A Call to all Kenyans from the All African Conference of Churches

A Call to all Kenyans from the All African Conference of Churches

The All Africa Conference of Churches wishes to express its deep and profound sorrow with the leaders and peoples of the Republic of Kenya at this time of turbulence.

Conscious of our status as guests of this nation and having been graciously allowed to operate from this soil for more than forty years, we wish it to be known how grateful we are for the
hospitality that has always been extended to us by the Republic of Kenya as well as the Churches of Kenya. The hospitality thus extended to us in a true African fashion has made us feel truly Kenyan.

The joys of this nation have become our joys and therefore its pains, our pains. It is thus impossible for us not to agonize with all Kenyans in this hour of crisis.

Expression of Solidarity
It was on this basis that earlier in the year the AACC arranged for Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate and former President of the AACC, together with the current President, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Nyansako-ni-Nku from Cameroon and Dr. Brigalia Bam, former General secretary of the South African Council of Churches and current Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa, to pay a solidarity visit early in January 2008 to Kenya.

As a universally respected peace broker, Archbishop Tutu called on the political leaders of this country to stem the mayhem of killings and come to the table to resolve this problem.
As your fellow Africans and in the name of Christ we desire for you to know that your and our pain is the pain of Africa.

Compelled to Speak Out
How can we remain silent as the All Africa Conference of Churches when we ourselves, working from Kenyan soil have ministered to so many in this continent calling for justice and peace? We cannot underplay the standing of the Republic of Kenya in the eyes of the African populations, and the contribution that Kenya has made to peace and stability in many countries in this
continent.

An order of worship for January 28 - praying with Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Finland and Norway

Worship in the Ecumenical Centre
Monday 28 January 2008
Praying with Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Norway

This service will be led by Rev. Matti Peiponen from Finland and Rev. Elenora Giddings Ivory from the US.
The sermon will be given by Dr Bob Edgar, former general secretary of the National Council of Churches in the USA and now president of Common Cause.

Welcome and call to worship

We rise to worship the Triune God
And sing “Praise the God of all creation, God of mercy and compassion” Agape 73

Psalm 27
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war rise up against me,
yet I will be confident.
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.
Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud,
be gracious to me and answer me!
If my father and mother forsake me,
the Lord will take me up.
Teach me your way, O Lord,
and lead me on a level path.
Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they are breathing out violence.
I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!

Taizé Chant : The Lord is my light, my light and salvation in God I trust, in God I trust

Prayer of repentance
Father, you see all the enmity which grows
because we behave wrongly and unforgivingly.

We create distances where we should create closeness.
We hide behind ideologies and doctrines instead of coming closer to one another.

Thank you for giving us reconciliation
through your Son, Jesus Christ.
Thank you for forgiving all those who sin.

Let your church break through all differences and live reconciliation.
Help us to take the first step.
Gerd Grønvald Saue, Norway

Taizé Chant : The Lord is my light, my light and salvation in God I trust, in God I trust.


Gospel reading ~ Matthew 5.1-11
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
'Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely* on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Sing Agape 33 Verse 1 Finnish verse 2 English verse 3 French

Meditation ~ Dr Bob Edgar

Prayers of intercession
(adapted from a prayer by women in Sweden)

We pray for those in the world who have forgotten that all people are made in your image and likeness and are of equal worth in your eyes:

For those who suffer because of racial oppression and social injustice;
For those who struggle for human dignity;
For those who have lost their hope for the future.

Lord, have mercy

We pray for the needy and suffering in the world;
For the hungry and the thirsty;
For the homeless;
For the unemployed and the unemployable;
For the victims of alcoholism;
For the victims of drug addiction;
For the sick, in mind or body;
For the lonely and the elderly.

Lord, have mercy

We pray for all parents,
that they may give their children the love and guidance which will help them to find the right way in life;

For all children without parents;
For young people, that they may find hope for the future;

Lord, have mercy
We pray for people and churches in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. We pray for the ecumenical and spiritual renewal of the peoples and churches in these Nordic countries.

We pray for peace between nations and goodwill among all people;
Lord, hear us!

Lord, have mercy

The Lord’s prayer said by each in their own language.

