Keynote Address to the Inauguration
Celebration
Program of Studies in Ecumenism
and Social Transformation
Hanshin University Graduate
school of Theology, Korea
Rev. Dr. Huang Po Ho, vice president & Prof. CJCU
Sept. 25, 2012
Rev. Dr. Huang Po Ho, vice president & Prof. CJCU
Sept. 25, 2012
Introduction
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| Hanshin Chapel Choir |
The Inauguration of
the Program for Studies in Ecumenism and Social Transformation, Launched by Hanshin University Graduate School of Theology at this moment of time has a very
important significance to the ecumenical movement in this critical period of
history. In one side, this new initiative of ecumenical theological studies can
be considered a gift of Asian churches to welcome Busan Assembly of the World
Council of Churches to be held in 2013, which is the second WCC assembly to be
held in Asia. In the other side, this new attempt of to establish a theological
program on ecumenical studies can be seen also as a response of Asian churches
towards the challenges and crisis facing ecumenical movement today.
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| Phyllis Trible in the Consultation |
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| international program students |
Busan Assembly as the
second WCC Assembly held in Asia, has
chosen the theme of “God of Life, Lead us to Justice and Peace” as its assembly
call of prayer to the world and particularly to Christian congregations. This
is the first time that the World Council of Churches explicitly taking up the
terms of Justice and Peace for its assembly theme.[1] A theme that has its urgency to
people in Asia particularly after the declaration of Barack Obama, the
president of the United States of its “Pivot to Asia” policy. The recent
international tensions emerged in Korean Peninsula, the East Sea, and the South
China Sea entangled almost all Asian countries and also the United States, have
demonstrated the explosive situation of the international conflicts in the
region. Peace and people’s security are threatened by the international
interests particularly from the hegemonic supper power countries. Any conflict
irrupts in these regions will inevitably involve the clashes between the United
States and China, and in which no country in this continent can really stay
away from it. True peace can only be sustained when justice is upheld. There
will be no unity, no ecumenism if true peace is threatened and justice is
undermined. Ecumenical movement has been confronted its test stone in Asia.
On the other hand, the council style
of ecumenical movement which initiated from the early church time and reach its
peak at the organization of the World Council of Churches in Amsterdam at 1948,
is today facing a crisis of becoming a matter of history. The threats facing
the councils in all levels of global, regional and national today are not just
the financial aspect that has caused major scale shrinking of the ecumenical
organizations and their ministerial programs, but also its gradually falling
into an
Institutionalized ecumenical entertainments, providing platform only for the
hierarchical fellowship. Both these threats have constituted a menace to the
sustainability of the contemporary council model of ecumenical movement.
It is therefore, the creation of
this “Program for Studies in
Ecumenism and Social Transformation” in
this challenging era in the history of ecumenical movement has its significance
as a milestone to turn on a new phase for ecumenical movement with distinctive
contributions from Asia.
New Wine Challenges to
the Old Wineskins
Christian concept of ecumenism was emerged
out of its missionary expansion. Unfortunately much of the expansions of
Christianity in its history have to do with colonial activities of the empires.
For instance, the Christianization of Europe was initiated by
the proselytism of Constantine, the Roman
Emperor. Many of the Catholic
Churches established in the third world countries include those in Asia were
mostly results accompanied with the
colonial activities of the Spanish and Portuguese empires in 16th
century. In many cases of Asia, Christian mission was introduced and churches
both Catholic and Protestant were established under the supports of military
forces. The idea of Christendom that
motivates Christians to Christianize the world has provided a foundation for
the universal character of the church. Ecumenism thus was a Christian superior
concept of to unifying the world unto its authority and reign. Ecumenical movement driven by this paternal attitude
is no different from a religious globalization.
The establishment of the World Council of
Churches in 1948 as a fellowship of churches has an attempt to correct this
paternalistic theology of ecumenism. It is however the World Council of
Churches, an attempt to embody World Christianity into its fellowship, derived
from its European experiences of ecclesia division, has focused its mission on
the unity of denominational churches. The council model of ecumenism has an
illusion of that expanding the umbrella to accommodate denominational churches
will eventually unify the Christian world, and to attain the dream of
Christian oecumene. The more than half a century history of WCC has
demonstrated the vision is but a wishful dream.
