Translating the Word, Transforming the World “This vital textbook helps us to rethink Christian theology, Christian mission and Christian life. Mis- sion belongs to the very being of Christian identity; it is an ontological reality. As ‘temples of the Holy Spirit’ (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 7:19), Christians witness and share the experienced joy of their life in Christ since the Spirit which inhabits them is never silent but a witnessing Sprit (John 15:26; Matt.10:20). Authentic witness is done and points always toward unity as a condition that the world may believe. It cannot have hidden agendas and is not concerned with the growth of one’s confession. We witness, but people remain free to chose, to decide. Conversion is not our responsibility and concern, nor is it a ‘success’ of our witness. Conversion remains entirely the work of God (Acts 4,47). — Fr Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, WCC Deputy General Secretary and Director of the Ecumenical Institute Bossey, World Council of Churches TRANSLATING THE WORD, TRANSFORMING THE WORLD An Ecumenical Reader Edited by Amélé Adamavi-Aho Ekué, Marion Grau, Atola Longkumer TRANSLATING THE WORD, TRANSFORMING THE WORLD An Ecumenical Reader Edited by Amélé Adamavi-Aho Ekué, Marion Grau, Atola Longkumer Copyright © 2018 WCC Publications. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in notices or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: [email protected]. WCC Publications is the book publishing programme of the World Council of Churches. Founded in 1948, the WCC promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. A global fellowship, the WCC brings together 348 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in 110 countries and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. Opinions expressed in WCC Publications are those of the authors. Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, © copyright 1989 by the Division of Chris- tian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. Cover design: Albin Hillert Book design and typesetting: Michelle Cook/4 Seasons Book Design ISBN: 978-2-8254-1712-6 World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney, P.O. Box 2100 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland http://publications.oikoumene.org iv CONTENTS Introduction Amélé Adamavi-Aho Ekué, Marion Grau, Atola Longkumer vii Chapter 1. The History of the Ecumenical Movement Introduction 1 1.1 Philip Potter: Report to the Vancouver Assembly, 1983 4 1.2 Desmond Tutu: Towards Koinonia in Faith, Life and Witness, 1993 11 1.3 Mary Tanner: On Being Church, 2001 18 1.4 Porto Alegre Assembly: Called to Be the One Church, 2006 23 1.5 The Church: Towards a Common Vision, 2013 26 1.6 The Holy and Great Council: The Mission of the Orthodox Church 52 in Today’s World, 2016 1.7 Together towards Life: Mission and Evangelism in Changing Landscapes, 2013 57 Chapter 2. Contemporary Issues in the Ecumenical Movement Introduction 73 2.1 Theological Perspectives on Diakonia in the 21st Century, 2012 75 2.2 Economy of Life, Justice, and Peace and Life for All: A Call to Action, 2013 80 2.3 Rastko Jovic: Doing Gender Justice as a Mission Imperative, 2015 84 2.4 Metr. Geevarghese Mor Coorilos: Mission toward Fullness of Life, 2013 90 2.5 Elsa Tamez: Living Ecumenically: An Absolute Necessity, 2005 94 Chapter 3. World Christianity: Intercultural and Interreligious Theology Introduction by Stephen B. Bevans, SVD 98 3.1 Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World, 2011 101 3.2 Kirsteen Kim: Mission’s Changing Landscape: Global Flows 103 and Christian Movements, 2011 3.3 Fadi Daou: Christ and the Other: Union Embracing Difference, 2017 116 3.4 Who Do We Say That We Are? 2016 123 3.5 Ivone Gebera: Ecofeminism: A Latin American Perspective, 2002 145 3.6 Dina Ludeña Cebrián: The Sources and Resources of Our Indigenous Theology, 2010 150 v vi Contents Chapter 4. African Theologies and the Realities of Mission Practice Introduction by Esther Mombo 156 4.1 Michael Lapsley: Christ’s Co-Workers for Justice and Peace, 2013 159 4.2 J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, “Get Up . Take the Child . 162 and Escape to Egypt,” 2011 4.3 Dyron B. Daughrity: Assessing Christianity in Africa’s Transforming Context, 2014 171 4.4 Tinyiko Sam Maluleke: Of Lions and Rabbits: The Role of the Church 178 in Reconciliation in South Africa, 2007 4.5 Sarojini Nadar: Feminist Theologies in Africa, 2012 186 Chapter 5. God of Life, Creation, and the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace Introduction by Kwok Pui-lan 192 5.1 An Ecumenical Call to Just Peace, 2011, and The Way of Just Peace, 2013 195 5.2 Ioan Sauca: The Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace, 2014 204 5.3 Pope Francis: Summary of Encyclical Laudato Si’, 2015 208 5.4 His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew: 213 Saving the Soul of the Planet, 2009 5.5 Ernst M. Conradie: What on Earth Did God Create? 