A Report on
Christian Conference of Asia
World Student Christian
Federation-Asia Pacific Region’s
Joint Program in 1997
Introduction
In 1997, the Joint Committee of the Christian Conference
of Asia (CCA) and the World Student Christian Federation-Asia Pacific Region
jointly organized two national level Consultations between National Council of
Churches and Student Christian Movement in
Tozanso, Japan and Christchurch Aotearoa/New Zealand.
1. Ecumenical
Consultation on Student-Youth Movement in Japan
The first national consultation “Ecumenical
Consultation on Student-Youth Christian Movements “ was held in YMCA Center,
Tozanso, Gotemba, Japan from 27-29 April
1997. This consultation was jointly organized by National Council of Churches
in Japan and Student YMCA.
Encouragingly, forty representatives came from most
of the denominations and ecumenical organizations who are involved in
Student-Youth ministry in Japan. Rev. Daniel Peter, Regional Secretary,
WSCF-Asia Pacific region represented CCA-WSCF Joint Committee and Mr. Koizumi
Motoi, represented NCC Japan. Both presented two Keynote addresses focusing on
Student Ministry in Asia Pacific and in Japan.
There were three presentations by Mr. Hida Yuichi
representing SCM Corporate committee emphasized on resource mobilization to consolidate
student ministry. Rev.
30
Horie Yuri, representing NCC -Youth emphasizing the urgency of
ecumenical student ministry on campuses in Japan Rev. Renta Nishihara
representing Churches in Japan emphasized the need on long range ecumenical
plan for students in Japan. These presentations followed by eight short
presentations from churches and ecumenical organizations.
Statement of
Consultation and Action Plan
The Participants of this Consultation adopted a
Statement and Recommendations to consolidate Student-Youth work in Japan. This
statement and recommendations are as follow:
We the participants of the Ecumenical Consultation
met at Tozanso from April 27-29, 1997, and held discussion with the theme Churches
in the 21st Century and the Student/Youth Christian Movements in
Japan. We all appreciated this sort of ecumenical gathering regarding
student/youth Christian movements crossing the barriers of the denominational
churches and organizations.
This was the first ecumenical gathering of this scale
held in Japan since end of World War II. In this consultation we were able to
share a lot of information and experiences of our particular student/youth
Christian movements and activities. Further, all participants expressed their
common will of positive commitment in the mission of the churches recognizing
present problems as well as future tasks regardless of differences of past
experiences and the present situation of denominational churches and
organizations.
By attending this consultation, we recognized the
reality of our past reluctance to meet in an open setting like this gathering, for
a long time. Further through sharing in this Consultation, we commonly
acknowledged the necessity to cooperate with each other by standing on the
reality of Students and youth to meet with Jesus Christ.
31
We believe that, in front of God, all people are
called to share one world. Though this consultation, we have come to common
hope that, in a wider link with not only with those student/youth of the church
affiliation but also people of different backgrounds, we will strive to strengthen
our mutual communication of our concerns and information and will strive to
continue our dialogue seeking better understanding among us.
The following are the major points through which we
intend to promote concretely ecumenical cooperation in Japan:
Exchange of
Information
a.
Exchange
of news-letters and important publications;
b.
Sharing
of information on leadership development programs;
c.
Communication
of information through e-mail and inter-net; Communication of information of
the WSCF and CCA.
Area Network
We intend to form face to face relations with the
people across the frame work of the denominations and organizations and promote
our dialogue. In addition, in the process of this effort, we will pay much
attention to the relationships we produce and be aware of the respective area
situations and the intentions of the participants to this meeting. We wish to
continue to share the realistic problems of those particular areas and we also
wish to collaborate with those groups and people who are wrestling with the
problems of youth and students.
For this purpose, we strive to find effective
coordinators in each local area, and we will also strive to promote the
formation of active ecumenical groups in various areas.
Publication of Bible
Study Booklets
32
We discussed the necessity of publishing a common
textbook by which we can share our common understanding of the Bible not only
at the ecumenical gatherings but also at our respective denominational churches
and organizations. We conceive that the
textbook should be composed of material that will introduce a model of
effective participatory bible study keeping participants much concerned with
their keenly-living particular places and of the witnesses from the particular
spot of the problem. Editors of this bible study booklet will be composed of
volunteers from related student/youth of this consultation.
