wfn.org | India National Council of Churches Ecumenical News - 3/2002

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ECUMENICAL NEWS - INDIA
No.3/2002
National Council of Churches in India
Christian Council Campus, Post Bag # 205, Civil Lines,
Nagpur - 440001, INDIA.
Editors Email :- nccindia@nagpur.dot.net.in

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Ecumenicals, Evangelicals and Catholics plan National Ecumenical Celebrations

The National Council of Churches in India, the Catholic Bishops' Conference 
of India and the Evangelicals represented by the Evangelical Fellowship of 
India, in its meeting held on 21, 22, 23 March at New Delhi have agreed to 
hold a national ecumenical festival in December 2002 to celebrate the faith 
of the Church in Christ in India.  This meeting was attended by 53 
participants which included representatives from the three bodies.  This 
was a follow-up of a meeting at Nagpur towards the end of December 2001 to 
moot a national ecumenical space for expression through concrete 
programmes.  The meeting also identified three major concerns:
1. To effectively highlight the Churchs contribution to nation building.
2. To ecumenically reaffirm National Christian Identity.
3. To discuss and develop Christian participation in politics.

And some of the specific recommendations were to immediately revive the 
United Christian forum to be represented by the three General Secretaries, 
the three Presidents, the three Press/Communication Secretaries and three 
women representatives from the above bodies.  The meeting also identified 
the immediate need to set up a joint womens forum.  The December event 
will be hosted by the above bodies and is expected to attract national 
attention.

Church looks at cartoons for creative edge

The National Council of Churches in India, the body for all non-Catholic 
Churches headquarted in Nagpur, has recently woken up to the potential of 
this most civilized form of subversion for church periodicals.  Last 
weekend, it held a 3-day workshop for its 20-odd editorial staff, who work 
for different church journals.

The main idea was to show the staff how cartoons could be used effectively 
in a manner that they could lend a creative edge to periodicals - some of 
which, like the NCC Review, are among the oldest in India.

Guiding those who attended the workshop was The Indian Express cartoonist 
E P Unny.  We had been toying with the idea of introducing this 
fascinating political medium in our journals for three years now, says 
Rev. Chandran Paul Martin.

It is generally perceived that politics and the church are two things that 
never meet.  But the workshop also aimed at creating an awareness about how 
the church could use the political space which has now become available to 
it unlike some years ago, he says.

There are so many issues around us, like hunger deaths, rape, 
globalisation, religious fundamentalism and caste and gender biases.  I 
realized that if the Churchs response, or even non-response, to these 
issues could be captured in caricatures, the dry-looking 30-odd 
church-related periodicals could achieve some qualitative improvement, 
Chandran adds.

Thus, instead of teaching the participants how to illustrate, they were 
told about how they can express thought effectively and about how to 
discern the political element by using cartoons as a protest 
medium.  They were also given a crash course on how to actually draw 
cartoons and caricatures.

The various other aspects such as ethical, technical and legal 
implications were also discussed, Chandran says.

The NCCI is also thinking of implementing Unnys idea to put up cartoons in 
churches during the Sunday congregations. - Vivek Deshpande, Nagpur, March 
26, 2002

- COURTESY: The Indian Express, Wednesday, March 27, 2002

Church activists call for action on wealth and poverty

The worlds churches should speak out more on excessive wealth and greed 
and do more to challenge economic policies that widen inequalities between 
rich and poor.  These were the main conclusions of church activists from 22 
countries who met in Accra, Ghana, this week (March 11-13) to finalise a 
report to be published later this year on Christianity, Poverty and Wealth 
in the 21st century.

The report will be the culmination of a four-year project initiated in 1998 
by the World Council of Churches and the APRODEV alliance of European 
anti-poverty organizations.  Detailed case studies have been conducted on 
wealth and poverty in 19 countries, plus five themed studies on women and 
poverty, poverty issues in church worship and the roles played in tackling 
poverty by the United Nations, business and trade unions.

Our studies found there is confusion in the churches about wealth and 
poverty issues, says Baffour Amoa, Secretary-General of the Fellowship of 
Christian Councils and Churches in West Africa and coordinator of the 
Ghanaian case study.  Some church leaders are silent about the plight of 
the poor, while others mislead their congregations by preaching that 
material wealth will be the sure reward of Christian faith and should be 
regarded simply as a blessing from God.  We hope our report will draw 
attention to the clear responsibility Bible teaching places on Christians 
to empower the poor, share whatever riches they acquire and challenge the 
obscenity of excessive wealth.

The case study writers consulted not only with church leaders and with rich 
and poor people within the churches, but also with government officials, 
non-government organizations and the business community.  The last ten 
years have been a turbulent time for the poor, said Indian case study 
contributor Chandran Paul Martin.  Our government reports say that the 
numbers of poor people have come down but in fact they have increased 
dramatically.  When you see the condition of the rural poor, the urban 
poor, the dalits, the tribals, the fisherfolk, life is not getting any 
better for them.

The case studies were conducted in Bangladesh, Chile, Colombia, Fiji, 
Germany, Ghana, Grenada, Hong Kong.  India, Jamaica, Korea, Malaysia, 
Namibia, Nicaragua, Palestine, the Philippines, Russia and South 
Africa.  The project was overseen by Michaela Taylor from the UK, former 
Director of Christian Aid and now Director of World Faith Development Dialogue.

