CONFERENCE ON CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP AND INTEGRAL MISSION

Transcription

1 CONFERENCE ON CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP AND INTEGRAL MISSION Country: Argentina Place: Buenos Aires Date: March 2009 Social change or holistic transformation? The weekend of 13 to 15 March 2009, 44 people (27 men and 17 women) from different regions of Argentina and a representative from Uruguay met in the Kairos Centre for a conference organised jointly with the Micah Network. The theme was Social change or holistic transformation? Nineteen churches and four organisations were represented; they came from different cities throughout the country: Salta, San Salvador de Jujuy, La Mendieta (Jujuy), Córdoba, Despeñadero, Villa María, Bell Ville, Paraná, Entre Ríos, Trevelin (Chubut), Neuquén, Buenos Aires (the capital), Pacheco, Villa Domínico, Maschwitz, Floresta, Vicente López as well as the city of Rivera, Uruguay. By regions of the country: Central region: Consisting of the provinces of Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Entre Ríos and Santa Fe. Thirty people came of which 18 were men and 12 were women. They came from the following cities: Córdoba, Despeñadero, Villa María, Bell Ville, Buenos Aires, Pacheco, Villa Domínico, Maschwitz, Floresta, Vicente López. North-east region: Consisting of the provinces of Misiones, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Formosa and Chaco. Three people (1 man and 2 women) came from the city of Paraná (Entre Ríos). North-west region: Consisting of the provinces of Jujuy, Salta, Catamarca and Tucumán. Seven people (5 men and 2 women) came from the following cities: Salta, San Salvador de Jujuy, La Mendieta (Jujuy). Patagonia region: Consisting of the provinces of Chubut, La Pampa, Neuquén, Río Negro, Santa Cruz, Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and the islands of the South Atlantic. Two people (2 men) came from the following cities: Trevelin (Chubut) and Neuquén. In addition, one person (a man) came from the city of Rivera in Uruguay. The programme started on Friday night with a presentation from the Kairos Foundation and the Micah Network and a period of time to get to know each other by means of an activity involving hand sketches. René Padilla gave a historical overview of Integral Mission, filling the historical narrative with references to biblical and theological foundations for mission. The day concluded with a group activity focusing on the overall perspective of the world in which we live and expressing it through collage, sculpture, drama and song. 1

2 The Saturday began with a time of worship using indigenous words and rhythms, followed by a reflection led by René Padilla based on integral mission and transcultural mission. It ended with a time of prayer in small groups. After the break, the group heard a short presentation by Guillermo Steinfeld in which he talked of the dangers of having a theology that is divorced from practice, and he called for practical activity to be based on the Spirit of Christ, understood as Christ s way of being and thinking. After that, Elisa Padilla gave a short presentation of what happens when mission and action are not related to the Word of God and theology, and are consequently exposed to the influences of the consumer society. Then Luis Pérez facilitated a group discussion of these themes. For the afternoon s activity, the small groups read two chapters each of the book What is integral mission? by René Padilla, then participants contributed to a summary of each chapter, facilitated by Graciela Pérez de Celis. The presentation for the afternoon, led by Guillermo Steinfeld, was entitled The local church as agent of transformation. The groups tried to imagine how a transforming church would be, with respect to spirituality, liturgy, interpersonal links and its incorporation in society. The day concluded with an opportunity to learn more about each area of work of the Kairos Foundation; presentations were alternated with local songs (from regions of Argentina) within the context of integral mission. The Sunday began with a short summary of the previous day, some singing and a reflection by René Padilla on Integral mission and justice the Kingdom of God and his justice. This was followed by a group discussion on scriptural passages relating to the theme of justice. After the break, there was a short period of thanksgiving, then each person was invited to remain in silence for a few minutes and note down on a piece of paper a concern, a theme or an aspect of life that he or she would like to place upon the Communion table. The group then took part in an intimate moment of sharing, and placed what they had written in a basket on the Holy Communion table, which was a poncho laid out on the floor. They invited each other to participate in the Communion. The conference came to a close after lunch with the reading of part of a document that the editorial committee had been working on up to that moment. The participation of the whole group enriched the document even more and the committee promised to complete it electronically and to share it with everyone in the group. Each participant received a certificate of attendance. As a result of the conference, at least three specific initiatives emerged: 1. The desire to distribute the music that was used during the conference. The possibilities mentioned were that the team from Córdoba would make home recordings that the participants from Buenos Aires would write the scores, and the dream was that the Kairos Foundation would publish a songbook. 2. The desire to maintain electronic contact with the whole group. In response, the Kairos Foundation will start by sending everyone the list of contacts and will possibly open a Yahoo group which would be accessible to people who are interested in integral mission. 3. The desire to organise a conference on the theme of lands in relation to indigenous people at the end of the week commencing 12 October, including the participation of people from Chaco, Neuquén and the North of Argentina. Kairos Foundation - 16 March

