08458
June 17, 2008

Africa consultation on the Accra Confession calls for stand against world disorder

by John P. Asling
World Alliance of Reformed Churches communications officer

PRETORIA, South Africa — A wealthy minority is working to dispossess the poor, creating food and fuel price increases as well as chaos and corruption, a group of 25 Reformed theologians and church leaders from Africa said in an a recent consultation held in Pretoria.

African church leaders gathered to consider ways to continue to promote the Accra Confession.

“We looked through the eyes of the powerless and suffering people and reflected on what this means for us. We located ourselves among the poor and downtrodden and this determined our theological viewpoints and our faith and humanity as we read the Bible together.

“We stand against this world disorder, rightly identified by the Accra Confession,” the African church leaders stated in a communiqué.

The consultation was sponsored by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and its African regional body, the Alliance of Reformed Churches in Africa (ARCA), to continue to plan strategically how to engage African churches on the Accra Confession.

The Accra Confession is the major statement of WARC’s 24th General Council held in Accra, Ghana, in 2004. It states that working to create a more just economy is essential to the integrity of the Christian faith.

“We believe the integrity of our faith is at stake if we remain silent or refuse to act in the face of the current system of neoliberal economic globalization,” the Accra Confession states.

The Pretoria consultation said that Christians need to challenge the “survival of the fittest” thesis of today’s principalities and powers — the powerful, the empire, the market — which purport to have the only truth.

“The universal church is only now recognizing and taking into account the fact that the wealth creation capacity of Africa is debilitated by European colonial empires through the domination and exploitation of African peoples, the humanity and natural resources.

“This is a history and a faith question that cannot be denied,” the consultation stated.

“We observed that the convergence of domination and exploitation is manifest in the collusion of the exploitative market system, which colludes with other life-denying systems of injustice, such as racism, sexism, ecological degradation and the abuse of human dignity,” the church leaders added.

“We stand against this world disorder, rightly identified by the Accra Confession, because in today’s globalized world the new law is the ‘law of the jungle’ or ‘survival of the fittest,’ which we reject.”

The consultation brought together women and men, theologians and church leaders, from east, west, central and southern Africa. A keynote address was given by Allan Boesak, a former WARC president, who reminded the group that the church must be on the side of the poor because that is where God is.

Puleng LenkaBula, Africa consultant for the Covenanting for Justice Project of WARC, reminded the gathering that the faces of poverty in the world are largely black and women.

A nine-member Africa Covenanting for Justice Working Group was appointed to continue work on the Accra Confession throughout Africa.

Participants agreed to introduce the Accra Confession to the national Christian councils and Reformed churches in Africa to stimulate debate. In addition, a study guide will be created for churches and curricula will be developed for theological and Christian education programs with feedback from these studies to be made available for a 2009 consultation.

Since the 2004 Accra General Council, churches, theological seminaries and partner organizations have been studying the Accra Confession and responding in various ways. WARC and ARCA have begun a process of gathering information from churches and partners on how they are living out the Accra Confession and how WARC can support them.

LenkaBula has developed a questionnaire which was sent to all WARC’s Africa member churches earlier this year and she is drafting a study guide for African churches.

Patricia Sheerattan-Bisnauth, executive secretary for WARC’s Office for Church Renewal, Justice and Partnership, called the Africa consultation significant. “It provided the context for key inputs for the covenanting for justice process, especially regarding race and power analysis.

“It also made clear the urgency for more proactive responses by churches, including engagement in the public arena. African churches see this as a critical life issue that calls for unity and action,” she said.

“There is a need to nurture and support the growing number of thinkers who are critically engaged with the Accra Confession and issues of justice and reconciliation.”