Cooperation to the
development of Leadership
We will strive to derive greater understanding and
cooperation from the related denominational churches and organizations toward
the activation of our ecumenical student/youth movements and their leadership
development.
We, all participants, greatly
appreciated the opportunity that this Ecumenical Consultation on student/youth
movements in Japan was provided. And, we sincerely intend to hold another
consultation meeting like this within the next few years. We are now in great
hopes that we will make the next consultation even more productive through our
positive commitments in the future.
These representatives are from Catholic Church, Japan
Evangelical Lutheran Church, Japan Baptist Convention, Korean Christian Church
in Japan, Reformed Church, United Church of Christ in Japan, Student Christian
Fellowship, University Christian Scholar’s Fellowship, National Council of
Churches in Japan (NCCJ), Student YMCA of Japan.
2. Building Links
in Student-Youth Ministry in Aotearoa
It was in deed an excited gather of students,
chaplains, youth workers and senior friends who attended the CCA-WSCF
33
Joint consultation in held in Christchurch, Aotearoa/New Zealand over
the weekend of 3rd and 4th May this year.
This was a joint venture between Conference of
Churches of Aotearoa (CCANZ) and the Student Christian Movement in Aotearoa
(SCM Aotearoa) to work out ways of
building links between the ecumenical work of student ministry on the compuses
and the youth ministries of the churches. Christian Ledger, Associate General
Secretary of CCA attend this consultation representing CCA-WSCF Joint
Committee. All the participants were enthusiastic to discuss present situation
of student-youth ministry in Aotearoa and recommended changes in ways of
working in University and church.
There was a concern that young people in high
schools and tertiary institutions don’t come easily into contact with an
ecumenical Christian group. The group felt that this is where the work in of
SCM needs to be encouraged in the churches. Participants also felt CCANZ Youth
Program can best focus its work by working with ecumenical allies, the SCM
being an obvious choice. With common ecumenical base each group they have much
to share. A major achievement of the consultation was finding out from church
youth workers themselves that was happening in Youth Ministry.
The participants of this Consultation came up with an
action plan which is as follows :
*
to
set up a Joint Committee of two SCMers and two CCANZ Youth to engage in an
intentional dialogue to under take specific projects. The Committee will meet
two to four times a year, inviting people on to working groups to undertake
specific projects.
*
to
arrange Youth-festival in the year 2000 with smaller events in 1998 and 1999.
*
for
CCANZ Youth to explore with the Churches Education Commission what work being
done in High Schools.
34
*
That
SCM will continue to send participants to the CCANZ Forum and CCANZ will send
representative to the SCMA National Conference.
*
Local
SCM groups will be encouraged to be involved in talking to parish youth groups
to discuss common issues.
*
CCANZ
will compile a national directory of youth workers, organizers and programs.
*
CCANZ
will have discussions with the churches Student Ministry on Campuses.
The Conference of Churches of Aotearoa/New Zealand
Executive Committee have encouraged the Youth Program in making these links
with Student Christian Movement and look forward to a major discussion at the
National Forum in September 1997.
A Report on
Christian Conference of Asia
World Student Christian
Federation-Asia Pacific Region’s
Joint Program in 1999-2000
Introduction
In 1999 and 2002, the Joint Committee of CCA and
WSCF-AP region jointly organized two national level Consultations. These Consultations are between National
Council of Churches (NCC) and Student Christian Movement(SCM) to strengthen
relations and have mutual support for ecumenical student ministry. The objectives of these National level consultation
are as follow:
1. To analyze the change of student
situation on campuses especially with regard to the ideological and
intellectual climate among students and academics;
2. To understand the present needs,
concerns and problems of students in the context of rapid
socio-economic-political changes in Asia-Pacific societies;
35
3. To envision new ways or aims of
student ministry in the light of these changes;
4. To strategize the mission of the
church with and among the university communities in view of a more substantial and
effective ministry among students at this moment;
Two National level’s Consultations are organized by
NCCs and SCMs in the Philippines and Hong Kong respectively. The consultation in Hong Kong was planned to
be held in December, 1999, however due to an unavoidable situation, the
consultation postponed to January, 2000.
The
consultation was held on September 16-18, 1999 at the NCCP Ecumenical
Center. It was cosponsored by the SCM of
the Philippines and the NCCP Program Unit on Ecumenical Education and Nurture.
