DOCSLIB.ORG

Ubuntu: the Contribution of a Representative Indigenous African Ethics to Global Bioethics Leonard T

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Ubuntu: the Contribution of a Representative Indigenous African Ethics to Global Bioethics Leonard T Duquesne University Duquesne Scholarship Collection Electronic Theses and Dissertations Fall 2012 Interpreting the Culture of Ubuntu: The Contribution of a Representative Indigenous African Ethics to Global Bioethics Leonard T. Chuwa Follow this and additional works at: https://dsc.duq.edu/etd Recommended Citation Chuwa, L. (2012). Interpreting the Culture of Ubuntu: The onC tribution of a Representative Indigenous African Ethics to Global Bioethics (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/408 This Immediate Access is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INTERPRETING THE CULTURE OF UBUNTU: THE CONTRIBUTION OF A REPRESENTATIVE INDIGENOUS AFRICAN ETHICS TO GLOBAL BIOETHICS A Dissertation Submitted to the Center for Healthcare Ethics McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts Duquesne University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Leonard Tumaini Chuwa, A.J., M. A. December, 2012 Copyright by Leonard Tumaini Chuwa, A.J., M.A. 2012 INTERPRETING THE CULTURE OF UBUNTU: THE CONTRIBUTION OF A REPRESENTATIVE INDIGENOUS AFRICAN ETHICS TO GLOBAL BIOETHICS By Leonard Tumaini Chuwa, A.J., M.A. Approved ______________________________________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Gerard Magill, Ph.D. Henk ten Have, M.D., Ph.D. Professor of Healthcare Ethics Director, Center for Healthcare Ethics The Vernon F. Gallagher Chair of the Professor of Healthcare Ethics Integration of Science, Theology, (Committee member) Philosophy and Law (Dissertation Director) ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Aaron L. Mackler, Ph.D. James Swindal, Ph.D. Associate Professor Dean, McAnulty College and Graduate Department of Theology School of Liberal Arts (Committee Member) (Committee Member) iii ABSTRACT INTERPRETING THE CULTURE OF UBUNTU: THE CONTRIBUTION OF A REPRESENTATIVE INDIGENOUS AFRICAN ETHICS TO GLOBAL BIOETHICS By Leonard Tumaini Chuwa, A.J., M.A. December, 2012 Dissertation Supervised by Professor Gerard Magill, PhD Ubuntu is a worldview and a way of life shared by most Africans south of Sahara. Basically Ubuntu underlines the often unrecognized role of relatedness and dependence of human individuality to other humans and the cosmos. The importance of relatedness to humanity is summarized by the two maxims of Ubuntu. The first is: a human being is human because of other human beings. The second maxim is an elaboration of the first. It goes; a human being is human because of the otherness of other human beings. John Mbiti combines those two maxims into, ―I am because we are, and we are because I am.‖ Ubuntu worldview can provide insights about relationships with communities and the world that contribute to the meaning of Global Bioethics. Ubuntu can be described as involving several distinct yet related components that can be explored in relation to major strands of discourse in contemporary Bioethics. The iv first component of Ubuntu deals with the tension between individual and universal rights. The second component of Ubuntu deals with concerns about the cosmic and global context of life. The third component of Ubuntu deals with the role of solidarity that unites individuals and communities. Ubuntu has a lot in common with current discourse in bioethics. It can facilitate global bioethics. It can inspire the on-going dialogue about human dignity, human rights and the ethics that surround it. It can inspire and be inspired by global environmental concerns that threaten the biosphere and human life. Ubuntu can critique the formal bioethical principles of autonomy, justice, beneficence and non- maleficence. Above all, Ubuntu can create a basis for dialogue and mutually enlightening discourse between global bioethics and indigenous cultures. Such a dialogue helps make advancements in bioethics relevant to local indigenous cultures, thereby facilitating the acceptability and praxis of global bioethical principles. v DEDICATION To the heroes of Ubuntu who worked so hard to formalize Ubuntu: Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere, Kwame Nkrumah, Léopold Sédar Senghor Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I extend my deepest gratitude to my dissertation director, Professor Gerald Magill. Although Professor Magill is both Professor of Health Care Ethics and The Vernon F. Gallagher Chair for the Integration of Science, Theology, Philosophy and Law, he has patiently guided, challenged and inspired me into exploration of this wonderful and exciting venture. I have benefited most from his remarkable expertise and experience. I extend my thanks also to Professor Henk ten Have, director of the Center. Professor ten Have who is not only a medical doctor but also an ethicist is an unquestionable resource in matters pertaining to global bioethics. I benefited from Dr. ten Have‘s invaluable advice, critique, lectures and speeches. I extend my thanks to Professor Aaron Leonard Mackler, associate professor of theology and healthcare ethics. Professor Mackler is not only an authority in Jewish Law and Bioethics; he is an author whose works have influenced my exploration of Ubuntu, owing to the fact that there are a lot of resemblances between Ubuntu and the Jewish Law. I deeply thank Glory Smith, administrator and academic adviser at the Center for Health Care Ethics for her encouragement and academic advice. I extend the same thanks to Linda