3 DECLARATION OF BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA At the invitation of the Kairos Foundation (Fundación Kairós) and the Micah Network, 45 members of evangelical churches from various regions of Argentina, and a representative from Uruguay, met in the Kairos Centre in Buenos Aires from 13 to 15 March The meeting, entitled Social change or holistic transformation? was one in the series of annual conferences on Christian Discipleship and Integral Mission. Analysis of the social situation We have developed an analysis of the situation we are facing within our own context: Negative aspects Increase in levels of poverty and social exclusion, and growth in the divide between rich and poor. Violence and increase in insecurity which are met with a broader system of oppression instead of dealing with the deep causes that hide substantial privilege. Increase in illiteracy and the school drop-out rate. Child mortality and child labour; maternal mortality due to clandestine abortions. Spread of HIV and other infectious diseases (dengue fever, Chagas disease, yellow fever and tuberculosis). Increase in the cost of property and in the value of land; crisis in obtaining housing. Unwillingness to get out of this situation; frustration and lack of hope. Concentration of power and resources in large towns, particularly with respect to towns in the interior of the country. Monopoly of the media. Attempts at redistribution only include those who are already in the system. Corruption at all levels. Abuse and exploitation of natural resources by foreign multinational companies in connivance with sectors of local political, economic and financial power. Situation of indigenous groups and expropriation of lands. International crisis caused by lack of trust and financial speculation; those responsible, and their transnational allies, enjoy impunity. Seriously difficult for governments to tackle the social situation, which is out of control. Positive aspects Grassroot and progressive sectors rise to power, in harmony with the rest of Latin America. More participation in grassroot and sectoral claims for rights; greater fight for life. The educational community is beginning to organise itself to set up student centres; a positive response to the Federal Education Law. Greater prominence of women in political and social roles. Greater visibility of problems relating to domestic violence; more legislation. 3

4 Civil society organisations, movement of grassroots meetings, especially in marginalised sectors, in defence of their rights. Programme of pensions for elderly people, housewives, domestic employees. Housing plans from Caritas, Habitat, Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. Trials and sentences for the dictatorship s oppressors. Legislation regarding forests, women, children, legalisation of drug use, broadcasting. Analysis of the church s situation Negative aspects It makes the mistake of focusing only on evangelism and not becoming involved with society, because that brings problems. The growth in the number of churches does not translate into an improvement in the social situation. It justifies this position theologically. It is characterised by apathy and lack of sensitivity towards poor people. When the church responds to poor people it tends to do so without prior reflection and only by giving hand-out aid, without concern for solving the root causes of problems. It is run mainly by a personality-driven, caudillo-style leadership in line with the head of the social hierarchy. It allows itself to be influenced by the values of the consumer society (individualism, egoism, materialism, hedonism, etc.) It is using current terminology more broadly, but without any theoretical or practical content. Theological training uses terms that are incomprehensible to most people. There not many invitations to reflect, discuss or produce material on community hermeneutics. It translates the worst of North American literature from English into Spanish. Consumption of cheap literature. Encourage the reading of good literature. Liturgical models without context that are the result of globalisation and do not respect the richness of local culture. Weakness in the area of serious, professional research on social themes with the aim of having impact and a prophetic voice in society. (Let s not just say what is wrong, but also where it is wrong and why, etc.) Denounce problems and then look at how to approach them. Positive aspects Gradual growth in awareness of social responsibility as part of a holistic gospel, even in areas that rejected this attitude some decades ago. Growth in solidarity. Freedom to become involved in social projects. Emerging groups. Greater dialogue and joint action between churches of different denominations, including Roman Catholic churches. More opportunities for theological reflection provided by the Latin American Theological Fraternity (FTL), Kairós, the University Bible Association of Argentina (ABUA). 4

5 Greater search in some sectors for a horizontal model of approaching people in need that seeks to accompany people in the process of mutual transformation. Sectors where the concept of universal priesthood is being preached. For years there has been progressively more literature based on Integral Mission written by Latin American or first world authors who are committed to the situation in the South. There is a need for the church to be trained in social work, social communication, sociology. What we understand by Integral Mission God s desire is for his love to be manifest in every corner and creature in this world that has been affected by sin and longs for redemption. His love commits us to collaborate with him in his purpose of redemption. For this reason, we understand that the nature of the church s mission is to proclaim and demonstrate the love of God to a world in need. Commitments Promote integral mission. Create more opportunities for biblical and theological reflection on the theme of integral mission. Promote regional meetings. Seek consensus in the church s vision, respecting the individual gifts of each member. Become involved, committed, and persevere in accompanying the processes of transformation in our communities. Maintain contact in order to support each other (creation of the Yahoo group). 5