There
were about 30 participants from the different parts of the countries
representing most of denominations and ecumenical who are involved in the
Student-Youth ministry. Ms. Necta
Montes, Women’s Coordinator of the WSCF-AP represented the CCA-WSCF Joint
Committee. Mr. Carmencita Karagdag and
Ms. Amie Dural represented NCCP-PUEEN and SCMP respectively. Main facilitator for the event was Amie
Dural, SCMP Chairperson.
In the consultation, SCM senior friends and active
workers in the ecumenical youth movement, Rev. Reuel Marigza, Mr. Lesley Capus
and Ms. Faith Bacon spoke about the
impacts, difficulties and challenges brought about by globalization. They
related their experiences as SCM members in the 1970s and 1980s in terms of
movement building, ecumenical relations work, campaign, education, and
integration with the marginalized sectors. They
36
articulated, stressed and reaffirmed the importance of youth and student
ministry. They also shared with the
current SCM members the history of SCMP's relationship with the national and
local churches. In the process, lessons
were pointed out that SCM members, being known to be deeply aware and
responsive to the burning socio-political issues of the day, (i.e. chronic
inflation, low wages and massive unemployment, impact of globalization on
education and the general economic conditions of the people), must engage in
understanding and articulating the SCM's stand on these issues from the
nationalist, critical and pro-poor perspective.
It was also emphasized that the SCM members must engage in relating such
issues, events and situations to the biblical and theological perspective.
Ms. Liza Lei Garcia, Youth Vice-Chairperson in the NCCP,
incumbent Chairperson of the National Federation of Christian Youth and an SCM
Senior Friend herself, recommended that in order for the church to reach its
goals/commitments regarding youth work, concrete programs which respond to
particular concerns of the youth must be formulated and implemented.
The
participants at the consultation criticized the prevailing educational system
as "highly commercialized, elitist, colonial and repressive in
nature." Within this context, the importance of developing creative,
relevant and holistic approaches on youth and student ministry was highlighted
in the round-table discussions and workshops which tackled the present needs,
concerns and problems of students.
The
consultation endorsed a joint project of the NCCP-PUEEN and SCMP to develop a
comprehensive, systematic and ladderized formation program such as Basic
Ecumenical Course, which may include courses on such topics as Bible in Context
and tools/methodologies in leading Bible Studies, liturgical fellowships and other
Christian traditions. This will
37
directly assist in the
education and training of SCM members and other persons involved in youth and
student ministry.
The
meeting also resulted in the following
proposals and recommendations:
·
creation of a
desk focusing on youth and student ministry
·
regularize
training courses for youth and student workers
·
continuing
dialogue among NCCP, SCMP and the Kalipunan ng Kristiyanong Kabataaan sa
Pilipinas(KKKP)
·
organizing a youth
and student summit with church leaders
·
encouraging
member churches of the NCCP to engage in campus ministry and support the
efforts of the SCMP.
Noting
the impact of globalization on the economic, cultural, spiritual,
psychological, mental and intellectual development of Filipino students, the
consultation developed on the great challenge to continue providing alternative
venues for consciousness-raising, ideological remolding and development of
critical tools of analysis in the campuses.
2. National Consultation on Student Ministry in
Hong Kong
Date: January 29, 2000 (Sat)
Time: 9:30 am ~ 5: 30 pm
Venue: Lam Woo International Center, Hong Kong Baptist University
Topic: “What
does He Want from You?”
Since Hong Kong Christian Council(HKCC) and Student
Christian Movement of Hong Kong (SCMHK) thought that they need to broaden and
deepen the discussion, they invited Hong Kong Young Men’s Christian
Association, (HKYMCA), Chaplains of Chinese University of Hong Kong, (CUHK) and
Chaplains of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) for organizing the
Consultation.
38
There are over 70 participants, including church
leaders from different denominations, faculty members and students of
universities. Following a drama by local university students to express how they
viewed the education system of HK, Dr. Kwan Shui-Man, Assistant Professor of
Theology Division, Chinese University gave a keynote speech. He pointed out
that “recent statistics showed that the ratio of the youth over the entire
generation is decreasing and the adolescent period of the youth is extending.
They are not eager to become adults, nor do the adult expect them to be. The
gap between the youth and the adult is frustrating. There are no stable
ideology, no stale life value and philosophy and no diverse roles that can be
chosen by the youth in the society. It is more difficult for the adult to
understand the youth. Their expectations are often turned down, and so they
either tend to protect the youth or hate them. So the pastoral work for the
university students needs to have a new vision. The adults need to be humble
and try to enter the world of the youth.”