The radical remapping of Christian population
that shift the centers of Christian world from
Europe and North America to the two third world continents such as
Africa, Latin America and Asia has brought challenges to the traditional
ecumenical movement. The participations
of church leaders from Asia, Africa and Latin America as well from Pacific
islands to the World Council of Churches, have ignited the theological volcano
of ecumenism. Ecumenical movement is not longer to be restrained within
denominational church relations, the churches in the two- third world are
divided not so much by the denominational doctrinal differences, but more by
the crashes of ethnical, economical, cultural and political-ideological
confrontations. Even the Christian mission itself in many cases plays a role of
division. Thereafter, ecumenical theologies on combating racism, option for
poor and minorities, gender and eco-justice, resistance to globalization and
empires, and as well the advocacy for inter-religious dialogues and cooperation
have been taken up by WCC and its member churches. Much contribution has been
made in past decades through these theological endeavors.
It is nevertheless; new wine cannot be contained
in old wineskins, the shift of theological insights on ecumenism though
enriched WCC’s ecumenical ministries, and contributed to the transformation of
many struggling incidents in different parts of the world, such like combat
against apartheid in South Africa, advocacy for gender equality, liberation of
poor in Latin America and beyond, and inter-religious engagements in Asia.
These achievements on the other hand created interior tensions within the
member churches of the council, which inevitably leads to slacken off the
identification and solidarity of the organization. Meanwhile, when the
theological advocacies have been shifted its focuses to the experiences of
people, the council structures include all levels of global, regional and
national were mostly framed with their targets on church hierarchies, this
structural contradiction adding with the recent financial downturn implicitly announced a dead end of the council style of ecumenical movement.
Building the Household
of God through Loving Care Redemption
If the meaning of ecumenism follows its Greek
word of Oecumene denotes to the “whole inhabited earth”, our ecumenical
movement certainly cannot be constrained to the unity of denominational
churches, nor even be bounded by Christian unity. This is to say that not only
the institutionalized model of ecumenism needs to be called to question; the
traditional chart of the domain for the household of God is also challenged to
be revisited.
God’s Oecumene is derived from the divine
redemptive work of creation; it was a work with love and compassion. According
the first creation story, the creation works God has done since the beginning,
is not the later theological imagination of so call: “creatio ex nihilo”, but
is a work of transformation that turns the darkness to the light, and void to
the order. Let us listen to the storyteller again more carefully:
In
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void,
and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving
over the face of the waters. 3 And God said,
"Let there be light"; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good;
and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God
called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And
there was evening and there was morning, one day. [2]
God was not satisfied with the earth that without
form and void, S/he couldn’t stand with the darkness that was upon the face of
the deep, therefore God takes action to change and to transform. It is thus, darkness was changed to light,
and formless and void were transformed to the order of day and night, and of
evening and morning. These creative works are thus, redemptive works to light
the dark, and to restore the order to the disorders. It’s a healing works out
of God’s compassion to the world. It is a household building act that God did
to this earth. God’s oecumene thus has to do with the transforming power that
liberates suffered and oppressed, and gives hope to the hopeless and anguished.
A genuine ecumenical movement aims at building up God’s household -- “God’s
inhabited earth” must be a movement of redemption with love and compassion that
gaze attentively the suffering experiences of people and injustice done to the
earth and all living creatures live on it. If God’s creation work done in the
beginning was a healing action to the darkness and Chaotic earth and all living
creatures on it, any attempt that we as people of God to proceed to the
building up of God’s Oecumene must done with redemptive healing with loving
care and compassion of the world.
People Oriented Ecumenism vs. Ecclesia Oriented Ecumenism
After two centuries
intensive missionary labors[3],
Christian population in Asia remained absolute minority in many Asian
countries, and has been divisive with different confessions and denominations
which was caused by the transplantations from their western divisions. It is
though not without values to follow the pattern of ecclesia oriented ecumenical
movement launched by the western churches, it is however questionable to
Christian faith tradition for a church in Asia to talk about building the
household of God restrained only within the insignificant portion of people
(Christians or denominational churches) and regardless the sufferings and cries
for deliverance of the majority people who are surrounding the churches.
Ecclesia oriented
ecumenism thus, has to be shifted to people oriented ecumenism in Asian contexts.