Rendulic, assistant to the dean in the McAnulty School of Liberal Arts Duquesne University for her constant counsel and support throughout my course work period at Duquesne University. I would like to thank the leadership and members my religious community, The Religious Missionary Congregation of the Apostles of Jesus for their constant support, fraternal care and encouragement throughout my academic life. vii Thanks to thank Fr. Edward Bryce, Pastor of St. Bede‘s Catholic Church, for his human and material support for me throughout my graduate schooling at Duquesne University. Without Fr. Bryce‘s kindness my journey to this point would be very hard, if not impossible. Special thanks to Duquesne University for provision of scholarship and innumerable support. Thanks to Rev. Dr. John Boettcher for his expertise in Sacred Scriptures, formatting and proofreading skills from which I profoundly benefited. I thank as well Sr. Andrea Zbigien and Linda Ruescher for proofreading my work. Thanks to the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland and John Carroll Jesuit University for their support and friendship during my pursuit of M.A studies which laid the foundation for the doctoral studies at Duquesne. Lastly, thanks to my parents and siblings for the sacrifice they have always made due to my love of academics and research work. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................ iv DEDICATION ........................................................................................................................ vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ..................................................................................................... vii Chapter One: Introduction: The Culture of Ubuntu ................................................................. 1 1. Exploration of Ubuntu..................................................................................................... 2 a. Meaning of Ubuntu ....................................................................................................... 2 b. Ubuntu is Anthropocentric, Theocentric and Cosmocentric ........................................ 3 (i) Interdependence ..................................................................................................... 4 (ii) Need for Otherness ................................................................................................ 6 (iii) Ubuntu and Unity ................................................................................................... 9 c. Ubuntu Ethics of Immortality ..................................................................................... 11 (i) Personal Immortality ............................................................................................ 11 (ii) The Importance of Marriage and Procreation ...................................................... 13 (iii) Ubuntu Theory of Moral Development ............................................................... 15 2. Relevance of Ubuntu Worldview .................................................................................. 20 a. Ubuntu Existential-Relational Epistemology ............................................................. 21 b. Ubuntu Relational and Holistic Perspective on Human Disease ................................ 24 c. Ubuntu Communitarian Healthcare Ethics ................................................................. 27 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 29 Chapter Two: Ubuntu Ethics .................................................................................................. 36 1. Tension between Individual and Universal Rights ......................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Economic Ascendance Is/As Moral Rightness: the New Religious Political Right in Post-Apartheid South Africa Part
    Economic Ascendance is/as Moral Rightness: The New Religious Political Right in Post-apartheid South Africa Part One: The Political Introduction If one were to go by the paucity of academic scholarship on the broad New Right in the post-apartheid South African context, one would not be remiss for thinking that the country is immune from this global phenomenon. I say broad because there is some academic scholarship that deals only with the existence of right wing organisations at the end of the apartheid era (du Toit 1991, Grobbelaar et al. 1989, Schönteich 2004, Schönteich and Boshoff 2003, van Rooyen 1994, Visser 2007, Welsh 1988, 1989,1995, Zille 1988). In this older context, this work focuses on a number of white Right organisations, including their ideas of nationalism, the role of Christianity in their ideologies, as well as their opposition to reform in South Africa, especially the significance of the idea of partition in these organisations. Helen Zille’s list, for example, includes the Herstigte Nasionale Party, Conservative Party, Afrikaner People’s Guard, South African Bureau of Racial Affairs (SABRA), Society of Orange Workers, Forum for the Future, Stallard Foundation, Afrikaner Resistance Movement (AWB), and the White Liberation Movement (BBB). There is also literature that deals with New Right ideology and its impact on South African education in the transition era by drawing on the broader literature on how the New Right was using education as a primary battleground globally (Fataar 1997, Kallaway 1989). Moreover, another narrow and newer literature exists that continues the focus on primarily extreme right organisations in South Africa that have found resonance in the global context of the rise of the so-called Alternative Right that rejects mainstream conservatism.