Ms. Chan Wai Chong, FESMs and Mr. Wan Hoi Wing, SCMHK gave their responses
respectively. Chan found that the thinking pattern of the youth changed rapidly
and the efforts of the church in the pastoral work of the youth are not enough.
Mr. Wan said that the education system disempowered the students rather than
make them more critically independent. The most terrible thing is that the
capitalist society leaves little room for their self-development and has made a
plan for them on how they should grow up and survive in the society. This
reveals that the education system is designed for the students to fit the need
in the economical development, and so the students cannot have any personal
development. The university students will be very painful once they are
awakened from the nightmare. They have realized their situation, but it seems
that they do not have a way out. The question of Mr. Wan is “What is the
gospel?” When we ask the question about the gospel in “the
39
extend night”, we can seek for another dream. That is, the gospel can
bring a new hope which is related to the daily life to the young people.
In the panel discussion, two university students
shared their opinions about their church and university life with us. They
discovered that there is no room for developing themselves and the feeling of
loss and powerlessness annoyed them much. However, under this situation, church
is not alert of their needs and they just require them to devote themselves
into the work of church. Moreover, they find that there is no room for them to
discuss or ask something related to taboo or social issues. This enlarges the
gap between the youth and the church. Then, Dr Chan Sze-Chai, Professor of
Baptist University, mentions churches always lack the sense about the changing
society and they seldom talk about the social issues. Some evangelical church
thinks themselves as a savior and only concentrate in spreading evangelism. He
suggests some ideas for preaching university students. In his opinion, church
culture that pays too much attention in the internal business of church should
be changed and the church should help the young people to treat their religion
seriously. At the same time, he reminds the young people not just being a
receiving end stage. Christians need to follow what Jesus Christ has done.
Young people should stand up and speak up the unfair things.
During public discussions, some preachers express
their difficulties in their position and hope the youngsters to be able to
understand. One audience encourages students to change the unfair situation
although it is very harsh to organize a movement.
Report after group
discussion about the preaching direction:
40
- Introduce some basic knowledge about theology to
the young in the church.
- Pay extra attention to the university students who
do not think too much about their life.
- Help the youth in self-construction
- Help the youth to experience their religion
- Listen to more opinions of the youngsters
- Invite preachers/priests to attend the talk about
university students.
The objectives of CCA-WSCF Joint Committee are
fulfilled in these two consultations.
Even though it will take time to implement the recommendations made by
the consultations, the two consultations provided a good venue to enhance
mutual cooperation of the churches and SCMs in campus ministry. Based on the positive evaluation by the
countries which organized consultations for the last three years, the Committee
decided to continue national level consultations for the time being.
A Report on
Christian Conference of Asia
World Student Christian Federation-Asia
Pacific Region’s
Joint Program in 2001
Introduction
In 2001, the Joint Committee of CCA and WSCF-AP
region organized two national level’s Consultations. These Consultations are between National Council
of Churches(NCC) and Student Christian Movement(SCM) in order to strengthen
relations and have mutual support for ecumenical student ministry in the
Asia-Pacific region. The objectives of
these National level consultations are as follow;
41
1. To analyze the change of student
situation on campuses especially with regard to the ideological and
intellectual climate among students and academics;
2. To understand the present needs,
concerns and problems of students in the context of rapid
socio-economic-political changes in Asia-Pacific societies;
3. To envision new ways or aims of
student ministry in the light of these changes;
4. To strategize the mission of the
church with and among the university communities in view of a more substantial
and effective ministry among students at this moment;
The two National Consultations are organized by NCCs
and SCMs in Korea and India respectively.
1. National Consultation in Korea
Towards Ecumenical Campus Ministry
The CCA-WSCF Joint Consultation in Korea was held at
the Centennial Memorial Building in Seoul, Korea on June 8, 2001 with the theme
of “Towards Ecumenical Campus Ministry - Church and SCM’s Cooperation for
Campus Ministry”. The Consultation was
co-organized by the Korea Student Christian Federation(KSCF) and the National
Council of Churches in Korea(NCCK).
About 30 participants including students, faculties, student pastors and
church leaders joined the Consultation.
