WCC NEWS: Indigenous theologians meet to "affirm spiritualities of life"

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World Council of Churches - News

INDIGENOUS THEOLOGIANS MEET TO "AFFIRM SPIRITUALITIES OF LIFE"

For immediate release: 20 January 2011

Some 40 theologians, most of them indigenous and representing different
regions of the world, will meet in La Paz, Bolivia this weekend to share
their various experiences and theological reflections.


This consultation is a follow-up to the world indigenous consultations
called by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Baguio, the Philippines
in 2008 and Geneva, Switzerland in 2009.


At the same time this event is unique in being the first of its kind as a
“coming together” of Indigenous Peoples' spiritual and theological
resources with representatives of two major commissions of the WCC, the
Commission of Faith and Order and the Commission on World Mission and
Evangelism (CWME). The goal is to assert that the integrity of life is
pivotal to all ecumenical endeavours.


“It is a valuable effort for the indigenous processes of re-constitution
of the indigenous nations and the reaffirmation of their spiritual
values,” stated Abraham Colque Jimenez, principal of the Andean
Ecumenical Higher Institute of Theology (ISEAT).


“The interaction of these three programmes of the WCC is a response to
the mandate of the WCC Assembly in Porto   Alegre in 2006, which called
for the fellowship of churches to be informed by indigenous wisdom and
theologies,” said María Chávez Quispe, who coordinates the WCC
Indigenous Peoples programme.
“We expect to open new horizons for the theological dialogue within the
churches,” she said. “But also, we expect to begin a process of
dialogue which enables us to respond in a very creative way to the
overlapping crises that this world is facing, especially the indigenous
communities.”


The consultation will facilitate a process of listening and learning about
the distinctive indigenous spiritual traditions and resources, by focusing
on peoples’ visions of and the capacities to affirm and safeguard life
in all its forms.
The group will explore ways in which they can strengthen dialogue,
contribute to and learn through conversations with partners from the
Commission on Faith and Order and the CWME as part of ongoing efforts to
discern the content and character of the ecumenical movement in the 21st
century.


The consultation hopes to contribute to reflections on the Faith and Order
document “Called to be one church” and CWME’s work on
“transformative spirituality” towards a new statement on mission to be
presented at the next WCC Assembly in 2013.
The gathering will take place in the context of the millenary cultures of
La Paz’s surrounding Andes and be inspired by the mystic rituals of the
Aymara people. The international group will reflect on the similarities
and differences of their spiritual traditions in order to affirm the
valuable gift of indigenous spirituality to the church and to enrich the
ongoing reflections of the WCC commissions.


Another aim of the gathering is to explore the indigenous traditions of
spiritual expression (narratives, symbolism, songs, rituals, textiles
etc.) in order to strengthen theological languages that provide an
alternative to western civilization’s fundamentally Hellenic rationality
which is the usual basis for official and mainstream theological
reflections.


The consultation is being convened by the WCC Indigenous Peoples programme,
in partnership with local ecumenical organizations such as the ISEAT, the
Indigenous Peoples pastoral office of the Latin American Council of
Churches  and the Ecumenical Community of Theological Education in Latin
America and the Caribbean (CETELA).


Media contact in La Paz: María Chávez Quispe (mcq[at]wcc-coe.org
(Link: mcq@wcc-coe.org ))



More information about the WCC Indigenous Peoples programme:
www.oikoumene.org/indigenouspeoples
(Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=bd6ef438daffd337d44b )
See also the December 2010 issue of Ecumenical Review on indigenous
theologies  (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=c009b307fe88cf2a917f
)


More information about ISEAT: www.iseatbolivia.org (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=4e1022eb2ff6857f30ec )


The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness 
and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of 
churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant, 
Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million 
Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman 
Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, 
from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.



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