Blessing
Lord, be before us to guide us,
be behind us to push us,
be beneath us to carry us,
be above us to bless us,
be around us to protect us,
be in us so that in body and soul
we serve you for the glory of your Name.
Bishop Nathan Söderblom, Sweden

Sing ~ O Healing River Agape 64

World Conference on Faith and Order, Lausanne 1927

FIRST WORLD CONFERENCE ON FAITH AND ORDER, LAUSANNE 1927

DOCUMENTS RECEIVED BY THE CONFERENCE FOR TRANSMISSION
TO THE CHURCHES

The following are the final texts of the Reports as received by the Conference for transmission to the Churches represented, and of the Preamble and Concluding Statement.1

1 At the evening Session, August s8th, the Conference voted, “that to all of those churches which have sent delegates the findings of this Conference shall be sent through their official channels at as early a date as possible, asking those Churches to consider the findings and report back to the Continuation Committee the result of their deliberations, in view of which the Continuation Committee shall consider what steps need to be taken for another Conference”.

PREAMBLE

Unanimously adopted by the full Conference, August 20th, 1927.

We, representatives of many Christian Communions throughout the world, united in the common confession of faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God, our Lord and Saviour, believing that the Spirit of God is with us, are. assembled to consider the things wherein we agree and the things wherein we differ. We now receive the following series of reports as containing subject matter for the consideration of our respective Churches in their common search for unity.
This is a Conference summoned to consider matters of Faith and Order. It is emphatically not attempting to define the conditions of future reunion. Its object is to register the apparent level of fundamental agreements within the Conference and the grave points of disagreements remaining; also to suggest certain lines of thought which may in the future tend to a fuller measure of agreement.
Each subject on the agenda was first discussed in plenary session. It was then committed to one of the sections, of more than one hundred members each, into which the whole Conference was divided. The report, after full discussion in subsections, was finally drawn up and adopted unanimously or by a large majority vote by the section to which it had been committed. It was twice presented for further discussion to a plenary session of the Conference when it was referred to the Churches in its present form.
Though we recognise the reports to be neither exhaustive nor in all details satisfactory to every member of the Conference, we submit them to the Churches for that deliberate consideration which could not be given in the brief period of our sessions. We thank God and rejoice over agreements reached; upon our agreements we build. Where the reports record differences, we call upon the Christian world to an earnest reconsideration of the conflicting opinions now held, and a strenuous endeavour to reach the truth as it is in God’s mind, which should be the foundation of the Church’s unity.


I. THE CALL TO UNITY

Unanimously adopted by the full Conference, August 20th, 1927.

God wills unity. Our presence in this Conference bears testimony to our desire to bend our wills to His. However we may justify the beginnings of disunion, we lament its continuance and henceforth must labour, in penitence and faith, to build up our broken walls.
God’s Spirit has been in the midst of us. It was He who called us hither. His presence has been manifest in our worship, our deliberations and our whole fellowship. He has discovered us to one another. He has enlarged our horizons, quickened our understanding, and enlivened our hope. We have dared and God has justified our daring. We can never be the same again. Our deep thankfulness must find expression in sustained endeavour to share the visions vouchsafed us here with those smaller home groups where our lot is cast.
More than half the world is waiting for the Gospel. At home and abroad sad multitudes are turning away in bewilderment from the Church because of its corporate feebleness. Our missions count that as a necessity which we are inclined to look on as a luxury. Already the mission field is impatiently revolting from the divisions of the Western Church to make bold adventure for unity in its own right. We of the Churches represented in this Conference cannot allow our spiritual children to outpace us. We with them must gird ourselves to the task, the early beginnings of which God has so richly blessed, and labour side by side until our common goal is reached.
Some of us, pioneers in this undertaking, have grown old in our search for unity. It is to youth that we look to lift the torch on high. We men have carried it too much alone through many years. The women henceforth should be accorded their share of responsibility. And so the whole Church will be enabled to do that which no section can hope to perform.
it was God’s clear call that gathered us. With faith stimulated by His guidance to us here, we move forward.