Rev. Shin Seung Min represented the CCA-WSCF Joint Committee.
After opening worship, Rev. Shin,
Regional Secretary of the WSCF-AP presented the keynote address. He emphasized the following three points:
1. The SCM should recover a healthy relationship
with church in order to understand SCM’s mission to the academic communities
within a wholistic concept of mission of the church.
42
2. The SCM should cooperate with
churches to challenge the current higher education system that has been
commercialized and privatized.
3. The SCM, in close cooperation with
churches, should put more energy to train and provide young leaders to the
wider ecumenical community.
Mr. Lee Chang Hee, the Student Chair
of the KSCF, shared the SCM’s situation in the main universities in Korea. He told the participants that the numbers of
SCM in universities were drastically decreasing because of lack of Christian
student leadership in the campus. He
suggested that the KSCF should provide a systematic leadership program for students
through which the students could envision their hope and dreams on the SCM.
Rev. Baik, chaplain of Yunsei
University suggested that the SCM should develop more cultural programs for
students since the current students tended to have more concerns on cultural
activities.
Rev. Chung Jin Woo as church pastor
criticized the church’s weak concerns on student ministry and urged the
churches to put more concerns and encouragement to the SCM.
At the end of the Consultation, the
participants agreed that the church, particularly NCC and the SCM need to meet
regularly for a sincere dialogue to articulate a common vision of the
ecumenical student ministry, even though the NCCK has entrusted the SCM with
the student ministry in the universities.
Since the church and SCM also shared same problems in leadership
formation, it was suggested that in the near future the NCC and SCM should
develop a joint leadership program for youth and students.
43
“Religious Pluralism, Inter Faith Relations and
Rising Communal Violence: A Christian Response”
The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Fr. Thomas
Kalam, Director of St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences and the
member of the National Ethics Committee on Human Research- Delhi, who brought
to light the importance of individuality and relations in building
communities. He clearly stated at when
individuals fuse, a community is formed whereas when non-individuals fuse it
only creates confusion. He also
highlighted the four stages in forming a community which are a) Pseudo Stage;
b) Chaotic Stage; c) Kenotic Stage and d) Koinonia Stage. He also pointed out that we are in the
chaotic stage now, where confusion prevails.
He also emphasized on the need to look into communalism in the
Christianity in a more serious manner.
There was a good discussion after the session which was focused on how
the gospel should be lived out in India more than being preached and imposed on
others as it is done by certain sects.
It also focused on the good news that cannot be preached without hurting
- specially the unjust structures in society.
Fr. Kalam maintained that gospel and the good news are not offensive but
challenging.
The second day began with a Bible Study by Rev. Fr.
George Joy. He pointed out that, it is
not right for Christians
44
alone to claim to be closed to Christ for Jesus in John 10:15 says that
he has other sheep in other folds also who belong to him. Therefore, we need to correct our exclusive
claim. Jesus also does not condemn the
Samaritan woman for her faith or the Jewish faith, but his mission was to
correct all their wrong practices. This
is what is our mission today. Not to
convert people to our religion but enable all people to live in the right
manner.
The Bible study was followed by the Panel on The Intra-Inter Religious fundamentalism
and Communal Violence.
There were 5
panelists - Dr. Vijaykumar who spoke on Hindutva and its impact on Communal
Violence, Rev. Packiam and Mr. Maqbool Ahmed Siraj on the UnIslamic Fanaticism
and its impact on Communal Violence, while Mr. Rajan Singh and Bishop
Rajaratnam spoke on Christian Fundamentalism and its impact on Communal
Violence. The discussion that followed
focussed more on what we as Christians, the Church and the Ecumenical
Organisations are called to do in this context. Prof. Dinakarlal, the coordinator for this
consultation, presented a paper on Promoting Interfaith Relations among Student
Communities – its relevance and importance.
This focused on the context and the methods of promoting communal
harmony.
The third day's deliberations began with Ms. Corazon
Tabing Reyes conducting the Bible Study on the Syrophoenician woman and her
role as a gentile woman, a marginalised woman extending the territory of Jesus'
Mission. She emphasized on the
inclusiveness of other faiths in God's mission.
