Christian Council of Ghana, the Ghana Pentecostal Council, the Roman Catholic secretariat and the National Council for Charismatic Churches, to inform the different churches formally about the forthcoming council and to solicit their prayers for its success. Meetings to provide orientation for the Ghanaian delegates to the council have already been held and further activities are planned.
The host churches expect the council to have a practical impact on their own life. "The Reformation spirit must be incarnated in every generation," says Livingstone Buama, moderator of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana. He hopes that the two Ghanaian churches, together with the Église évangélique presbytérienne du Togo, will take specific steps - eg more joint acts of worship - that "will make more manifest our professed unity in the Lord and will give better testimony to our common heritage which must be demonstrated very clearly in our present time and place".
Setri Nyomi, the first African to be appointed as general secretary of the Alliance is a Ghanaian, and a former lecturer at Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon.
Lydia Aku Adajawah, an executive of the Christian Council of Ghana, is a member of the Alliance executive committee that will demit office in Accra.
Newton Amedofu and George Martinson, Ghana
PILGRIMS TO VISIT SLAVE DUNGEONS - AND REVISIT THEIR PAST
Amazing grace - how sweet the sound -
that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
was blind, but now I see.
More than a beloved hymn, Amazing Grace is a testimony of faith. The tune is most likely a folk melody sung by African slaves. The words were penned by an English Evangelical, John Newton (1725-1807).
At the age of 11 Newton went to sea with his father, who commanded a merchant ship in the Mediterranean. Later, he became the servant of a slave trader and eventually the captain of a ship transporting slaves from West Africa to the Americas.
On May 10 1748 a violent storm led to what Newton later called his "great deliverance". Fearing that his ship would surely sink, he cried out, "Lord, have mercy on us."
For the rest of his life Newton observed May 10 as the day of his conversion, when grace had begun to work in him and his eyes were opened to the power of the gospel. He abandoned his slave trading and was ordained in the Church of England, serving as a curate in Olney and later as rector of St Mary Woolnoth, London. His evangelical preaching and prolific hymn-writing influenced men like William Wilberforce who led the campaign to abolish slavery.
Slavery has existed for thousands of years, but in the 14th century a global slave trade emerged to fuel European colonial expansion. The Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and British took turns pillaging the west coast of Africa. They built forts along the coast where captured Africans were held until ships arrived to carry them across the Atlantic.
Between 1540 and 1850, an estimated 15 million Africans were transported to the Americas. Men, women and children, chained together by hand and foot, were packed into ships and sailed across the world. Only half survived this "middle passage", the others succumbing to smallpox, dysentery and suicide.
In the 17th century an African could be bought for US$25 and sold in the Americas for US$150. When the slave trade was declared illegal, prices went even higher. Slavery was abolished in the British empire in 1833 and in the United States in 1865.
Two of the most notorious fortresses constructed first for trade and converted to hold slaves are found on the coast of Ghana. The Elmina and Cape Coast "slave castles" are monolithic dungeons set upon the sea and constructed with stones imported from Europe. Today they are maintained as historical sites, ready to receive pilgrims. The historical, social and theological consequences of the transatlantic slave trade demand ongoing reflection and prayer.
In everlasting memory of the anguish of our ancestors. May those who died rest in peace. May those who return find their roots. May humanity never again perpetuate such injustice against humanity. We, the living, vow to uphold this.
Inscription by Ghanaian chiefs found at Cape Coast and Elmina
On August 3, the 24th general council will suspend its business and embark on a pilgrimage to Cape Coast and Elmina. The entire day will be a liturgical reflection on the history and legacy of the African slave trade. Confronted with realities many prefer to ignore, more than 800 pilgrims will struggle with the lamentation, "How, O Lord, was it possible?"
Pilgrims may be struck with horror in tasting the dungeon air, peering through the "door of no return" by which countless Africans passed from dungeon to ship, and hearing the stories of life and death in the midst of unimaginable squalor recounted by the castle guides. But perhaps most difficult to wrestle with will be the two castle chapels located directly over the dungeons in which African brothers and sisters were held. The smell of death and cries of terror mingled with the prayers of slave-trading Christians.
This is who we are. This is who we have been. It is a legacy that calls us to confession and promise before God.
The pilgrimage to Cape Coast and Elmina will be a powerful symbol in the life of the general council. Slavery as such has not disappeared from the earth, while millions of people in Africa and elsewhere today are subjected to economic enslavement. Pilgrims will struggle with the call to ensure that our legacy is one of breaking every chain of injustice so that all may have life in fullness.
