Ecumenical leader urges Christians to get “baptized in the rivers of Asian religiosity” 

KUALA LUMPUR (APEN) – Participants of a Southeast Asian theological workshop, held here on the Christian Conference of Asia’s (CCA) forthcoming assembly theme “Called to prophesy, reconcile and heal, ” have highlighted geopolitics, migration, indigenous people, ecological justice and climate change as some of the issues which need more attention of the Asian churches. 

The 16-20 August workshop, attended by participants from the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and India, was the second in a series of four workshops organized in the region by the Faith, Mission and Unity (FMU) program of the CCA.

Reverend Sungkook Park, executive secretary of the FMU expressed the hope that the discussions on the theme will help shape the life and work of the CCA in the coming years.

The discussions and the papers presented at the four workshops will be compiled, edited and brought out as a resource book which he hoped will be helpful to people working at the grassroots and to many pastors working at the local level, Dr Park said.

He felt that when a natural calamity or emergency occurred he found many local pastors at a loss to respond to the situation through a sermon or other means, and he hoped that the “theological materials” which will make up the proposed book, will come very handy to such pastors.

According to Dr Park, these workshops will also identify theologians and pastors for forming theological committees to deal with theological issues of the CCA. These committees will also serve as responding team on emerging theological issues in the region.

Delivering the keynote speech, Reverend Rienzie Perera, associate general secretary for finance and relations of the CCA urged the Christians in Asia to work in solidarity with people of other faiths to achieve reconciliation and healing. This requires humility and “the mind of Christ, “ he said.

He called the Asian Christians to show the willingness “to be baptized in the rivers of Asian religiosity,” which is liberative, self emptying, prophetic, reconciliatory, forgiving and healing.

This is the paradigm shift in mission, which is required if the church is to be relevant in contemporary Asia,” he argued.

Reconciliation, forgiveness and healing are terms “most abused and freely used …by church leaders, politicians, civil society leaders and human rights advocates,” and we need to “liberate them from being abused by power brokers and false spiritual leaders.”

Dr Perera noted that “reconciliation is not merely an individualistic understanding but implies a wholistic understanding which involves the entire creation, which is overtaken by violence, vengeance and hatred.”

Reconciliation is a process where we try to redeem this world from the desire for revenge and provide space for the possibility of new life, and create an inclusive society where people can engage with one another with respect, said Perera.

He stressed that reconciliation in its wholistic understanding is costly and not easily achieved if separated from justice, truth, love for the enemies and forgiveness.

Father Rex Reyes, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines expressed the opinion that if Dr Perera, whom he described as “one of the articulate theologians of Asia,” had made this keynote presentation in his country, he would have been branded by the state as “a leftist of the highest order.”

Anglican Father Rex Reyes, who belongs to an indigenous community in the northern Philippines, noted that the roots of violence and deceit must be addressed before entering into reconciliation, forgiveness and healing.

Citing an example, he said that there is violence in the country because of rampant poverty, corruption, absence of genuine agrarian reform, nationalist sovereignty, nationalist industrialization, debt repudiation and so on.

According to him, reconciliation, forgiveness and healing can take place only “in a condition similar to Shalom,” which he characterized as access to basic elements of survival, mutually enhancing and interdependent relationships, freedom and national sovereignty, and sustainability.

Responding to the assembly theme, Reverend Hermen Shastri, general secretary of the Council of Churches in Malaysia (CCM) said that “prophesy is unmasking of principalities and powers.” It is about speaking out against injustice and corruption in the society.

He told the workshop that the churches in this multi-racial Southeast Asian nation have constantly been finding a path of reconciliation and willing to build bridges among different communities.

Dr M P Joseph, who teaches at the Tainan Theological Seminary in Taiwan said that Oikumene can be used for domination and liberation.

Oikumene of domination is a counter principle to earth, which is a God’s creation, he said and noted the political function of Oikumene of domination is to maintain the status quo.

According to Joseph, the East Asia Christian Conference, which later became (CCA), was formed as an “accompaniment” of the Bandung spirit, but later got absorbed into the “imperialistic structures” of the World Council of Churches, “which is a legacy of the imperialistic missionary movement.”

Earlier, Dr Perera said that the CCA is a historical manifestation of the institutionalized ecumenical structures.

He urged the churches in Asia to set up distinctive issues and agenda in the region and not to leave it to the outside agencies like the WCC.

Making a presentation on the emerging theological issues in the Philippines, Reverend Melvin M Mangana, from the Central Philippines University, Iloilo City noted that the Christian praxis is the most important aspect of the Philippine’s theology, whether it is liberation theology or theology of struggle. “Theology in the Philippines is always concerned with praxis,” he noted.

He said, “Filipino theological reflection is primarily derived from the plight of the people and calls for action,” and added that the sufferings of the people are taken as the starting point of theological reflections.

According to Melvin, “…liberation theology possesses still a very important theological pattern of thought to Filipino theologians.”

It continues to challenge the academic theology and lays stress on praxis, he felt.

The emphasis on “human situation” as a starting point of theology challenges traditional theologizing that emphasize “divine revelation,” he pointed out.

Dr Mindawati Perangin Angin from Indonesia’s Karo Batak Protestant Church noted that “healing and reconciliation are intertwined and cannot be separated.”

As a proposal to the theological paradigm of the CCA for the next five years, Mr Anthony Row, from the Methodist Church in Malaysia and a member of the CCA general Committee called for providing more space for sharing of live stories of people in struggle in the region.

Dr Hermen Shastri felt it appropriate to have a video message from the Burmese leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung Saan Suu Kyi during the 13th general assembly of the CCA to be held here in April 2010.

Mr Victor Oorgitham, a former member of the CCA presidium and a former leader of the CCA Urban Rural Mission briefly attended the workshop on the last day of the workshop.

The Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Murphy Packiam joined the participants at a reception hosted by the CCM.

The CCA, now based in Chiang Mai, is the oldest Asian ecumenical movement comprising nearly 100 protestant and orthodox churches, and 19 national councils of churches in Aotearoa-New Zealand, Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Timor Leste.

Among the many objectives of the CCA are the promotion and strengthening of the unity of the Asian churches, and the development and promotion of relationships with people of other faiths in the region.

Source: Asia Pacific Ecumenical News - http://www.apenews.org/newsread.asp?nid=230