wfn.org | U.S. Presbyterians, Central American Partners

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

5-March-1997 
97110 
 
          U.S. Presbyterians, Central American Partners 
                    Recommit to Mutual Mission 
 
                          by Alexa Smith 
 
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras--Meeting  with Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) partners 
from Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, 
representatives of General Assembly staff  and 15 of the denomination's 
presbyteries have signed a document recommitting themselves to ministries 
with Central Americans.  The agreement was developed during a Feb. 13-16 
"encuentro" (celebration) here. 
 
     Known as the "Act of Commitment," the agreement calls for both 
pastoral and prophetic responses to the devastation of Central America 
brought on by decades of civil war and generations of economic disparity 
and exploitation between Central Americans and their U.S. neighbors.  It 
calls for Christians north and south to work as one church, despite the 
national borders, economic policies, language barriers and cultural gaps 
that separate and divide the American continent. 
 
     Reflection on the PC(USA)'s role in Central America was first 
requested by mission workers there in 1993, who noted that while the wars 
and the attendant media attention were ending, "the fundamental conditions 
of life that caused the tragic Central American wars have not improved." 
 
     So presbytery representatives, their Central American partners and 
national staff gathered to lay out general guidelines for proliferating 
church-to-church and presbytery-to-presbytery partnerships. 
 
      The document asks for 
 
      *   a pastoral call to unity of the Americas 
      *   a prophetic call to conversion of individuals to enable them to 
          work within an economic system that oppresses both the haves and 
          the have-nots 
 
      *   education that expands partnerships 
      *   short- and long-range self-development projects 
      *   social and political advocacy for human rights and political 
          self-determination, 
      *   further communication and interchange through a variety of 
          "encuentros," circular letters and projects. 
 
     "I don't think we came up with a detailed plan for a new vision for a 
new century," said Julia Ann Moffett, the Worldwide Ministries Division 
(WMD) liaison with Central America, referring to the "encuentro's" title, 
"Seeking a New Vision for a New Century."  "But we lived it by being there 
and reflecting on the biblical passages, by sharing together our lives, our 
hopes and our dreams. ... It was a time when the wider church came 
together, representing all levels of the church in Central America and all 
levels of the PC(USA) -- leaders in the hierarchy and dedicated church 
members in individual churches.  It was a time to broaden our horizons and 
listen to one another. ... 
 
     "The  Act of Commitment' that we came up with came out of that.  It is 
a statement for all of us to look at in coming years." 
 
     The statement itself is nonbinding, since it is not General Assembly 
policy, though it will be part of the report on the "encuentro" filed with 
the WMD Committee, according to Moffett. It was signed during a candlelight 
Communion service after three days of small-group discussions, plenary 
presentations and Bible study. 
 
     "Ultimately what I signed was a commitment to keep at this ... to keep 
dealing with the specific issues raised in terms of the economy, in terms 
of what partnership means," said the Rev. Elizabeth Duttera of Ashville, 
N.C.  Her presbytery (Western North Carolina) is currently in partnership 
with Suchitepequez and Sur-Occidente presbyteries in Guatemala. 
 
     Duttera helped draft the section of the document dealing with pastoral 
unity.  Referring to the document's sweeping call to "be as one body" and 
to "stand together for equity, reconciling peace and a dignified level of 
life among all peoples ... [and against] oppressive economic systems, 
injustice, violence, church divisions, prejudice, hatred and abuse of those 
who have no power," she said, "That's easy to write, but hard to do. 
 
     "But used well," she continued, "this may really challenge those of us 
in the United States." 
 
     There are challenges for Central Americans, too, according to Rafael 
Valdez, who is part of an ecumenical organization in Nicaragua.  In a 
plenary discussion on social and political advocacy, Valdez advocated a 
statement asking for ways to "educate and prepare ourselves in processes of 
civic struggle in our new context. 
 
     "In the United States, the struggle is [advanced] by writing letters 
to Congress people, holding marches and protesting at the capital," he 
said.  These civil processes -- new to Central American democracy -- need 
to be learned and applied.   "Our tradition of struggle has not been a 
civil struggle. Our tradition has had despotic, cruel regimes in power with 
whom there was no way of proceeding civilly. ... 
 
     "We have to use methods, ways we've not been used to using," said 
Valdez. 
 
     The plenary debate got more complicated around the "prophetic call to 
conversion," where participants confessed their oppression by a destructive 
consumer culture that is addictive to those who have money and seductive to 
those who do not. 
 
     Acknowledging that addiction to consumerism is "very powerful," the 
group affirmed that "we believe and know that the power of Jesus crucified 
and risen is more powerful -- the greatest power in the world."  The 
commitment calls for Christians to "support the just demands of the great 
majority of our people who suffer under the system, whether that suffering 
is the lack of adequate basic needs or the trap of addiction that is 
death." 
 
     "Our consumerism has a price," said Robert Moore, a commissioned lay 
pastor in the Presbytery of Western North Carolina, speaking of the global 
competitiveness that profits some at the expense of others.  "The hardest 
thing of all [is realizing] that unless we work together in unity, we 
aren't going to make progress, we aren't going to make lasting, sustainable 
change. 
 
     "We have to look to the basics of what we believe, where our faith 
really is," said Moore, who has spent more than 25 years of his ministry on 
issues related to Central America.  "This," he said of the "encuentro," 
"was one of the best times of being with people multinationally that I've 
ever seen. ... 
 
     "We went way down the road to being one church in Christ." 
 
     The "encuentro" included 50 members of the PC(USA) and 50 Central 
Americans.  Bible studies were led by Latin scholar Elsa Tamez of the Latin 
American Biblical Seminary in San Jose, Costa Rica, and New Testament 
scholar Ched Myers of Los Angeles. 
 
     "This was a continuation of a process that's been going on for a 
number of years," said Moffett. "We Presbyterians in the U.S. always need 
the voice of our partners as we think and plan in terms of mission. 
 
      "We're another step closer to what we've always said we're striving 
for:  mutuality in mission." 

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