Douglas L Chial, general council coordination team
IN THE ECUMENICAL BOAT, THE WARNING LIGHTS ARE FLASHING
The famous boat of the ecumenical movement is sailing through troubled waters, and on the control panel several lights are flashing orange. Perhaps the navigation system requires maintenance?
Let me tell you a bit more about the flashing lights and then share with you what some technicians are saying about these orange lights.
The first orange light is a big one. The income of several of the boat's owners - let's call them churches - keeps shrinking, while they are constantly asked for money to support a growing number of instruments on the boat: local and national councils of churches, regional ecumenical organizations, Christian world communions (sometimes more than one, in the case of united churches) and, of course, the World Council of Churches, one of the most important pieces of the navigation system. How much longer can all these instruments be financed? Does the boat really need them all? Might smaller or less fancy instruments do as good a job?
Second orange light. Not all the instruments are satisfactorily synchronized. To take one example, some of the thirty-plus Christian world communions are unhappy about their relationship with the WCC. They see, for instance, a disconnect between the multilateral discussions in its Faith and Order commission and their own bilateral dialogues. This light is small but has been flashing for quite some time. How to avoid short circuits and waste of theological energy?
Third orange light. Interchurch aid for development, human rights and humanitarian assistance used to flow to the South through the WCC and in this way was part of church fellowship-building. More and more it is subject to non-ecumenical requirements, on the one hand, and is transferred not to churches but directly to a growing number of nongovernmental organizations and networks that are responding to specific needs. This light is very important, because the harbour to which the boat is headed has the exciting name of justice-and-unity.
And there are other important orange lights flashing.
But let's now turn to the technicians, some of whom met last November in the Catholicosate of Antelias, Lebanon. I happened to be there. Until then, a few of them were convinced that each of these lights was pointing to an isolated equipment problem. Most of them are now saying that the boat owners should look at the instrument problems as a whole, as instruments of the one boat.
This is the opinion of one of them, outgoing WCC general secretary Konrad Raiser. According to him, when the waters were not so troubled and the boat owners thought the journey was going to be short, they installed new and more sophisticated instruments in the boat. But the waters are now more troubled than ever before, the journey is longer than expected, and these complex instruments are difficult to handle and demand more energy than is available. Raiser thinks that it is urgent to look at the way in which the instruments are interconnected. In his view, they lack integration and need to be redesigned. That is why he often speaks of "shaping a new ecumenical configuration for the 21st century": the whole instrument system of the boat needs "reconfiguration".
At the end of their meeting, the technicians addressed "with love" a message to the many boat owners. The vision of the harbour is fascinating, they say, the journey is long but full of enriching discoveries, the route is the right one, and new people may come on board. For all these and other reasons, boat owners were asked to consider very seriously the proposal to start to make the interconnection of the many instruments more coherent and efficient.
After so many years and storms, it's only normal that the ecumenical boat should require some maintenance. However the importance of the journey for the people inside and outside the boat should encourage the owners to talk together as soon as possible about the orange lights.
Odair Pedroso Mateus, theology secretary
• The report of the Antelias meeting may be found at www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/who/anteliasreport.html or in Consultation on Reconfiguration of the Ecumenical Movement (Geneva: WCC, 2004).
Lessons from Cuba
WHY SOCIALISM MIGHT BE GOOD FOR THE CHURCH
Aimee Moiso is a student at San Francisco Theological Seminary. During the Christmas recess, she visited the Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba with her family.
Most Americans don't know what to say when I tell them I just got back from Cuba. Some want to know how I got a visa or if I went illegally (legally: we had a religious visa). Some want to know if it was safe (very, compared to the United States: Cubans are not allowed to own guns). Many ask if I saw Fidel (no) or brought back cigars (yes).
A few want to know how Cubans can be Christian under communism.
The moderator of the synod of the Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba, Rev Dora Ester Arce-Valentín, says that's the most common question Americans ask her. She responds by asking if the questioner would like the polite answer or the honest answer.
Then she gives the honest answer: "How can you live out your faith in a capitalist country? In Cuba, we have to trust God. We live by faith."
A pregnant pause follows this exchange.
It seems to me that Cuban Christianity may have an edge on the Christian faith of capitalist democracies. Limited resources, a decades-old US embargo and significant global isolation make for powerful faith, strong commitment and vibrant creativity in the Cuban church. A Sunday football game is enough to curb worship attendance in the United States.