    [Show full text]
  • Malawi's Orphans
    CHAPTER FOURTEEN MALAWI’S ORPHANS: CHILDREN’S RIGHTS IN RELATION TO HUMANITARIANISM, COMPASSION, AND CHILDCARE Andrea Freidus1 My first reaction is the feeling of helplessness, and hopelessness. Seeing so many eyes of the orphans, innocent and pure makes me feel a little over- whelmed…Poverty and HIV/AIDS, malaria, are now all over southern Africa… Without a heart of compassion and love, without a true passion in helping and offering Madonna could not do this. So I give more credit to her now than before, and I see this as a gift to Malawi rather than a tool of celebrity propaganda. —MSU undergraduate after viewing Madonna’s documentary on Malawi. As an assignment for a women’s studies undergraduate course, students viewed the film “I am Because We Are.” Produced by Madonna to raise awareness about her organization, Raising Malawi, it focuses on the situa- tion of orphans and AIDS in Malawi. Students were asked to respond to the content of the documentary including their perceptions of orphans in Malawi, their overall reaction, and the film’s impact on their desire to be connected or involved with these issues. The above quote is one of many that captures the ability of humanitarians and the organizations they sup- port to use the media to foster an emotional response. This response is based on the recognition of a common humanity and the need to address suffering. The student’s reaction highlights the power of the image of the orphan to bring about a sense of compassion drawing on the innocence of children.
    [Show full text]
  • 31 May 1995 CONSTITUTIONAL ASSEMBLY NATIONAL
    31 May 1995 CONSTITUTIONAL ASSEMBLY NATIONAL WORKSHOP AND PUBLIC HEARING FOR WOMEN - 2-4 JUNE 1995 The Council's representative at the abovementioned hearing will be Mrs Eva Mahlangu, a teacher at the Filadelfia Secondary School for children with disabilities, Eva has a disability herself. We thank you for the opportunity to comment. It is Council's opinion that many women are disabled because of neglect, abuse and violence and should be protected. Further more Women with Disabilities are one of the most marginalised groups and need to be empowered to take their rightful place in society. According to the United Nations World Programme of Action Concerning Disable Persons: "The consequences of deficiencies and disablement are particularly serious for women. There are a great many countries where women are subjected to social, cultural and economic disadvantages which impede their access to, for example, health care, education, vocational training and employment. If, in addition, they are physically or mentally disabled their chances of overcoming their disablement are diminished, which makes it all the more difficult for them to take part in community life. In families, the responsibility for caring for a disabled parent often lies with women, which considerably limits their freedom and their possibilities of taking part in other activities". The Nairobi Plan of Action for the 1990's also states: Disabled women all over the world are subject to dual discrimination: first, their gender assigns them second-class citizenship; then they are further devalued because of the negative and limited ways the world perceives people with disabilities. Legislation shall guarantee the rights of disabled women to be educated and make decisions about pregnancy, motherhood, adoption, and any medical procedure which affects their ability to reproduce.