This was followed by the II panel on Combating Communal Violence where the students led by Mr. Aagney
Sail shared their views very powerfully challenging the Church and the
educational institutions to become more open and work towards Communal Harmony
through Interfaith relations, which will build our society in the right
direction. Rev. Dr. K.C. Abraham spoke
on the role of
45
Church Leaders and Ecumenical Institutions and challenged both to
actively participate in building better communities through Inter Faith
Relations being expressed concretely in various ways.
The discussions on all the above inputs and group
discussions on the second and the third day is expressed through the Statement
and Plan of Action, which were presented and accepted with alterations during
the plenary in the afternoon. Rev. Dr.
Ipe Joseph and Ms. Elizabeth Joy chaired the Plenary.
The NCCI & SCMI has plans of having more programs
on this theme at regional levels and also to publish papers presented at this
consultation, for a wider circulation among the Churches and Student
Communities.
STATEMENT
Thirty-one participants representing NCCI and SCMI
comprising of students, University teachers, Church leaders and laity met at
SCM House, Bangalore from June 8 -10, 2001 to discuss issues connected with
Religious Pluralism, Interfaith Relations and Rising Communal Violence and how
the Christians should respond to this. The consultation consisted of
presentations by resource persons belonging to different faith communities,
group discussions and plenaries.
After three days' deliberations, we, the participants
state the following:
We affirm that we respect the religious plurality of
our country and respect the faiths of all people.
We are pained to note that there is a lot of tension in
our society which is otherwise noted for the peaceful co-existence of different
culture, linguistic and ethnic groups and
48
faith communities. We acknowledge that Indians by and large are
open-minded and tolerant and they have always accepted with veneration other
faiths. This has been responsible for
the 'Unity in diversity' of which tradition we are proud of.
We condemn in very strong terms the violence
unleashed on the minorities and attacks on places of worship and
institutions.
We regret to note that of late there has been a
threat to this "unity in diversity" especially from the Sangh Parivar
and its agenda of creating a Hindu Rashtra.
In this context, we appeal to the Christian community to provide the
healing touch in the difficult times.
We express the view that in a secular democratic
country like India, the present BJP led coalition Government has failed to
uphold the secular character of the Indian society constructed in our
constitution. The Indian Government also
failed in applying the Law to those anti social elements responsible for
perpetrating communal violence.
We recognize and understand the direct relationship
of globalisation and the growth of religious fundamentalism including Christian
fundamentalism. The visible impact of globalisation, in the last decade has
been the polarization of Indian society.
More and more people are becoming poor in absolute terms. While nearly
40% of our population lives under poverty line, growing privatization in the
areas of health, education and food security is counter productive.
We appeal to the Christian community
to join hands with people of other faiths to fight social injustice and
violation of human rights in our society.
This we believe will help in establishing a pluralistic society and
ensure the overall development of our people.
47
In light of the discussions, the following
recommendations are made to the Churches, NCCI & SCMI:
1. We should provide space in our
Church, educational institutions and ecumenical organisations to promote
discussions related to communal harmony and we should also prepare our own
communities, pastors and theological students as well to initiate such
discussions.
2. We recommend the formation of a
commission of leaders representing different faiths which will work together in
publishing a book which can be used in Educational Institutions, Youth
Organisations, Sunday Schools etc. as a supplement to moral education, youth
training workshops, Sunday School syllabi etc.
3. Encourage students in schools and
colleges to join and participate actively in Scouts & Guides, NSS,NCC which
will be instrumental in promoting communal harmony.
4. Take up issues which affect the
youth in common and provide a platform to spread our thoughts and ideas of
communal harmony through inter religious camps and wherever possible, cooperate
with other like minded organisations as well.
5. Start primary schools and primary
health centres for the unreached in India.
6. Join people of other faiths in their
religious celebrations and welcome others to join in our celebrations.
7. Wherever peace committees and peace
marches are held to promote communal harmony, we appeal to the Christian
community to actively participate.
A Report on
Christian Conference of Asia
World Student Christian
Federation-Asia Pacific Region’s
Joint Program in 2002
CCA-WSCF Joint Consultation in Bangladesh
48
The consultation was jointly organized by the
National Council of Churches(NCC) and SCM Bangladesh on April 12-14th, 2002 in
the CCDB Conference Hall, Dhaka. Around
30 students, youth, faculty members,
pastors and churches leaders participated in the consultation. The theme of the conference was
“interdenominational cooperation towards ecumenical student and youth
movement”. Rev. Shin, Regional Secretary
of the WSCF AP, represented the CCA-WSCF Joint Committee.