Or take Christmas. In much of the western world, it's hard to ignore Christmas, or at least some gift-wrapped commercialized version of it. In Cuba, Christmas wasn't a national holiday until the Pope's visit in 1998. Christians had to make a special effort to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, and only the churches marked the event.
Now, says Arce-Valentín, it's easier for people to participate in Christmas activities.
But easier is not necessarily better. "It is not safe for the church to feel comfortable," she says.
Another pregnant pause ensues as the Americans in the room - and many western Europeans - shift in their seats.
The Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba is not large, either within Cuba (the church claims 15,000 members in a population of over 11 million) or when compared to other denominations around the world (it has just three presbyteries and 59 congregations). "But," says Arce-Valentín proudly, "we are a big church in spirit."
This small size, coupled with Cuba's political and economic isolation, makes international Christian partnerships particularly important to the Presbyterian-Reformed Church. Many Cubans have participated in the leadership of ecumenical bodies such as WARC, the World Council of Churches and the World Student Christian Federation. And despite ongoing political tension between the United States and Cuba, Presbyterian congregations in Cuba enjoy positive relations with many Presbyterian churches in the United States.
The US embargo hasn't been the only obstacle between churches in the neighbouring nations, however. In recent years, some members of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have become suspicious of denominational structures and have forged church-to-church relationships with Cuban congregations on their own, rather than through existing Presbyterian partnership programmes.
This go-it-alone approach to international involvement (while common in the United States these days) is problematic for the Cuban church, which is stuck trying to respond to individual churches and simultaneously to work with established PC(USA) programmes. To Arce-Valentín, it is baffling.
"It's hard for us to understand the distrust of structure," she says. "The Cuban church is dependent upon structure because of its small size. Besides, this is how Presbyterians understand the church - as one of relationship."
From the Cuban perspective, broad association with Christians locally and globally seems essential to faith and to survival. "Local concerns are directly connected to global issues," says Arce-Valentín. "We hope the Cuban church is helping to keep all these concerns present in our relationships."
Keeping global concerns at the fore is one way the Cuban church is helping its partners. Keeping the focus on relationship, rather than money, is another. Some Cuban congregations limit the amount of money they are willing to receive from North American churches, even though Cuban churches are often strapped for cash.
Partnership is not about money, says Arce-Valentín.
"That is not the basis of this relationship. Up until now, God has shown us how to do this without money, and we know that not having money is not a reason not to do things. Limiting the amount of money we receive helps us keep our communities safe - safe from believing money is the only way to accomplish anything."
She delivers another pregnant pause, during which the capitalists anxiously loosen their ties. Then she smiles.
"This is one of the lessons we can share with you," she says.
SCHOLARSHIP FUND FOR WOMEN OILS THE WHEELS OF CHANGE IN SOUTHERN CHURCHES
Leiliane Ramos Fontenele of the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil is 19. Ngohei Lynn Hlychho of the Evangelical Church of Maraland in India is 29. Thérèse Mukamakuza of the Presbyterian Church in Rwanda is 35, married and with two children.
What these three women have in common is that they have all received support from the Alliance's theological education scholarship fund for women in the south. They are making waves in their churches.
Leiliane Ramos Fontenele dreams of preparing leaders to serve the Lord and developing her work among children. When she was 13 years, she felt a call to serve the church but had no clear idea what form this would take, since at that time the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil did not ordain women.
In 1999, the church accepted women's ordination but lacked the resources to train women for the ministry of word and sacrament. In 2003, the theological education fund awarded scholarships to Leiliane Ramos Fontenele and three other women to study in preparation for the ministry. According to stated clerk Gerson Correia de Lacerda, they "represent a new hope for leadership renewal".
Women and children are "the first victims" of social and economic exclusion in Brazil, the stated clerk writes. "To support women and recognize their ministries is an opportunity to be blessed through their skills and leadership and to overcome an unjust situation."
Ngohei Lynn Hlychho has been very active in the youth work of her church. In 1996, at a youth camp organized by the Mara Christian Fellowship in Shillong, she dedicated her life to God to be used according to his will. In June 1998, while studying for exams, she was struck down by typhoid fever, hospitalized and could not continue her master's degree.
It took her two years to recover fully, but in the course of her long convalescence she heard a call from God to ministry. She prayed that God might prepare her to be "a useful instrument of justice, peace and liberation for his people."
