WCC NEWS: Rethinking theology for HIV response

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World Council of Churches - Feature

RETHINKING THEOLOGY FOR HIV RESPONSE

For immediate release: 06 September 2011

For churches in Africa, the Old Testament has historically occupied a
prominent place in theological thinking. “Our theology is constructed
with the image of God in the Old Testament,” reflects Charles Klagba,
theological consultant for the Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in
Africa (EHAIA).

“It is for that reason the reaction of many churches on this continent to
the epidemic is very much influenced by the belief that illness is a
punishment for individual sins,” he says. “This theology is very vivid
in the Old Testament. This interpretation has reinforced the stigma and
hindered the ministry of the church to be competent.”

Deconstructing this theology and giving birth to an alternative approach
that can give hope to people have been at the centre of Klagba's
encounters with theologians, pastors and church leaders.

Behind his ministry stands his conviction that it is not only the academic
theology that needs transformation in the response of HIV and AIDS but
also theologies expressed and lived by people in church settings at
various levels, especially at the grassroots.

“I engage churches and theological institutions in a serious re-reading
of the Bible in order to reshape for themselves their discourses that are
rooted in the daily concerns of the people.”

His journey, he said, could be termed a “theology of deconstruction.”

He views theology as a dynamic and contextual process by which Christians
– as individuals and as communities – reflect on events and
experiences of daily life, try to comprehend them in the light of the
Gospel and commit themselves to actions of transformation.

“This implies that theology should go beyond intellectual exercises,”
he says. “It has to suggest and provide practical tools for Christians
at all levels.”

In the context of HIV and AIDS, then, the challenge for all is to use the
Word of God to liberate, to care and to heal – not to exclude, to
discriminate and ultimately to kill.


A healing community

Theology should help equip and empower adults and youth at all levels in
the life of the church, Klagba asserts. He offers training not only in
theological institutions at national and regional levels but also to
pastors and lay people involved in the life of the church.

His ultimate objective is fostering new readings of the Bible that make the
whole church an HIV-competent and healing community. With a focus on
re-reading the Bible in the HIV era, workshop topics include ethics,
mission, African religions, sexuality, gender and Christian education.

“Participants, somehow, come out transformed. Many clearly commit
themselves to engage in some kinds of action as a result of this
transformation,” he says.

Klagba has been an ordained minister of the Methodist Church of Togo since
1985. In addition to his initial ministerial and theological training, he
is also trained in church management, pastoral care and counselling,
philosophy and political science.

For 11 years, he served as executive secretary for theological empowerment
within a mission organization called Cevaa (Community of Churches in
Mission) based in France. His main task was to assist member churches (in
Europe, Africa, Latin America, the Pacific and the Indian Ocean) to make
“theologizing” accessible to every member in the pew. He also worked
with theological institutions to reflect on the content of theological and
ministerial education pertinent to future leaders of the churches.

Today, Klagba said he realizes more than ever the importance of a
liberating theology. “One may imagine that theological institutions,
being a laboratory for theological ideas, would be more receptive and
progressive in the paradigm shifting with the challenge of HIV,” he
says. “However, very quickly I realized that theology can easily boxed
into a frame which itself needed liberation.”

The more activities he organizes, the more needs he sees expressed within
the churches. “The EHAIA has really helped to break down their
hesitation and their silence,” he said.

[635 words]

This article is the third in a portrait series presenting the work that
EHAIA is doing through its regional coordinators and theological
consultants. The series is published ahead of EHAIA’s 10th anniversary
coming up in April 2012.

More information on EHAIA (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=303344f041f843d31003 )

EHAIA regional coordinators and theological consultants (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=41209b4347c2befa0b09 )

Read also:

Building AIDS-competent churches in southern Africa (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=a5ec4e6a3be06c67abde
)

Central Africa: Breaking the silence on human sexuality and HIV
(Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=83b69ca811a948fbb62d
)

EHAIA Impact Assessment, 2002–2009 (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=e459cec22f14fc4b2efd
)


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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