REPORT OF SECTION II

Received by the full Conference, nem. con., August 19th, 1927

THE CHURCH’S MESSAGE TO THE WORLD - THE GOSPEL

The message of the Church to the world is and must always remain the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Gospel is the joyful message of redemption, both here and hereafter, the gift of God to sinful man in Jesus Christ.
The world was prepared for the coming of Christ through the activities of God’s Spirit in all humanity, but especially in His revelation as given in the Old Testament; and in the fulness of time the eternal Word of God became incarnate, and was made man, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man, full of grace and truth.
Through His life and teaching, His call to repentance, His proclamation of the coming of the Kingdom of God and of judgment, His suffering and death, His resurrection ahd exaltation to the right hand of the Father, and by the mission of the Holy Spirit, He has brought to us forgiveness of sins, and has revealed the fulness of the living God, and His boundless love toward us. By the appeal of that love, shown in its completeness on the Cross, He summons us to the new life of faith, self-sacrifice, and devotion to His service and the service of men.
Jesus Christ, as the crucified and the living One, as Saviour and Lord, is also the centre of the world-wide Gospel of the Apostles and the Church. Because He Him-self is the Gospel, the Gospel is the message of the Church to the world. It is more than a philosophical theory; more than a theological system; more than a programme for material betterment. The Gospel is rather the gift of a new world from God to this old world of sin and death; still more, it is the victory over sin and death, the revelation of eternal life in Him who has knit together the whole family in heaven and on earth in the communion of saints, united in the fellowship of service, of prayer, and of praise.
The Gospel is the prophetic call to sinful man to turn to God, the joyful tidings of justification and of sanctification to those who believe in Christ. It is the comfort of those who suffer; to those who are bound, it is the assurance of the glorious liberty of the sons of God. The Gospel brings peace and joy to the heart, and produces in men I self-denial, readiness for brotherly service, and compassion-ate love. It offers the supreme goal for the aspirations of youth, strength to the toiler, rest to the weary, and the crown of life to the martyr.
The Gospel is the sure source of power for social regeneration. It proclaims the only way by which humanity can escape from those class and race hatreds which devastate society at present into the enjoyment of national well-being and international friendship and peace. It is also a gracious invitation to the non-Christian world, East and West, to enter into the joy of the living Lord.
Sympathising with the anguish of our generation, with its longing for intellectual sincerity, social justice and spiritual inspiration, the Church in the eternal Gospel meets the needs and fulfils the God-given aspirations of the modern world. Consequently, as in the past so also in the present, the Gospel is the only way of salvation. Thus, through His Church, the living Christ still says to men “Come unto me! . . . He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”


REPORT OF SECTION III

Received by the full Conference, nem. con., August 19th, 1927

THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH

God who has given us the Gospel for the salvation of the world has appointed His Church to witness by life and word to its redeeming power. The Church of the Living God is constituted by His own will, not by the will or con-sent or beliefs of men whether as individuals or as societies, though He uses the will of men as His instrument. Of this Church Jesus Christ is the Head, the Holy Spirit its continuing life.
The Church as the communion of believers in Christ Jesus is, according to the New Testament, the people of the New Covenant; the Body of Christ; and the Temple of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone.
The Church is God’s chosen instrument by which Christ, through the Holy Spirit, reconciles men to God through faith, bringing their wills into subjection to His sovereignty, sanctifying them through the means of grace, and uniting them in love and service to be His witnesses and fellow-workers in the extension of His rule on earth until His Kingdom come in glory.

As there is but one Christ, and one life in Him, and one Holy Spirit who guides into all truth, so there is and can be but one Church, holy, catholic, and apostolic.
The Church on earth possesses certain characteristics whereby it can be known of men. These have been, since the days of the Apostles, at least the following:
1. The possession and acknowledgment of the Word of God as given in Holy Scripture and interpreted by the Holy Spirit to the Church and to the individual. (Note A.)
2. The profession of faith in God as He is incarnate and revealed in Christ.
3. The acceptance of Christ’s commission to preach the Gospel to every creature.
4. The observance of the Sacraments.
5. A ministry for the pastoral office, the preaching of the Word, and the administration of the Sacraments.
6. A fellowship in prayer, in worship, in all the means of grace, in the pursuit of holiness, and in the service of man.