People oriented ecumenism concerns not that much on doctrinal differences nor
its denominational identifications. But more on the protection of the image of
God that human being possesses and the just relation that human species
established with the earth and living creatures on it. The living theologies
that proposed by much labors of third world (two third world) theologians, such
as liberation theology of Latin America that care for the economic exploitation
of poor, the minority theologies that care for the racial discrimination
towards the colored people and minority tribes, feminist theology that care for
the gender equality and justice, theology of religion of Asia that care for the
inter-religious dialogues and cooperation, environmental theology that care for
the ecological depredation, and many kinds of political theologies that care
for human right and human dignities in different context of political struggling,
are all theological endeavors that cross the boundary of Christian communities
to include all people who are struggling in the midst of suffering, threatened
distortion and spoilage of their basic rights commissioned through their
creation with divine Imago Dei.
People oriented
ecumenism cannot be achieved by theological achievement that share only among insightful
portion of people in the region; though ecumenism has been made an academic
topic for theological inquires, by nature ecumenism is a process attempt to
attain the Oecumene (Catholicity of the inhabited world). Thus ecumenism can
only be fulfilled through process of movement that targets on unity of the
whole creation. To be a movement means consistently moving and open for
changes. It is a dynamic motion that
leads to the fulfillment of the final aims. Ecclesia oriented ecumenism bound
by the church structure, is incapable for the demand of change a movement is anticipated.
Therefore a people oriented ecumenism challenges to our present ecclesia oriented
ecumenism both its ownership of the movement and its structure of formation.
As aforementioned, the
present trend of ecumenical movement that initiated from Edinburg 1910 was by
nature an ecclesia oriented ecumenism, which is embodied in a council
organizational format, on the purpose of to bring together different
denominational churches from worldwide Christian communities to enjoy Christian
fellowship, resource sharing, and mission ideas exchanges. The establishment of
the World Council of Churches in Amsterdam at 1948 represented a departure of
this institutional church ecumenical movement. With half a century enthusiastic
labors of ecumenical advocators, WCC has grown to worldwide fellowship of 349
member churches across all continents of Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Europe, Latin
America, Middle East, North America and Pacific. The rapid increasing of its memberships though
satisfied the founding purpose of the WCC, its formalistic expansion of the
organization has also led to the subsidence of the dynamics of the movement. With
its mission statement of to offer fellowship to universal churches
denominations, the WCC has been gradually transfigured to a society nature of
denominational churches worldwide, without attempts to challenge the status qua
of existing churches to move towards genuine oneness of the body of Christ. Meanwhile
its structure of ecumenism has exclusively prohibited the presentation of people
of other living faiths and those claim themselves no faith adherent.
To advocate people
oriented ecumenism thus has to emphasize on the dynamic momentum for unity, and
that a just relation can be at work across the relationship between people with
people and people with the creation. In the other word, only it remains a nature
of movement that continue to across boundaries of segregation, that the true
people’s ecumenism can be sustained.
Paradigm Shift for Ecumenical Movement
Ecclesia oriented
Ecumenism has its background and contexts, The Word Council of Churches and
those related regional and national councils has done their contributions in
responding to the Protestant denominational divisions created by the Reformation
Movement took place in 16th Century. Even though efforts were made,
the council while accommodate most of the mainstream protestant denominational
churches into to its memberships, it has further drawn lines between camps of ecumenical
from evangelical and as well from the Pentecostal. Its attempts of seeking
unity with both Catholic and Orthodox churches though not without fruits are
remain a kind of fellowship with superficial mutual respects[4].
Unless there is a radical step taken by these bureaucratic churches, the
current movement for church unity has reached its bottle neck even if not
adding the destructive element of the financial crisis.
People oriented
ecumenism requires a paradigm shift of ecumenical movement, which demands not
only a shift of theoretical foundation and theological conception of ecumenism,
but also need a radical reformulation of the mechanism to carry the ecumenical
movement. The recent world financial downturn has caused the crisis of
sustainability to ecumenical organizations in all levels of global, regional
and national. The massive scale reduction of personnel and programs implemented
by the World Council of Churches, Christian Conference of Asia and other
regional and national churches councils have ringed the alarm for a dead end
road. If the prophetic warning from the economists of “no rising tide”[5] is
the future destiny of market economy, we may have to ask about how far the
ecumenical organizations can last to continue this reduction of it size and programs?
