Last week, a more than 20 men and women
representing a number of different Christian communities,
gathered at the Pacific Theological College’s Jovili Meo Mission Centre in Veiuto,
Suva for a dialogue seminar on finding a way forward for better relationships
and trust among churches in Fiji.
 |
| Representatives at the seminar on key thematic areas on ecumenism. From left are Sr Nanise Degei of the Catholic Church, Pastor Mosese Rauca of the Assemblies of God, Reverend Niko Sopeta of the Presbyterian Church, Pastor Lorima Kuruvoli of the Church of God |
Organised by the Ecumenical Centre for
Research, Education and Advocacy, ECREA, the dialogue process was aimed toward
of establishing an inclusive framework for collaborative engagement among the
Christian Churches in Fiji the seminar hopes to create better understanding
about Ecumenism to better relationship and to promote social justice in nation
building together.
Over the years of holding sustained dialogue
processes (deep listening and sharing) from grassroots to church leadership
level, ECREA had come to the realization that “to mend the deep fragmented
Christian family in Fiji and rebuild the relationship that has been lost by the
people, we should seriously develop a peace process that involves an
operational framework for relationship and peacebuilding.”
Other objectives of the process were to
build and rebuild relationships among churches based on respect and
understanding of differences; to explore common grounds of engagement based on common
principles and teachings; to allow space for greater dialogue for the way
forward in building the Kingdom of God in Fiji; and to strengthen churches
network to allow them to redesign an inclusive collaborative network that will
foster common grounds for collaborative engagement for nation building.
The principal and senior faculty of the
Pacific Theological College made presentations on the historical, global and
theological perspectives of Ecumenism, while the general secretary of the
Pacific Conference of Churches shared the regional and local perspective. They
painted with broad brushstrokes the vibrant landscape through which the
Christian community has journeyed: from the prayer of Jesus for the unity of
His disciples and the future believers, to the fellowship of the early church,
the early differences that became schisms and the move in the early 20th
century towards cooperation in mission rather competition for souls saved by
conversion and members gained for individual church growth.
It is against this backdrop that the
ecumenical movement in the Pacific has developed - from local churches
experiencing autonomy from the missionaries that brought the gospel to the
islands, to church-led or empowered movements for self-determination, a nuclear
free Pacific, and more recently social and economic justice, peacebuilding and
climate justice.
Locally, however, cooperation among the churches has been a difficult
and often ignored issue over in the past two decades. ECREA’s sustained
dialogue process identified the following significant issues as standing in the
way of churches developing strong and meaningful relationship as fellow members
of the Body of Christ:
·
The lack of respect the Christian Churches have for
each other that is reflected by the way they perceive and treat each other.
·
The common trend in churches proclaiming their own
churches rather than focusing on proclaiming the Gospel
·
The high competitive attitude that exists amongst
the Christian Churches
·
The “ghetto mentality” that continues to exist
amongst the churches – the difficulty of thinking and acting outside the box to
learn from perspectives other than our own. Churches are stuck in their comfort
zones.
·
The reality that churches are by name only and are
independent and not connected
·
The foundation of the churches is cracked and the
roof is leaking which is causing the members to leave to search for ‘greener
pastures’ where their needs can be met.
Further stumbling blocks to the process of relationship building and
strengthening among churches were identified as:
·
Failure to see and believe the big picture for or of
salvation as referred to in the analysis on the problem of exclusiveness.
·
Building our own denomination or empire contradictory
to the vision of God’s Kingdom – understood as the concept of visible and
invisible church.
·
Overstressing and emphasizing of our own doctrines
and teachings, claiming to hold the only truth – absolutising our own doctrines
and teachings as the only truth.
These issues had led to the search for
visible unity among Fijian churches being pronounced DOA (dead on arrival)
several years ago. However it was in the same room, last week that evidence of
the resurrection of ecumenism was seen in the dialogue process that took place
among leaders and representatives of churches belonging to a diverse range of
doctrines and practices.
In a new approach to this process
representatives from the Roman Catholic, Seventh Day Adventist, Assemblies of
God and Methodist Churches shared the perspectives of their faith on ecumenism.
This time of sharing and deep listening was a crucial step in the restoration
of relationship for the churches. It was a sharing of boundaries – the
theological fences surrounding each community, as well as pointing out of the
gates of those fences through which connections and relationships could be
made. It was also a celebration of developments in dialogue by churches on a
global scale (Methodists and Catholics, Catholics and Anglicans etc) which may
help local churches in their working together.
This understanding of each other’s
perspectives, the biblical and theological call for churches to work together
for the greater good and the glory of God, was the key moment in the decision
by participants to work as a group and through their churches to work to work together,
have fellowship with one another and perhaps of significance during this
crucial time in our nation’s history, speak with one voice on the issues affecting
the society to which they minister.
While 2014 will be an important year for
the moving forward of Christian communities and organizations such as ECREA ,
the Fiji Council of Churches and Assembly of Christian Churches in Fiji, this
week sees another opportunity for fellowship and learning and working together
by the churches.
This Friday, as part of the 16 days of
activism against gender-based violence, an ecumenical seinar and worship
service to “Break the Silence” against gender-based violence will be held at
Suva’s Holy Trinity
Cathedral from 10am to 1.30pm.
It is an example of how despite our
various theological and even religious differences, we can come together in a
spirit of love, sharing and cooperation for the common good.
“Simplicity, Serenity, Spontaneity”
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