As to the extent and manner in which the Church thus described finds expression in the existing Churches, we differ. Our differences chiefly concern:
1. The nature of the Church visible and the Church in-visible, their relation to each other, and the number of those who are included in each. (Note B.)
2. The significance of our divisions past and present. (Note C.)
Whatever our views on these points, we are convinced that it is the will of Christ that the one life of the one body should be manifest to the world. To commend the Gospel to doubting, sinful and bewildered men, a united witness is necessary. We therefore urge most earnestly that all Christians, in fulfilment of our Saviour’s prayer that His disciples may be one, reconsecrate themselves to God, that by the help of His Spirit the body of Christ may be built up, its members united in faith and love, and existing obstacles to the manifestation of their unity in Christ may be removed; that the world may believe that the Father has sent Him.
We join in the prayer that the time may be hastened when in the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Notes:

(A.) Some hold that this interpretation is given through the tradition of the Church; others through the immediate witness of the Spirit to the heart and conscience of believers; others through both combined.

(B.) For instance
1. Some hold that the invisible Church is wholly in heaven; others include in it all true believers on earth, whether contained in any organisation or not.
2. Some hold that the visible expression of the Church was determined by Christ Himself and is therefore unchangeable; others that the one Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit may express itself in varying forms.
3. Some hold that one or other of the existing Churches is the only true Church; others that the Church as we have described it is to be found in some or all of the existing Communions taken together.
4. Some, while recognising other Christian bodies as Churches, are persuaded that in the providence of God and by the teaching of history a particular form of ministry has been shown to be necessary to the best welfare of the Church; others hold that no one form of organisation is inherently preferable; still others, that no organisation is necessary.

(c) One view is that no division of Christendom has ever come to pass without sin. Another view is that the divisions were the inevitable outcome of different gifts of the Spirit and different understandings of the truth. Between these, there is the view of those who look back on the divisions of the past with penitence and sorrow coupled with a liv~ly sense of God’s mercy, which in spite of and even through these divisions has advanced His cause in the world.


REPORT OF SECTION IV

Received by the full Conference, nem con., August 19th, 1927

THE CHURCH’S COMMON CONFESSION OF FAITH


We members of the Conference on Faith and Order, coming from all parts of the world in the interest of Christian unity, have with deep gratitude to God found ourselves united in common prayer, in God our heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ, our Saviour, in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
Notwithstanding the differences in doctrine among us, we are united in a common Christian Faith which is pro-claimed in the Holy Scriptures and is witnessed to and safeguarded in the Ecumenical Creed, commonly called the Nicene, and in the Apostles’ Creed, which Faith is continuously confirmed in the spiritual experience of the Church of Christ.
We believe that the Holy Spirit in leading the Church into all truth may enable it, while firmly adhering to the witness of these Creeds (our common heritage from the ancient Church), to express the truths of revelation in such other forms as new problems may from time to time demand.
Finally, we desire to leave on record our solemn and unanimous testimony that no external and written standards can suffice without an inward and personal experience of union with God in Christ.

NOTES

1. It must be noted that the Orthodox Eastern Church can accept the Nicene Creed only in its uninterpolated form without the filioque clause; and that although the Apostles’ Creed has no place in the formularies of this Church, it is in accordance with its teaching.
2. It must be noted also that some of the Churches represented in this Conference conjoin tradition with the Scriptures, some are explicit in subordinating Creeds to the Scriptures, some attach a primary importance to their particular Confessions, and some make no use of Creeds.
3. It is understood that the use of these Creeds will be determined by the competent authority in each Church, and that the several Churches will continue to make use of such special Confessions as they possess.

REPORT OF SECTION V

Received by the full Conference, nem con., August 20th, 1927

THE MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH

We members of the Conference on Faith and Order are happy to report that we find ourselves in substantial accord in the following five propositions:

1. The ministry is a gift of God through Christ to His Church and is essential to the being and well-being of the Church.
2. The ministry is perpetually authorised and made effective through Christ and His Spirit.
3. The purpose of the ministry is to impart to men the saving and sanctifying benefits of Christ through pastoral service, the preaching of the Gospel, and the administra-tion of the sacraments, to be made effective by faith.
4. The ministry is entrusted with the government and discipline of the Church, in whole or in part.
5. Men gifted for the work of the ministry, called by the Spirit and accepted by the Church, are commissioned through an act of ordination by prayer and the laying on of hands to exercise the function of this ministry.
Within the many Christian communions into which in the course of history Christendom has been divided, various forms of ministry have grown up according to the circumstances of the several communions and their beliefs as to the mind of Christ and the guidance of the New Testament. These communions have been, in God’s providence, manifestly and abundantly used by the Holy Spirit in His work of enlightening the world, converting sinners, and per-fecting saints. But the differences which have arisen in regard to the authority and functions of these various forms of ministry have been and are the occasion of manifold doubts, questions and misunderstandings.