The consultation began with the opening worship led
by Juliet Uma Biswas on 13 April 2002 morning. Her reflection on the Bible
reading was Romans Ch.14, stressing on the teaching that in spite of our
doctrinal differences our liability and commitment is to serve one God and His
Reign on this earth.
Mr Sudhir Audhikary(President of the NCCB), Bishop
B.D. Mondol(Anglican Church) and Mr Aniruddha Das Dipok (Chairperson Bangladesh
SCM) gave greetings to participants. In their speech, they shared that it is
very appreciable that the NCCB and SCM have organized the consultation together
since long time - it is a sign of promoting the ecumenical movement with
sharing the joy of being together for Christianity.
Mr Augustine Dipok Karmaker, the resource person for
the first session on the interdenominational relationship focused on the
importance of developing young leadership in the churches. He told, even though
there are more than 50 denominations in Bangladesh, most of the church and
other Christian organizations are not working for the development of young
leadership. Furthermore, he continued, since they are also not emphasizing on
the higher education, it causes failures in taking part in the governmental and
social development activities.
49
This session was also addressed by Mr. Subodh
Adhikary, the General Secretary of the NCC-B.
He pointed out that one of the hindrances in the ecumenical journey in
Bangladesh is that few churches in Bangladesh involve themselves in the
ecumenical movement because of the doctrinal differences. However, he stressed that the ultimate goal
of ecumenical movements is to realize the unity in the diversity.
The second session was on “Student Ministry in the
Asia Pacific Region - The Challenges, Visions and Hopes”. Rev Shin spoke on the
issue and gave a detailed view on the ecumenical agendas of the churches and
the general situation of the student ministry in the region. He shared the CCA
has identified the issue of life as one of the critical mission agendas for
next 5 years. He also shared that the
WSCF-AP has put its full efforts to address the issue of education in the
context of the globalization.
The third session began with the deliberations of Rev
Martin Adhikary. He pointed out that the
objectives of ecumenical movement should aim to unite the people in the love of
God with the 3 objectives of the church- Koinonia, Marturia, Diakonia. He also stressed, when we engage in
ecumenical co-operations, we must have humility so that we can learn from each
other.
The participants shared their views in 3 groups and
identified the followings as the bottlenecks in the journey of the ecumenical,
student and church ministry:
1. Personal and organisational
conflicts.
2. Ego, Envy and Jealousy & Power
Hunger
3. Discrimination
4. Lack of a sense of necessity of the
ecumenical movement
5. Lack of communication
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6. Lack of will to build up new
leadership, personal interests
7. Dominance of the majority
8. Unskilled leadership
9. Differences in sacraments and
liturgy
10. Weaknesses of religious belief
11. Lack of education
12. Lack of proper representation from
an adequate number of organisations.
13. Lack of greater ecumenical platform
14. Lack of full time staff,
publications and follow up
15. Lack of commitment
16. Lack of updated information and
steps.
The second day began with a morning exposure trip to
the Festival of Bangla New Year taking place in the Ramna (the Central Park of
Dhaka) and observing the colorful rally led by the Dhaka University Fine Arts
Institution.
In the afternoon Ms Edwina Hunter, Vice Chairperson
of WSCF AP shared about the organisational structure, history and activities of
the ASCM and NCCA in Australia.
This was followed by an open experience sharing and a
session developing the recommendations which was facilitated Milton Ratna. In this session, the following
recommendations were made to the churches, the NCCB and BDSCM:
1. The NCCB and SCM should create a
space and opportunities for a committed and sincere dialogue between the church
leaders.
2. The ecumenical youth and student
organisations should share their resources at a subsidized rate to strengthen
and gear up activities of the movements.
3. NCCB and BDSCM should have joint
publications and documentation to educate and inform the movements.
4. Financial and resource support
should be given to student and youth ministries to strengthen the ecumenical
movement.
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5. The ecumenical organisations should
participate more effectively in greater platforms e.g. EASYNET or forums.
6. The concerned churches and
organisations should take necessary initiatives to build awareness about the
ecumenical movement to eliminate the prevailing confusions and misunderstandings
about the movement.
7. The study of ecumenical theology
should be promoted and encouraged by the churches for better leadership and
ecumenical strength.
In the evening on April 13th, the
consultation was finished with closing worship organized by the NCCB youth.