Meanwhile, her church took a significant step forward by agreeing to a request from its women's department to send women for theological studies. In October 2000, Ngohei Hlychho applied for training and was accepted, and is now half-way through a BD at Eastern Theological College in Jorhat, Assam. She is the first woman to be considered for ordination in the Evangelical Church of Maraland.
Thérèse Mukamakuza was one of the earliest applicants to receive an award from the fund. She had served the Presbyterian Church in Rwanda in Kabuga parish since 1997 and had received local training but needed to study theology more formally in order to equip herself for ministry within her church and community.
Thérèse studies in Kenya and is away from her family for most of the year. This is a sacrifice they are making because of her commitment to the church. She is trying to work out with her church the best way to ease the pain of separation from her family, but there is no easy answer. Thérèse needs all the support she can receive to be able to stay in seminary and to achieve her goals. The scholarship fund is a blessing to her. Many women will be inspired by her resilience and strength and see new possibilities for their place in the church.
Lack of access to theological education is just one of many obstacles faced by women in the south who feel called to ministry. In the kingdom of God there are no first- or second-class citizens, but many of our churches still exclude women from leadership and especially from their ordained ministries.
The department of partnership of women and men launched the theological education scholarship fund for women in the south in 1998. Initial personal donations from Jane Dempsey Douglass, president of the Alliance from 1990 to 1997, and Antoinette Richard, a long-time interpreter with the Alliance, were followed by a generous grant from the Evangelisches Missionswerk in Deutschland (EMW), enabling the fund to begin its work. The first awards were made in 2002. To date, fourteen women from Brazil, Republic of Congo, India, Kenya, Latvia, Myanmar (Burma), Rwanda, South Africa and Togo have received scholarships. In two cases, scholarships were awarded to the first women to be considered by their churches for the ordained ministry.
The scholarship fund builds on the foundational work of the department in gender awareness and leadership development, which has opened a new dialogue on the place of women in the church. Some of the churches that have taken part in this work have responded by putting in place mechanisms for the ordination of women. Feedback from church leaders emphasizes that the support offered by this fund is significant in fostering partnership of women and men and enabling women to take their place alongside men in church leadership.
• Late-breaking news: Tuvalu Christian Church has just applied for a scholarship from the fund for Sulufaiga Uota and has earmarked her as its first woman candidate for ordination if she completes her studies successfully.
ENCOURAGING CIVIL CONVERSATION ON GAYS AND LESBIANS
Jane Dempsey Douglass, who moderated the 23rd general council (Debrecen 1997), presents the second of two reports on the work of the taskforce on sexual orientation established after Debrecen.
The hard work in Bangalore to produce an executive committee statement supporting the human rights of people of homosexual orientation [Update 13/3, August 2003] was a turning point in the work of the taskforce. There was now clarity among us that discussion of sexual orientation cannot be avoided in the future of the Alliance and that we must learn how to deal with the question constructively and sensitively. The executive committee agreed that the taskforce should focus on encouraging dialogue among member churches rather than advocacy for any position. The taskforce approached this work with seriousness and dignity, working well despite deep differences in its members' personal views.
In April 2001, the general secretary wrote at the request of the taskforce to all member churches, inquiring whether sexual orientation was an issue for them, whether they had taken a position, and whether they had study documents to share.
By the time the executive committee met in Torre Pellice, Italy, in 2003, replies had been received from 35 churches - a relatively strong response to such a request for information. Of these churches, there are 15 (in every continent except Asia) where sexual orientation is under discussion and 20 (in every continent) where it is not discussed.
It is interesting that the churches in our sample that are actively discussing the question are found everywhere except in Asia, demonstrating that sexual orientation is not a purely western or northern issue. Even in Asia, one response said: "I am happy to hear that the council has taken seriously the gay and lesbian issue... It is a sign of the church concern towards every aspect of human nature... I am sorry to say that my church has never brought up and discussed this issue openly... I would appreciate it if you could provide us with documents or books that promote dialogue or study..." Another Asian church responded: "The church is committed to justice, peace, and integrity with creation. We seek to address all justice issues as interrelated in the pursuit of a transformed... church and society."
Responses to the second question varied widely. A church in Africa and another in North America were clear that homosexual orientation is not acceptable. A church in Latin America and another in the Pacific Islands said the issue was not on their agenda, but their churches would disapprove of violence against gay and lesbian people. A European church stressed the need to respect homosexual people, whose sexual orientation is usually not of their choosing. Only 10 of the 35 churches seem to have made a policy decision, but those decisions are so diverse that they cannot easily be tabulated. For example, "...it is more important to maintain the unity of the Church than to arrive at a quick decision one way or the other..."