These differences concern the nature of the ministry (whether consisting of one or several orders), the nature of ordination and of the grace conferred thereby, the function and authority of bishops, and the nature of apostolic succession. We believe that the first step toward the over-coming of these difficulties is the frank recognition that they exist, and the clear definition of their nature. We therefore add as an appehdix to our Report such a statement, commending it to the thoughtful consideration of the Churches we represent.
By these differences the difficulties of inter-communion have been accentuated to the distress and wounding of faithful souls, while in the mission field, where the Church is fulfilling its primary object to preach the Gospel to every creature, the young Churches find the lack of unity a very serious obstacle to the furtherance of the Gospel. Consequently the provision of a ministry acknowledged in every part of the Church as possessing the sanction of the whole Church is an urgent need.
There has not been time in this Conference to consider all the points of difference between us in the matter of the ministry with that care and patience which could alone lead to complete agreement. The same observation applies equally to proposals for the constitution of the united Church. Certain suggestions as to possible church organisation have been made, which we transmit to the Churches with the earnest hope that common study of these questions will be continued by the members of the various Churches represented in this Conference.
In view of (1) the place which the episcopate, the councils of presbyters, and the congregation of the faithful, respectively, had in the constitution of the early Church, and (z) the fact that episcopal, presbyteral and congregational systems of government are each to-day, and have been for centuries, accepted by great communions in Christendom, and (3) the fact that episcopal, presbyteral and congregational systems are each believed by many to be essential to the good order of the Church, we therefore recognise that these several elements must all, under conditions which require further study, have an appropriate place in the order of life of a reunited Church, and that each separate communion, recalling the abundant blessing of God vouchsafed to its ministry in the past, should gladly bring to the common life of the united Church its own spiritual treasures.
If the foregoing suggestion be accepted and acted upon, it is essential that the acceptance of any special form of ordination as the regular and orderly method of introduction into the ministry of the Church for the future should not be interpreted to imply the acceptance of any one par-ticular theory of the origin, character or function of any office in the Church, or to involve the acceptance of any adverse judgment on the validity of ordination in those branches of the Chui cli universal that believe themselves to have retained valid and apostolic Orders under other forms of ordination; or as disowning or discrediting a past or present ministry of the Word and Sacrament which has been used and blessed by the Spirit of God.
It is further recognised that inasmuch as the Holy Spirit is bestowed upon every believer, and each believer has an immediate access to God through Jesus Christ, and since special gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as teaching, preaching,’ and spiritual counsel, are the treasures of the Church as well as of the individual, it is necessary and proper that the Church should make fuller use of such gifts for the development of its corporate spiritual life and for the extension of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
In particular, we share in the conviction, repeatedly expressed in this Conference, that pending the solution of the questions of faith and order in which agreements have not yet been reached, it is possible for us, not simply as individuals but as Churches, to unite in the activities of brotherly service which Christ has committed to His disciples. We therefore commend to our Churches the consideration of the steps which may be immediately practicable to bring our existing unity in service to more effective expression.
In conclusion, we express our thankfulness to Almighty God for the great progress which has been made in recent years in the mutual approach of the Churches to one an-other, and our conviction that we must go forward with faith and courage, confident that with the blessing of God we shall be able to solve the problems that lie before us.