The shift of
theoretical foundation and theological conception for Ecumenism can be done by
scholarly researches and arguments with the enlightenments from the realities
experienced. It requires a pedagogical process for conscientization and convincingness
building among the Christian communities. However, the structure change for
ecumenical movement will involve complicate elements relate to interests of
political power, economic gains and social-cultural considerations. Structure
re-engineering though commonly agreeable as a critical and important means to
save and revive a crunchy organization, there were not many organizations that
devoted themselves for structure re-engineering of the organization attained
the goal of their labors. It is true to the business companies and will be veritable
to the religious organizations and churches as well. The proposal of “decentralization”
raised by many third world churches to the global and regional ecumenical
organizations were remain voices of the desert, ecumenical theologies advocated
often about “Alternative”, particularly when an insurmountable challenge is confronted,
we may raise the question of whether it is the time now for ecumenical movement
to think about “alternative ecumenism”?
The Ecumenical Center
which was named to the office of WCC has been gradually centralized by the
rapid increasing its membership of the Council. When the world churches have to
travel all the way to Geneva to show forth the ecumenical presence, the center-
periphery relationship is thus created, and the movement is inevitably alien
from the congregations in the grassroots, The financial account of these traveling
and also the language barriers eventually shape the ecumenical movement a hierarchical
club of church leaders and elites. The
less identification from the grassroots congregations has caused the weakening
of supports financially and spiritually from the local churches to these
regional and global ecumenical organizations. The vicious circle thus ignited,
the downsizing of the organization inevitably leads to trim off its programs
and area of mission, the shrinking of service and witness fatally abates the
identification of people toward the organization. Trim off personnel and
programs of an organization never can solve the problem of the shortage of its finance.
Decentralization is a
strategy generated from Asian hospitality, Asian countries and churches though
financially incompetent to support a lavish structure and organization to
occupy in the center of Geneva, and their congregations can’t afford for
expensive airfares to travel across continents, except very few churches and
countries, it is however, regardless how poor a church is in Asia, they are all
very hospitable to receive guests, to support and organize events and even
to host office and staff in their
countries. While the ecumenical centers are expecting money from Asian
churches, the Asian congregations are looking for ecumenical presence to be
experienced in their grassroots lives and daily ministries. A well planned
alternative structure for people oriented ecumenism with modern hi-tech
instruments, the ecumenical movement not only no necessary to downsize it
structure, but have to increase its programs and personnel in order to combat
the crisis faced. Is not this the time
for Asian churches to demonstrate its special kind of hospitality to the Busan
Assembly, to save the ecumenical movement to its new phase of history?
Nurturing Prophetic Leadership for Alternative
Ecumenical Movement
Asian churches used to
provided excellent leaderships to global ecumenical movement in its history, The
great prophetic gurus such as Oh
Jaeshik, Park Siang Jong,
Kim Yong Bok, Shoki Coe, C.S. Song, M. M. Thomas, and D. T. Niles, just name a
few, have made tremendous contributions
to the modern ecumenical movement globally and regionally. The vivid prophetic
characteristic of Asian churches in the midst of Asian societies, have provided
a challenging model of Christian mission to the world Christianity.
Busan Assembly as
WCC’s second assembly to be held in Asia in this period of crisis of the
ecumenical movement, has given us a challenge and as well a chance to grow more
ecumenical leaders from the region. This international graduate program for
Studies in Ecumenism and Social Transformation launched by Hanshin University is
a demonstration of this effort. The great mind and long-range vision that the
leaderships of the Hanshin University and Korean churches exhibited in this
creative event deserves great applause.
It is however, how
can this exciting venture of ecumenical theological education program effectively
respond to the current challenges that ecumenical movement confronted? And what
kinds of future ecumenical leaders are to be formatted? These are important questions
to be answered in order to make the program clear vision and direction. Considering
the above analysis and envisioning on the present critical situation of
ecumenical movement, I am proposing that the ecumenical theological education
in Asia need to take up the following challenges:
1.
Retargeting the domain of ecumenism
The mission of ecumenical movement in its biblical and
theological perspective is to build and restore the household of God. God’s
household according to Christian confession of the doctrine of Creation is the
whole inhabited earth. Ecumenical theology
thus has to shift its focus from targeting on church unity and Christian
relations to the whole human community and people’s relation with all living
creatures and the earth. This is what we advocated about the shift from
ecclesia oriented ecumenism to People oriented ecumenism.
2.
