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2000-207

Anglican leaders pledge "aggressive" action for community transformation

By Jan Nunley

     (ENS) A gathering of 210 Christian leaders from nearly 30 countries, 
including many Anglicans, pledged to take aggressive action against corruption, 
crime, terrorism, poverty and injustice in their communities and throughout the 
world at the Beyond 2000 Community Transformation Consultation, held October 31 
to November 2 in Cape Town, South Africa.

     "The Church's own form of 'aggression' is passionate prayer and radical 
unity in calling for God to transform our broken and hopeless communities and 
environments into places of peace, joy and hope," said the Rev. David Harper, 
chairman of the international mission agency SOMA (Sharing of Ministries Abroad).

     "God's agenda is to forever renew his world with us as his agents," said 
Anglican archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of Cape Town. "We must have an openness 
to the future and an openness to the Holy Spirit. Transformation and renewal has 
to begin within each one of us."

Holiness, humility, unity--and spiritual mapping

     Regional groups from Asia, West and Central Africa, East Africa, Southern 
Africa, Latin America and the West--defined as the UK, Europe, United States, New 
Zealand and Australia--met and declared their intent to pray in unity with other 
churches for change in their societies and cultures. 

     The western churches expressed public repentance for what they described as 
"spiritual poverty." Asian delegates began the planning of a prayer march to 
traverse the entire continent, while Latin American delegates called for prayer 
chains, prayer meetings and prayer marches. 

     The West and Central African group called for spiritual warfare to "break 
the grip of strongholds," admonishing western delegates that their churches also 
need to take up the challenge of spiritual warfare. They also called for the use 
of "spiritual mapping," a technique described in the books Breaking Strongholds 
in Your City, edited by Peter Wagner, and Informed Intercession by George Otis 
Jr., a Christian researcher who addressed the meeting. Spiritual mapping "allows 
us to see veiled realities such as past hurts, spiritual pacts and demonic 
strongholds" in a particular geographic area, or may "direct us to a territorial 
prince or power, or to a human who Satan is using, or to a corrupt social 
structure," according to a "community transformation" manual issued to 
intercessors at a subsequent meeting in Port Elizabeth.

     East Africans declared themselves committed to children and young people and 
pledged to work for Christian education in their countries. Southern Africans 
(South Africa and Mozambique) said they had come to a realization of "utter 
dependence on God" and the "need to seek his face and a willingness to change 
their worldview."

Transformation in the land

     Harper and the Rev. Trevor Pearce, SOMA vice chairman, closed the 
consultation by releasing a statement calling the "community transformation" 
movement one that is "transforming the social, political, educational and 
economic structures of the cities and towns where it is occurring. In a number of 
cases, transformation has even occurred in the physical land," the statement 
said.

     "What makes this well-documented move of God's power so extraordinary is 
that it is beginning to provide effective solutions to many of the desperate 
needs and challenges in today's world: disease, poverty, corruption, addiction, 
family disintegration, perversion, and environmental destruction, to name a few. 
There are even early, medically corroborated reports of people being healed from 
AIDS coming out of Uganda," the statement continued.

     SOMA mission teams will travel to different parts of the Province of 
Southern Africa in order to share and teach on community transformation.

--The Rev. Jan Nunley is deputy director of the Office of News and Information 
for the Episcopal Church. Information for this story was taken from a press 
release by Andrew Carey of the Church of England Newspaper and Miles Giljam, 
media coordinator for the Cape Town consultation.