NOTES

1. The following is the view of the Orthodox Church, as formulated for us by its representatives.
“The Orthodox Church, regarding the ministry as instituted in the Church by Christ Himself, and as the body which by a special charisma is the organ through which the Church spreads its means of grace such as the sacraments, and believing that the ministry in its three-fold form of, presbyters and deacons can only be based on the unbroken apostolic succession, regrets that it is unable to come in regard to the ministry into some measure of agreement with many of the Churches represented at this Conference; but prays God that He, through His Holy Spirit, will guide to union even in regard to this difficult point of disagreement."
2. In Western Christendom also there are conspicuous differences.
One representative view includes the following points
(a) that there have always been various grades of the ministry, each with its own function; (b) that ordination is a sacramental act of divine institution, and therefore indispensable, conveying the special charisma for the particular ministry; (c) that bishops who have received their office by succession from the Apostles are the necessary ministers of ordination; (d) that the apostolic succession so understood is necessary for the authority of the ministry, the visible unity of the Church, and the validity of the sacraments.
On the other hand it is held by many Churches represented in the Conference (a) that essentially there is only one ministry, that of the Word and Sacraments; (b) that the existing ministries in these Churches are agree-able to the New Testament, are proved by their fruits and have due authority in the Church, and the sacraments ministered by them are valid; (c) that no particular form of ministry is necessary to be received as a matter of faith; (d) that the grace which fits men for the ministry is immediately given by God, and is recognised, not conferred, in ordination.
Further we record that there are views concerning the ministry which are intermediate between the types just mentioned. For instance, some who adhere to an episcopal system of church government do not consider that the apostolic succession as described above is a vital element of episcopacy, or they reject it altogether. Others do not regard as essential the historic episcopate. Those who adhere to presbyteral systems of church government believe that the apostolic ministry is transmissible and has been transmitted through presbyters orderly associated for the purpose. Those who adhere to the congregational system of government define their ministry as having been and being transmitted according to the precedent and example of the New Testament.


REPORT OF SECTION VI

Received by the full Conference, nem. con., August 20th, 1927

THE SACRAMENTS

We are convinced that for the purpose in view in this. Conference we should not go into detail in considering Sacraments - by some called “Mysteries.” The purpose therefore of this statement is to show that there may be’ a common approach to and appreciation of Sacraments on the parf of those who may otherwise differ in conception and .interpretation.
We testify to the fact that the Christian world gives evidence of an increasing sense of the significance and value of Sacraments, and would express our belief that this movement should be fostered and guided as a means of deepening the life and experience of the Churches. In this connection we recognise that the Sacraments have special reference to the corporate life and fellowship of the Church and that the grace is conveyed by the I-Ioly Spirit, taking of the things of Christ and applying them to the soul through faith.
We agree that Sacraments are of divine appointment and that the Church ought thankfully to observe them as divine gifts.
We hold that in the Sacraments there is an outward sign and an inward grace, and that the Sacraments are means of grace through which God works invisibly in us. We recognise also that in the gifts of His grace God is not limited by His own Sacraments.
The Orthodox Church and others hold that there are seven Sacraments and that for their valid administration there must be a proper form, a proper matter and a proper ministry. Others can regard only Baptism and the Lord’s Supper as Sacraments. Others again, while attaching high value to the sacramental principle, do not make use of the outward signs of Sacraments, but hold that all spiritual benefits are given through immediate contact with God through His Spirit. In this Conference we lay stress on the two Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, because they are the Sacraments which are generally acknowledged by the members of this Conference.
We believe that in Baptism administered with water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, for the remission of sins, we are baptised by one Spirit into one body. By this statement it is not meant to ignore the differences in conception, interpretation and mode which exist among us.
We believe that in the Holy Communion our Lord is present, that we have fellowship with God our Father in Jesus Christ His Son, our Living Lord, who is our one Bread, given for the life of the world, sustaining the life of all His people, and that we are in fellowship with all others who are united to Him. We agree that the Sacrament of the • Lord’s Supper is the Church’s most sacred act of worship, in which the Lord’s atoning death is commemorated and proclaimed, and that it is a sacrifice of praise and thanks-- giving and an act of solemn self-oblation.
There are among us divergent views, especially as to (1) the mode and manner of the presence of our Lord; (2) the conception of the commemoration and the sacrifice; (3) the relation of the elements to the grace conveyed; and (4) the relation between the minister of this Sacrament and the validity and efficacy of the rite. We are aware that the reality of the divine presence and gift in this Sacrament cannot be adequately apprehended by human thought or expressed in human language. We close this statement with the prayer that the differences which prevent full communion at the present time may be removed.


REPORT OF SECTION VII


THE UNITY OF CHRISTENDOM IN RELATION
TO EXISTING CHURCHES


This report was received by the full Conference on August 20th, 1927, for transmission to the Continuation Committee, which then appointed a committee with the duty of considering the whole situation with regard to Subject VII and reporting to the Business Committee.
Those directions are being carried out.*

* Note to Second Edition, The report of this committee will be found in Appendix B, page 535.

