wfn.org | WARC Consultation on Global Economic Justice

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

The time is right for a movement for economic justice South African
tells church network

> by Hans Pienaar

The global financial crisis is a golden opportunity for a movement for
economic justice according to a South African businesswoman and
political economist.

Mohau Pheko, Coordinator of the African Gender and Trade Network
(GENTA), told a gathering of theologians, advocates, economists and
senior church officials in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Friday that
the current crisis is "spectacular failure" of the current
system and calls for a radical reconstruction of the global economy.

â??We have to smash the current paradigm so that it does not have
roots and legs to rise again,â?? Pheko told the group of nearly 60
people from 23 countries who are meeting to focus on what churches can
do to address inequalities in the global economic system.

The event, which organizers call a global dialogue, focuses on
economic justice and concern for the earthâ??s ecology.  Organized by
the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the consultation builds on
the organizationâ??s statement on global economic justice, known as
the Accra Confession.

The statement, issued in 2004 during WARCâ??s General Council in
Accra, Ghana, declares â??economic systems are a matter of life or
deathâ?? and says â??the policy of unlimited growth among
industrialized countries and the drive for profit of transnational
corporations have plundered the earth and severely damaged the  environmentâ??.

Pheko, an advisor to governments and trade organizations, told
delegates the need for change is urgent, especially in Africa where
there is not the money to weather the ill effects of the crisis due to
cuts made as part of austerity programmes imposed by the International
Monetary Fund.

Saying it is time to act now, Pheko calls for advocates of change to
â??crystallizeâ?? forms of protest already underway such as  service
delivery protests in South Africa and food protests elsewhere: â??The
streets already know the issues; we have to listen to the streets.â??

The Accra Confession continues to spur action and debate among
churches on how they can interpret and respond to the impact of the
current global economic model. The dialogue in Johannesburg brings
together churches whose understandings differ in order to seek their
input in charting how the organization can continue to address
economic and environmental issues in the future.

In addressing those currents of concern, WARC has published a guide to
the Accra Confession that points to the declarationâ??s importance to
Christian ethics in the contemporary world.

Choose Life, Act in Hope authored by Puleng LenkaBula, a South African
academic from the University of South Africa (UNISA), was launched
Friday as part of the programme of the Global Dialogue.

Clifton Kirkpatrick, WARCâ??s president, calls the book â??a  wake-up
call to Christians not only in Africa, but also around the world, to
the fundamental ethical calling of the Christian faith in our time.â??

Describing it as â??part history, part theological vision, and part a
call for action,â?? Fitzpatrick says, â??Puleng LenkaBula  articulately
expresses why this covenant for justice in the economy and the earth
is the central commitment of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.

The study resource offers questions for discussion at the end of each
chapter and encourages WARC members to popularize the Accra Confession
and find ways to apply it in daily life.

â??I enthusiastically recommend this book to every Christian who seeks
to faithfully follow Christ in our world today,â?? says Kirkpatrick.

In her comments about the book, LenkaBula compares the current
situation with that of the Roman Empire, when Christian prophets
challenged the cooption of religion for the empire; when some church
leaders did not align themselves with the poor and the marginalized
but with the powerful.

â??The lived reality for many African peoples and effects of the
empire are still evident in structures and relationships between
Africa and the world,â?? say LenkaBula.

LenkaBula, who teaches courses on social, political, feminist and
economic topics in the Department of Systematic Theology and Ethics at
UNISA, focuses her research on economy, ecology and ethics,
particularly the areas of the land, property, and intellectual property  rights.

> The Global Dialogue event concludes today.

For more information on the Accra Confession, including the full text, see:
http://www.warc.ch/documents/ACCRA_Pamphlet.pdf

The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) brings together 75
million Reformed Christians in 214 churches in 107 countries - united
in their commitment to making a difference in a troubled world. The
WARC general secretary is Setri Nyomi of the Evangelical Presbyterian
Church, Ghana. WARC's secretariat is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

> Contact

> For more information on the Global Dialogue:

> Puleng LenkaBula +27 (0)83 455 6560 or
> Prince M. Dibeela +27 (0)83 650 0115