2014 215 5.6 Sallie McFague: Falling in Love with God and the World, 2013 225 5.7 The Gift of Being: Called to Be a Church of All for All, 2016 235 Appendix 1: Sources 250 Appendix 2: Complementary Texts 253 Introduction Theological education remains a pivotal area of mission for the church. Christianity is experiencing significant global shifts in terms of its demographics, and within that context theological education provides a vital element of constructive responses to the challenges brought to Christian communities across the globe. Theological education thus plays a dual role: first, articulating radical constructive inter- pretation and discourse, and, second, presenting the church’s missional task of upholding theological formation. In other words, theological education critically engages as well as pro- duces prophetic imagination1 for the church. Within this current milieu of challenges to the church, the Global Ecumenical Theological Institute (GETI) 2018 engages in both of these roles, bringing together theological students from around the globe and representing diverse communities to study, engage as a learning community and, at its best, to build cross-cultural friendships2 during the World Mission Conference of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) at Arusha, Tanzania, in March 2018.The theme for the World Mission Conference is “Moving in the Spirit: Called to Transforming Discipleship.” GETI 2018 takes place within and in parallel to the mission conference, with its own theme “Translating the Word, Transforming the World,” and this volume is compiled primar- ily to serve as a textbook for the GETI 2018 participants. It brings together a collection of writings from ecumenical theologians and missiologists whose writings have offered insights, directions, challenges, and vibrant conversation to the ecumenical vision and evangelical mis- sion of the global church. Apart from providing the GETI 2018 students an introduction to the foundational areas of mission and witness as expounded by ecumenical theologians, the present compilation also contributes to a much-needed theological resource for theological education beyond GETI 2018. Translating the Word, Transforming the World will be made available in print and also in dif- ferent media platforms, which will ensure the dissemination of the contents and conversation to diverse contexts that have access to the internet. Hence the textbook is meant to serve as a conduit to promote the study of ecumenism, missiology and world Christianity in theological institutions worldwide. The central focus of the textbook is mission and ecumenism through a selection of ecumenical and missiological contributions that have provided foundational insights to the 1. Cf. Walter Bruggemann, The Prophetic Imagination. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, rev. ed. 2001. 2. Cf. Dana L. Robert, “Global Friendship as Incarnational Missional Practice”, in: International Bulletin of Missionary Research, vol. 39, no. 4, October 2015: 180-184. vii viii Introduction ecumenical conversation and to intercultural missiology. Complementary texts in languages other than English are provided in the electronic version, made available at academy.- globethics.net. Key focus areas include the following: • The History of the Ecumenical Movement • Contemporary Issues in the Ecumenical Movement • World Christianity: Intercultural and Interreligious Theology • African Theologies and Realities of Mission Practice and • God of Life, Creation, and the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace These areas reflect the five study foci identified for GETI 2018. But they also constitute relevant fields for the study of ecumenism and missiology in other contexts of higher ecumeni- cal theological education. Each section opens with an introduction to the theme to orient the students to the history, texts and context of the focus area. The essays aim to shed light on the issues, pose key questions, and engender further conversation about the ecumenical mission of the church. The readings in this compilation are presented in separate sections and under key focus areas to facilitate their usage and integration into dedicated study modules. This structured presentation of contents should, however, not veil the interconnectedness of the themes intro- duced. The history of the ecumenical movement has progressively brought to the fore the need to read the ecumenical vision as embracing not only the unity of the churches, their fellowship, faith, witness and service, but also the unity of humankind in its diversity and in recognition of its manifold disparities. Therefore this compilation invites academic teachers and students of theology and neighbouring disciplines to create pedagogical contexts in which the compiled texts are read as pointing beyond the respective thematic areas, offering entry points for estab- lishing links and interrogations vis-à-vis other fields of ecumenical study. Introductions to each chapter reflect this wider-ranging methodology, as they address not only the chapter topics or foci but also connections to the foci of the other chapters.