CONCLUDING STATEMENT

Drafted by the Chairman of the Conference at its Request

We have finished our immediate task. From first to last we are able to express it in constructive terms written and received, whether they be statements of agreement Or statements of difference, in brotherly love and mutual consideration. They are the product of the minds of men who earnestly desired and strove to place and keep themselves under the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit. Human imperfections which mingle with them we pray God to pardon. In offering to Him our handiwork, we are but returning to Him that which He has given to us. We pray His acceptance of and blessing upon our offering.
However, we have not finished our whole task. We have but taken a step on a long journey. The Conference was only a new starting point. What we did there will crumble into dust unless the representatives at Lausanne bring home to their several Churches the duty and responsibility of studying the Reports which they themselves received for this very purpose. The Conference should be repeated in every main ecclesiastical assembly, as well as in each separate congregation, throughout our entire Christian constituency if we are to take full advantage of the progress registered. By our presence and activity at Lausanne we are solemnly pledged to reproduce each in his own local circle, the spirit and method which made the World Conference on Faith and Order what it was. “I pray you to give me the utter joy of knowing you are living in harmony, with the same feelings of love, with one heart and soui, never acting for private ends or from vanity, but humbly considering each other the better man, and each with an eye to the interests of others as well as to his own. Treat one another with the same spirit as you experience in Christ Jesus.”l
We who have been privileged to labour together have done so in the joyousness of unhampered freedom. We must not forget, in the liberty which is to us a common-place, the sufferings which some of our Christian brethren are at this very moment undergoing. Deprived of liberty, in hostile surroundings, their cry ~goes up to God from the house of their martyrdom. Our prayers enfold them and our sympathy stretches out affectionate arms toward them.
Finally, we commend the Christian Churches, whether represented in the Conference or not, to our Heavenly Father’s guidance and safe keeping, looking earnestly toward the day when the full mind of God will control all the affairs of mankind.

1 Phil. ii, 2-5, Moffatt’s translation.

Source: H. N. Bate (ed.), Faith and Order: Proceedings of the World Conference, London, SCM, 1927, pp. 459-75.

The Universal Christian Conference on Life and Work, 1925: The Message

SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 1925

THE MESSAGE OF THE UNIVERSAL CHRISTIAN
CONFERENCE ON LIFE AND WORK

THE BISHOP OF WINCHESTER (Chairman) read the Message in English, DR. KAPLER in German, and PROFESSOR MONOD in French.

The Message

I.

1. The Universal Christian Conference on Life and Work, assembled at Stockholm from August 19 to 30, 1925, and composed of representatives of the greater number of Christian communions coming from thirty-seven nations of the Old and New Worlds, and of the Near and Far East, sends this brotherly message to all followers of Christ, beseeching them to join with them in prayer, confession, thanksgiving, study and service. We regret that not all Christian communions have found it possible to accept our invitation, for in view of the vital and far-reaching issues with which we have been concerned, we cannot but hope for that co-operation of all parts of the Church of Christ without which its testimony and influence in the world must be incomplete.
2. For five years men and women have planned and prayed that this Conference might be held. Other efforts for closer relations between the Churches have prepared the way. But this has proved the most signal instance of fellowship and co-operation, across the boundaries of nations and confessions, which the world has yet seen. The sins and sorrows, the struggles and losses of the Great War and since, have compelled the Christian Churches to recognize, humbly and with shame, that ‘ the world is too strong
for a divided Church.’ Leaving for the time our differences in Faith and Order, our aim has been to secure united practical action in Christian Life and Work. The Conference itself is a conspicuous fact. But it is only a beginning.
3. We confess before God and the world the sins and failures of which the Churches have been guilty, through lack of love and sympathetic understanding. Loyal seekers after truth and righteousness have been kept away from Christ, because His followers have so imperfectly represented Him to mankind. The call of the present hour to the Church should be repentance, and with repentance a new courage springing from the inexhaustible resources which are in Christ.
4. It is a matter for deep thankfulness that in the plan of God and through the guidance of His Spirit the representatives of so many Christian communions have been led to assemble and have renewed in common fellowship their faith, hope and love in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. It is a matter for deep thankfulness that in spite of differences, sincere and profound, they have been enabled to discuss so many difficult problems with a candour, a charity and a self-restraint, which the Spirit of God alone could inspire. As we repeated the Lord’s Prayer together, each in the speech his mother taught him, we realized afresh our common faith, and experienced as never before the unity of the Church of Christ.