Study documents from churches in both north and south were received; they are in several languages and take quite different approaches.
The executive committee agreed that Debrecen's concern to consider the full inclusion of people of different sexual orientations in the churches' life has not yet received sufficient study. We are still interested in hearing from churches that have not yet responded to the general secretary's enquiry. Since there are several churches seeking non-divisive ways of dealing with this issue, the department of theology will attempt to put in touch with each other those churches that would like to know more about approaches others are taking. We will also remain in conversation with the WCC and other Christian world communions dealing with this issue so that insights and resources can be shared.
In the discussion in Torre Pellice, the executive committee was reminded that WARC always tries to work with those who are marginalized or affected by discrimination. The point is well taken: to talk about people in their absence is itself a form of discrimination, and the executive committee felt that, in any further stage in the discussion, ways should be sought to include gay and lesbian Christians from our churches in the dialogue. The committee referred to the general council the determination of how this concern will be handled after Accra.
• Study documents were received from the Dutch Reformed Church, South Africa (in Afrikaans), the Evangelical Church of the River Plate (in Spanish), the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (USA), the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand and the Uniting Church in Australia (in English), the Reformed Church of Alsace-Lorraine, France (in French) and the United Protestant Church of Belgium (in English and French). Details of these documents may be found on our website (www.warc.ch/update/up041/docs.html) and copies may be requested from the churches (www.warc.ch/who/mc.html).
FROM THE DESK OF THE GENERAL SECRETARY
Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate
Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate
I have come, that all may have life
And have it in fullness
This is the refrain of "Fullness of life", Walter Blege's theme song for the 24th general council.
Our journey towards Accra 2004 is now in its last few months. This journey has been a gathering of people in our churches and not merely a bureaucratic preparation of documents and logistics for the few hundred delegates who will represent them in Accra. It has put us in touch with the variety of experiences and feelings that people have in the communities in which our churches live and engage in mission.
This echoes Paul's understanding of how we should live together as the body of Christ. In Romans 12.15 he exhorts us to "rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep".
Our general council is gathering on African soil, where sometimes the space between rejoicing and mourning is blurred. An American friend attending a funeral in Ghana a few years ago wondered why there was so much dancing. The simple answer many Africans would give is that we celebrate the life that is no more as we affirm that life must go on.
Another indication of the blurring of the space between rejoicing and mourning is the growth of church attendance in Africa. This continent has a large percentage of the poorest and most excluded countries in a world in which the gods of globalization seem to be in control and a major share of the world's conflicts and diseases (eg HIV/Aids). Yet Africa is where the Christian church is growing fastest. The joyful worship in a typical African church on a Sunday morning will make a visitor wonder whether this is the continent that is associated with poverty and suffering.
As Africans, we celebrate even in the midst of bad news. This tendency is evident in many African communities even in the diaspora. It is where we find our resilience and our capacity for resistance.
Drawing from this, I would like to suggest that we go to Africa indeed to celebrate. This does not mean that the bad news - the injustices, the wars, the pain and all the other forms of evil in the world - has disappeared. Nor does it mean we are burying our head in the sand or turning our faith into an opiate. African culture and Christian faith both teach us that celebrating even in the midst of bad news strengthens our capacity to persist and resist.
I hope this year will be a year of celebration in all our member churches, as well as a celebration for those who will be in Accra. I also hope this celebration will be the source for the Alliance family's commitment to resist the forces of death and evil that surround us. In celebrating, we affirm our belief that God is with us even in the challenging circumstances. Therefore we will not be afraid to resist. In celebrating, we can renew our commitment to be effective agents of transformation.
Paul summons us to celebrate within the context of covenanting. We live within a covenantal relationship with God, and our celebrating calls on us to covenant with one another for life. Our churches in the north and in the south can celebrate the most if through our joint action many people who have been hurt by the world's brokenness and injustices have more access to fullness of life and more cause to rejoice.
Celebration is possible because we know our Lord Jesus came so that all may have life in fullness, and we are committed to living for Christ.
Therefore wherever you find yourself, and in whatever circumstance, join the Alliance family this year as we
Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate
Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate
Jesus came that all may have life
And have it in fullness
Setri Nyomi