Reformulating Scope of Ecumenical Theology from Asian
Perspectives
Any significant contribute
that Asian Churches can offer to the global ecumenical movement has to do with the
construction of Asian contextual theologies, that sprout out of distinctive
Asian cultures and historical experiences. While the traditional missionary
theologies have their foundation based upon the ideologies of western superiority
and colonization that expressed through their theological argument of that
Gospel above non-Christian cultures,[6] Asian theologies have been struggling from
below, to discover the divine nature in the midst of whole creation through
their re-affirmation of the doctrine of creation. It is thus, no distinguish can
be made between sacred and profane of cultures. Gospel can only be identified
within cultures, but not to be independent from the cultures. And therefore, Gospel and theologies are not
to be imported into Asian lands, but to be born out of its soil and history. This
is the basic framework of Asian contextual theologies and also to all the third
world theologies of liberation.
Asian Ecumenical
Theology thus has to take root in these two theological presuppositions, ie., to
restore the theological prospect with the primeval household of God on the
whole inhabited earth, based upon our Christian confession of creation, and to take seriously the cultures and experiences of
people that are seeking to encounter the divine for hope and deliverance. Asian Ecumenical Theologies set out from these
presuppositions, are inevitably entangled with issues that Asian people are
struggling with, such as: epidemic diseases, natural disasters, gender
discrimination, poverty and exploitation, colonization and militarization,
minority and marginalization, globalization and cultural-religious pluralities.
Asian ecumenical theologies therefore have to do not only with church, nor even
just with human species, but the whole inhabited earth and all living creatures
on it.
3.
Reclaiming
the Role of People in Ecumenism and Theologies
Ecumenical
movement today has to face the problem of the fade out of its momentum of being
a movement and gradually turning to an institutionalized organization. Many
ecumenical organizations are today struggling for their organizational
survival, which will not be a problem of a movement. This phenomenon indicates
the alienation of our ecumenical movement from the concerns and powers of
grassroots congregations, not to say its exclusion to the people of other
faiths and those of non faith.
A
narrow interest ecumenism excludes vast portions in the household of God, will
not only to restrict its mission scope and resources accessibility, but will also
to distort its nature of being “oecumene” (Catholicity) by its further creation
of segregations to the household of the creator. An alternative theology and
theological education for ecumenism to reclaim the central role of people and
their just relations with the earth and living creature on it, thus is urgent
to save our ecumenical movement from going astray.
Conclusion
The WCC 10th Assembly
to be held in Busan next year, has indicated an important significance of the
role and responsibility of Asian churches for the global ecumenical movement in
this era of challenges and crisis. Asia continent has hosted 60 percent of the
world population, is the largest and most populous continent in the world.
Asian churches have been among the most active members of the world ecumenical
movement throughout the history of the modern ecumenical journey. We have no
excuse to make for not taking our responsibilities in this midst of crisis of
ecumenical movement to do our best in responding to the mission handover to us.
The launch of this international
program for Graduate Studies in Ecumenism and Social Transformation by Hanshin
University is a demonstration that Korean church leaders and theological
educators have made together to the world churches and the World Council of
Churches, the commitments and attempts that Asian churches with the lead of
Korean fellow Christians are ready now to work for the change and progress for
a new phase of ecumenical movement in our age. (Thank you)
[1] The concepts of justice and peace though have been frequently used in
different occasions of World Council of Churches documents and meetings. They
appear as the theme of its assembly for the first time in Bushan assembly.
While Christian Conference of Asia has taking up these concerns as its assembly
theme a decade earlier in 1990 in its Manila Assembly with the theme on:
“Christ our Peace: Building a Just Society”.
[2] Genesis
1. 1-5
[3] Although
Asian scholars have demonstrated that Christianity was introduced to Asia since
the early church history, parallel with that Saint Paul did to the west, the
intensive Christian mission has been done to Asia only after the middle of 19th
century.
[4] Orthodox
Churches has joined The World Council of Churches in 1961 of its New Delhi
Assembly, while the Catholic Church has kept fraternal relation with the WCC,
has never given up its position of the only true church towards other existing
Christian communities, its recent document on “Domino Iesu” issued in 2000 has
reiterated this position. Both Churches have continued their refusal of sharing
sacraments with congregations of protestant churches till today.
[5] See Joerg
Rieger, No Rising Tide, Theology, Economics and The Future, (USA: Fortress
Press, 2009). The author argues in his book that the contention of markets
economists about the cycle frequency of the raising tide for economic
development and that raising tide will lift up all boats are but a myth of
wishful thinking about Markets economy.
[6] The
famous book written by Richard Niebuhr on “Christ and Culture” has been a
classic for these studies. Traditional western theological arguments used to
emphasis that Gospel is the salvific works of God while cultures are human
sinful products. Thus, cultures generally refer to non-Christian cultures or
pagan cultures.
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