This project is a good example of people coming together to research 
common solutions to a common problem, said Anna Mercedes Pereira, the 
Colombian case study coordinator.  One of the main characteristics of the 
current economic system is the way it has cheapened human life, and it is 
important that the churches work together to help give a new meaning to life.

When the report is published, a video will be produced to help present the 
findings of the report to church leaders around the world.  Interviews with 
case study writers recorded at a previous meeting in India and a solidarity 
song from a CD by Anna Pereira will be included in the video.

The churches cant eliminate poverty on their own but we could achieve so 
much more if our church leaders took the plight of the poor more 
seriously, says Baffour Amoa.  We need to reinvigorate our worship with 
thought-provoking and inspiring songs, stories and reflections which deal 
with the hard realities of life instead of avoiding them.  We also need to 
build alliances with people of other faiths and with secular organizations 
who share our determination to tackle the scandal of poverty.  Churches in 
richer countries need to share more resources with local \%e 
7

       * * *     * * *Ecumenicals, Evangelicals and Catholics plan National 
Ecumenical CelebrationsThe National Council of Churches in India, the 
Catholic Bishops' Conference of India and the Evangelicals represented by 
the Evangelical Fellowship of India, in its meeting held on 21, 22, 23 
March at New Delhi have agreed to hold a national ecumenical festival in 
December 2002 to celebrate the faith of the Church in Christ in 
India.  This meeting was attended by 53 participants which included 
representatives from the three bodies.  This was a follow-up of a meeting 
at Nagpur towards the end of December 2001 to moot a national ecumenical 
space for expression through concrete programmes.  The meeting also 
identified three major concerns:1. To effectively highlight the Churchs 
contribution to nation building.2. To ecumenically reaffirm National 
Christian Identity.3. To discuss and develop Christian participation in 
politics.And some of the specific recommendations were to immediately 
revive the United Christian forum to be represented by the three General 
Secretaries, the three Presidents, the three Press/Communication 
Secretaries and three women representatives from the above bodies.  The 
meeting also identified the immediate need to set up a joint womens 
forum.  The December event will be hosted by the above bodies and is 
expected to attract national attention.Church looks at cartoons for 
creative edgeThe National Council of Churches in India, the body for all 
non-Catholic Churches headquarted in Nagpur, has recently woken up to the 
potential of this most civilized form of subversion for church 
periodicals.  Last weekend, it held a 3-day workshop for its 20-odd 
editorial staff, who work for different church journals.The main idea was 
to show the staff how cartoons could be used effectively in a manner that 
they could lend a creative edge to periodicals - some of which, like the 
NCC Review, are among the oldest in India.Guiding those who attended the 
workshop was The Indian Express cartoonist E P Unny.  We had been toying 
with the idea of introducing this fascinating political medium in our 
journals for three years now, says Rev. Chandran Paul Martin.It is 
generally perceived that politics and the church are two things that never 
meet.  But the workshop also aimed at creating an awareness about how the 
church could use the political space which has now become available to it 
unlike some years ago, he says.There are so many issues around us, like 
hunger deaths, rape, globalisation, religious fundamentalism and caste and 
gender biases.  I realized that if the Churchs response, or even 
non-response, to these issues could be captured in caricatures, the 
dry-looking 30-odd church-related periodicals could achieve some 
qualitative improvement, Chandran adds.Thus, instead of teaching the 
participants how to illustrate, they were told about how they can express 
thought effectively and about how to discern the political element by 
using cartoons as a protest medium.  They were also given a crash course on 
how to actually draw cartoons and ch is underway by a bench of 11 Judges 
are enquiring into the following questions relating to the minorities.  The 
meeting was attended by Bishop Anil Coto, Catholic, Bhp, Karam Masih, CNI, 
Bhp Joseph Mar Baselios, Mar Thoma, Donald DSouza, CBCI, Ipe Joseph, NCCI, 
Rev. Fr. P.P. George, Catholic, Sr. Loretta, Dr. Daniel Kishan, CNI, Sushma 
Ramaswami, CNI, Richard Howell, EFI and several others of the Church and 
institutions participated.  Amongst its various resolutions said that the 
minorities institutions\%e 
7ls contact: <aiache@nda.vsnl.net.in>

* * *     * * *     * * *
[NCCI is the National Council of Churches founded in 1914.  Presently it 
has 29 member churches, 18 Regional Councils, 7 related agencies and 14 All 
India Christian Organizations.  The NCCI works on behalf of its members in 
providing fellowship and a common forum for dialogue, promoting ecumenism 
through church unity for the wholeness of community, representing the 
churches before public, engaging in life and humanitarian issues in 
different parts of India.  Its headquarters and the Secretariat is 
situated in Nagpur, India.  The ecumenical news India is a net news and 
information service of the National Council of Churches in India.]

Editor    :- Rev. Chandran Paul Martin.
Associate Editors   :- Sunita Gaikwad, Shona Thangavel (intern)
For fuller text please visit us at www.nccindia.org