    [Show full text]
  • IDEOLOGY Second Mrican Writers' Conference Stockh01m1986
    IDEOLOGY Second Mrican Writers' Conference Stockh01m1986 Edited by with an lin"Coductory essay by Kii-sten B-olst Peitersen Per W&stbei-g Seminar Proceedings No. 28 Scandinavian Institute of African Studjes Seminar Proceedings No. 20 CRITICISM AND IDEOLOGY Second African Writers9 Conference Stockholm 1986 Edited by Kirsten Holst Petersen with an introductory essay by Per Wastberg Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala 1988 Cover: "Nairobi City Centre", painting by Ancent Soi, Kenya, reproduced with the permission of Gunter PCus. ISSN 0281 -00 18 ISBN 91-7106-276-9 @ Nordiska afrikainstitutet, 1988 Phototypesetting by Textgruppen i Uppsala AB Printed in Sweden by Bohuslaningens Boktryckeri AB, Uddevalla 1988 Foreword The first Stockholm conference for African writers was held in 1967, at Hasselby Castle outside Stockholm, to discuss the role of the writer in mo- dern African Society, especially the relationship of his or her individuality to a wider social commitment. It was arranged on the initiative of Per Wastberg, well-known for having introduced much of African literature to the Swedish public. On Per Wastberg's initiative the Second Stockholm Conference for Afri- can Writers was arranged almost twenty years later. This time the Scandi- navian Institute of African Studies was again privileged to arrange the con- ference in cooperation with the Swedish Institute. We extend our gratitude to the Swedish Institute, the Swedish Interna- tional Development Authority (SIDA), and the Ministry for Foreign Af- fairs for generous financial support. We wish to thank our former Danish researcher Kirsten Holst Petersen for her skilful work in arranging the con- ference and editing this book.
    [Show full text]
  • 4 Chapter Four: the African Ubuntu Philosophy
    4 CHAPTER FOUR: THE AFRICAN UBUNTU PHILOSOPHY A person is a person through other persons. None of us comes into the world fully formed. We would not know how to think, or walk, or speak, or behave as human beings unless we learned it from other human beings. We need other human beings in order to be human. (Tutu, 2004:25). 4.1 INTRODUCTION Management practices and policies are not an entirely internal organisational matter, as various factors beyond the formal boundary of an organisation may be at least equally influential in an organisation’s survival. In this study, society, which includes the local community and its socio-cultural elements, is recognised as one of the main external stakeholders of an organisation (see the conceptual framework in Figure 1, on p. 7). Aside from society, organisations are linked to ecological systems that provide natural resources as another form of capital. As Section 3.5.13 shows, one of the most important limitations of the Balanced Scorecard model is that it does not integrate socio-cultural dimensions into its conceptual framework (Voelpel et al., 2006:51). The model’s perspectives do not explicitly address issues such as the society or the community within which an organisation operates. In an African framework, taking into account the local socio-cultural dimensions is critical for organisational performance and the ultimate success of an organisation. Hence, it is necessary to review this component of corporate performance critically before effecting any measures, such as redesigning the generic Balanced Scorecard model. This chapter examines the first set of humanist performance systems, as shown in Figure 11, overleaf.
    [Show full text]
  • One Nation, One Beer: the Mythology of the New South Africa in Advertising
    1 ONE NATION, ONE BEER: THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA IN ADVERTISING A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Sarah Britten 2 I declare that this is my own unaided work. It is in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. It has not been submitted for any other degree or examination or to any other university. ________________ Sarah Britten 27 October 2005 The University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 3 Acknowledgements Since I started on this thesis, I have worked at four jobs (one in PR, three in advertising), dated two boyfriends (one of them a professional psychic), published two novels for young adult readers, endured two car accidents (neither of them my fault), rescued two feral cats and married one husband. I ha ve lost count of the nervous breakdowns I was convinced were immanent or the Sunday evenings I spent wracked with guilt over my failure to put in enough work on the thesis over the weekend. When I started on this project in June 1998, I was a full time student wafting about without any apparent purpose in life. Now that I am finally putting this magnum opus to bed, I find that I have turned into a corporate animal saddled with car payments and timesheets and stress over PowerPoint presentations. “Get your PhD out of the way before you get married and have kids,” my elders told me.
    [Show full text]
  • A Theology of Possessions in the African Context: a Critical Survey
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by UWC Theses and Dissertations UNIVERSITY OF THE WESTERN CAPE Thesis for MTh. Degree John Hugo Fischer Student Number: 2530178 Department of religion and theology Title of thesis A Theology of Possessions in the African context: A critical survey Supervisor: Prof. Ernst Conradie Date November 2007 1 A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Magister Theologae in the Department of Religion and Theology at the Faculty of Arts at the University of the Western Cape By John Hugo Fischer Supervisor: Professor E. M. Conradie November 2007 2 Keywords Possessions Africa Christianity Worldviews Consumerism Private Property Communal Possessions Urbanization Stewardship Vineyard Missions 3 Abstract This thesis has been researched against the back drop of conflict that had arisen due to different approaches to possessions in the African church as practiced within the Association of Vineyard Churches. This conflict arose because of diff erent cultural approaches to possessions and property rights as they affect different parts of the African church. In order to analyse this conflict and arrive at some understanding of the different forces operating in the area of resources and possessions it was necessary to adopt the approach laid out below. The objective was to arrive at an analysis of such differences, and the sources from which such differences originated, and then to draw some conclusion with regard to the present state of the debate on possessions and how this could affect the praxis of the Vineyard churches in Sub Saharan Africa in which I serve.
