wfn.org | Asian churches hold first "Communion, Community, Society" meeting

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

Survival and real communion

GENEVA, 16 April 1998 (lwi) - "The Christian churches, as a minority in the
Asian context, put the stress on proclaiming the gospel, loving one's
neighbor and the importance of communion, but they say very little about
themselves as a social reality." This is Wolfgang Greive's conclusion
following the first regional meeting of the project "Communion, Community,
Society", held in Chennai (formerly Madras), India, March 18-25. Greive is
Study Secretary for Theology and the Church in the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) Department for Theology and Studies (DTS).

"That the church exists as a social reality in the society is given
scarcely any thought," Greive continues. Christians want communion amongst
themselves, and they are involved in many small social service projects,
"but what is missing is a sociocultural analysis of the reality of the
church in the society." Issues of organizational and structural innovation
are similarly neglected, according to Greive, although he reports strong
criticism of the church hierarchy and the gulf between church leadership
and congregations - "Christianity versus churchianity".

Lutheran Christians - lay and expert, women and men - from India, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, gathered in Chennai to meet with the eight
members of the project's internationally constituted core group. The two
main questions under discussion were: How does the church see itself within
the society which is its context? What response does it make to the main
conflicts and challenges of the society? The dialogue was prepared and
facilitated by a team from the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India
(UELCI).

The Indian setting of the meeting, Greive found, made it clear from the
start "that the struggle for survival is the decisive context for the
church. Like a disabled person on his tiny platform with wheels, pushing
himself with his hands through the raging traffic in Chennai's streets -
this is the church's existence in Asian societies. It is part of the
systems, and the strength to have a different viewpoint. The issues are
survival and having real communion."

Whatever consequences have been drawn from the discussions, from
contributions and responses, will be recorded in a working paper for the
congregations and churches which took part. But evaluation of what has been
learned from the consultation will be done only at the end of the entire
project, in a summary comparing the various regions.

Implementation of the LWF/DTS project "Communion, Community, Society" began
in October 1997. Between 1998 and the year 2000 there will be five regional
consultations in all on this theme. Following Asia, the next region will be
Africa, in 1999 Latin America/Caribbean and North America, and in the year
2000, Europe.

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Lutheran World Information
Editorial Assistant: Janet Bond-Nash
E-mail: jbn@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/