    [Show full text]
  • ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I Would
    ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to record and extend my indebtedness, sincerest gratitude and thanks to the following people: * Mr G J Bradshaw and Ms A Nel Weldrick for their professional assistance, guidance and patience throughout the course of this study. * My colleagues, Ms M M Khumalo, Mr I M Biyela and Mr L P Mafokoane for their guidance and inspiration which made the completion of this study possible. " Dr A A M Rossouw for the advice he provided during our lengthy interview and to Ms L Snodgrass, the Conflict Management Programme Co-ordinator. " Mrs Sue Jefferys (UPE) for typing and editing this work. " Unibank, Edu-Loan (C J de Swardt) and Vodakom for their financial assistance throughout this work. " My friends and neighbours who were always available when I needed them, and who assisted me through some very frustrating times. " And last and by no means least my wife, Nelisiwe and my three children, Mpendulo, Gabisile and Ntuthuko for their unconditional love, support and encouragement throughout the course of this study. Even though they were not practically involved in what I was doing, their support was always strong and motivating. DEDICATION To my late father, Enock Vumbu and my brother Gcina Esau. We Must always look to the future. Tomorrow is the time that gives a man or a country just one more chance. Tomorrow is the most important think in life. It comes into us very clean (Author unknow) ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF ABBREVIATIONS/ ACRONYMS USED ANC = African National Congress AZAPO = Azanian African Peoples
    [Show full text]
  • Meaning of Umunthu
    MEANING OF UMUNTHU COMMUNITY SPIRIT FOR THE BUILDING OF THE HUMAN COMMUNITY ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE SOCIO –POLITICAL SITUATION OF MALAWI submitted by Mennas Vincent Mukaka for the Academic Degree of Doctor of Theology at the Karl-Franzens University of Graz Institute/Department of Catholic Theology under the Supervision of Prof. Dr. Leopold Neuhold (1. Supervisor) Prof. DDr. Reinhold Easterbauer (2. Supervisor) © 2015 Mennas Vincent Mukaka iii DECLARATION I DECLARE THAT THIS DISSERTATION IS MY OWN WORK AND ALL THE SOURCES HAVE BEEN QUOTED AND ACKNOWLEDGED BY MEANS OF COMPLETE REFERENCES AND NO PART OF THE DISSERTATION HAS BEEN SUBMITTED FOR ANY OTHER DEGREE. Mennas Vincent Mukaka…………………………………………….. Date:…………………………………………… Place:………………………………………….. iv ACKNOWLEGEMENT “I am because you are, since you are therefore I am”. This thesis is achieved with the assistance of others without whom it could not have been accomplished. There are many people who have contributed to this work and I cannot manage to mention all of them, but all should know and feel that I greatly appreciate their contribution. I would like to acknowledge my deep indebtedness and thanks to the following people in particular: Dr Leopold Neuhold, my doctorate father, and DDr Reinhold Esterbauer, my second supervisor. I have benefited, at different stages of the project, from their contributions and friendly guidance. They are crucially responsible for the actions which led to the completion of this thesis. In addition, this work could not have been completed without the support offered by the Comboni Missionaries of the German Speaking Province (DSP). In particular I thank Mag. Fr. Joseph Altenburger, once my formator in Innsbruck, the then Provincial Superior of the German speaking Province who accepted that I do my studies in Graz.
    [Show full text]
  • The Roots of African Theology
    with the Vatican than with Protestant evangelicals. We should be If we should miss or dismiss the promise and the presence grateful for the many contacts between the WCC and the Roman of the crucified and risen Lord in the continuation of missionary Catholic Church during and after Vatican Council II, but it is likely work, our task would be a lost cause, a meaningless enterprise. that the official trend in the Vatican in the 1990s will continue We would make concessions to the professional pessimists who more in the direction of counter-reformation than co-reformation. think it is their task to spread alarm and defeatism. But within We should certainly continue official contacts with the Vatican, the light of the Lord's promise and presence, the continuation of but on the national, regional, and continental levels we should the church's mission in the last decade of this century will not strengthen our relations with those groups within the Roman be a lost cause or a meaningless enterprise, since we know that Catholic Church that, in spite of heavy pressure from the Vatican, in the Lord our labor cannot be in vain. are still moving in the direction of a co-reformation. Mission in the 1990s needs Christians and churches that work in the spirit of the document "Mission and Evangelism: An Notes ----------------­ Ecumenical Affirmation." Our task now is to put flesh on the spirit of that document, in our words and deeds. 1. Harvey Cox, "Many Mansions or One Way? The Crisis in Interfaith Dialogue," Christian Century, August 17-24, 1988, pp.
    [Show full text]
  • Governance and Development of the East African Community: the Ethical Sustainability Framework
    Governance and Development of the East African Community: The Ethical Sustainability Framework Dickson Kanakulya Faculty of Arts and Sciences Studies in Applied Ethics 16 Linköping University, Department of Culture and Communication Linköping 2015 Studies in Applied Ethics 16 Distributed by: Department of Culture and Communication Linköping University 581 83 Linköping Sweden Dickson Kanakulya Governance and Development of the East African Community: The Ethical Sustainability Framework Licentiate thesis Edition 1:1 ISSN 1402‐4152:16 ISBN 978‐91‐7685‐894‐3 © The author Department of Culture and Communication 2015 Declaration: I declare that this study is my original work and a product of my personal critical research and thought. …………………………………………….. Kanakulya Dickson, Kampala, Uganda November, 2015 ii Approval: This research report has been submitted with the approval of my supervisor: Prof. Goran Collste --2015--11--09----- Co-Supervisor’s name: Signature: Date iii © 2015 Kanakulya Dickson All rights reserved iv Dedication: This work is dedicated to the Lord of all Spirits and Letters; accept it as a feeble effort to serve your eternal purposes.To Caroline Kanakulya, a beautiful and kindred spirit. To the healing of the spirit of East Africans.To the watchers who stood steadfast in the days of the multiplication. Great mysteries await across! v Acknowledgements: I acknowledge the Swedish Agency for International Development (Sida) and Makerere University for funding this research; and the staff of Makerere Directorate of Graduate Research and Training for support during the study. My deepest gratitude goes to my wife Caroline Kanakulya, my travel companion in life’s journey; thanks for standing my flaws and supporting me.
    [Show full text]
  • Provincial Co-Ordinators Mission and Evangelism Consultation Resurrection Gardens, Nairobi, Kenya 6-13 May 2002 Press Release: M
    Provincial Co-ordinators Mission and Evangelism Consultation Resurrection Gardens, Nairobi, Kenya 6-13 May 2002 Press Release: Mission at the heart of the church 'Mission is at the heart of the life and calling of the Church. God's mission of love and life is universal in scope- to all people in all situations (John 3:16)' This was the central affirmation of the first-ever Consultation of Co-ordinators of Mission and Evangelism within the Anglican Communion meeting in Nairobi, Kenya from 6-13 May. Representatives from Anglican provinces in Asia, the Pacific, Australasia, the Middle East, Central, East, West and Southern Africa, North America, the Caribbean and Britain and Ireland met for the first major gathering on mission and evangelism in the Anglican Communion since the end of the Decade of Evangelism. They were joined by representatives from the world mission agencies - the Mothers Union, Church Army (Africa), CMS and USPG. (Mr.) John Clark, Chief Secretary for Mission of the Church of England, chair of the Consultation commented: 'This has been an invigorating and spiritually refreshing experience. I sense a great energy and vitality amongst those present and within the Communion, and a renewed commitment to make evangelism and mission a priority within the life of our church. The Consultation has helped us appreciate the rich variety of the Communion and to be deeply challenged by those amongst us who are seeking to forward the gospel in situations of great suffering and hardship.' The majority of those attending had never participated in an international Anglican Communion gathering before.
    [Show full text]