II
5. The Conference has deepened and purified our devotion to the Captain of our Salvation. Responding to His call ‘Follow Me,’ we have in the presence of the Cross accepted the urgent duty of applying His Gospel in all realms of human life—industrial, social, political and inter-national.
6. Thus in the sphere of economics we have declared that the soul is the supreme value, that it must not be subordinated to the rights of property or to the mechanism of industry, and that it may claim as its first right the right of salvation. Therefore we contend for the free and full development of the human personality. In the name of the Gospel we have affirmed that industry should not be based solely on the desire for individual profit, but that it should be conducted for the service of the community. Property should be regarded as a stewardship for which an account must be given to God. Co-operation between capital and labour should take the place of conflict, so that employers and employed alike may be enabled to regard their part in industry as the fulfilment of a vocation. Thus alone can we obey our Lord’s command, to do unto others even as we would they should do unto us.
7. In the realm of social morality we considered the problems presented by over-crowding, unemployment, laxity of morals, drink and its evils, crime and the criminal. Here we were led to recognize that these problems are so grave that they cannot be solved by individual effort alone, but that the community must accept responsibility for them, and must exercise such social control over individual action as in each instance may be necessary for the common good. We have not neglected the more intimate questions which a higher appreciation of personality raises in the domain of education, the family and the vocation, questions which affect woman, the child and the worker. The Church must contend not for the rights of the individual as such, but for the rights of the moral personality, since all mankind is enriched by the full unfolding of even a single soul.
8. We have also set forth the guiding principles of a Christian internationalism, equally opposed to a national bigotry and a weak cosmopolitanism. We have affirmed the universal character of the Church, and its duty to preach and practise the love of the brethren. We have considered the relation of the individual conscience to the state. We have examined the race problem, the subject of law and arbitration, and the constitution of an international order which would provide peaceable methods for removing the causes of war—questions which in the tragic conditions of to-day make so deep an appeal to our hearts. We summon the Churches to share with us our sense of the horror of war, and of its futility as a means of settling international disputes, and to pray and work for the fulfilment of the promise that under the sceptre of the Prince of Peace, ‘mercy and truth shall meet together, righteousness and peace shall kiss each other.’
9. We have not attempted to offer precise solutions, nor have we confirmed by a vote the results of our friendly discussions. This was due not only to our respect for the convictions of individuals or groups, but still more to the feeling that the mission of the Church is above all to state principles, and to assert the ideal, while leaving to individual consciences and to communities the duty of applying them with charity, wisdom and courage.


III
10. If this goal is to be attained we recognize the pressing need of education. The individual must be educated by the Church, so that he may be enabled to exercise a Christian discernment in all things. The Churches must educate themselves by study, conference and prayer, so that being led by the Spirit of Truth into all truth, they may be enabled in increasing measure to apprehend the mind of Christ. We recognize that the root of evil is to be found in the human will, and we therefore desire to re-emphasize our conviction that this will must be surrendered to the high and holy will of God, whose service is perfect freedom. Even Christian ideas and ideals cannot save the world, if separated from their personal source in the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and unless themselves taken up into the personal life of the believer.
11. To this end we address our appeal first to all Christians. Let each man, following his own conscience, and putting his convictions to the test of practical life, accept his full personal responsibility for the doing of God’s will on earth as it is in heaven, and in working for God’s Kingdom. Let him in entire loyalty to his own Church seek to have a share in that wider fellowship and co-operation of the Christian Churches of which this Conference is a promise and pledge. In the name of this wider fellowship we would send a special message of sympathy to all those who amid circumstances of persecution and trial are fulfilling their Christian calling, and we would comfort them with the thought that they are thus brought into fellowship with the sufferings of Christ.
12. But we cannot confine this appeal to the Churches, for we gratefully recognize that now we have many allies in this holy cause. We turn to the young of all countries. With keen appreciation we have heard of their aspirations and efforts for a better social order as expressed in the youth movements of many lands. We desire to enlist the ardour and energy of youth, the freshness and the fullness of their life, j in the service of the Kingdom of God and of humanity.
We think also of those who are seeking after truth, by whatever way, and ask their help. As Christ is the Truth, so Christ’s Church heartily welcomes every advance of reason and conscience among men. Particularly we would invite the co-operation of those teachers and scholars who in many special realms possess the influence and command the knowledge without which the solution of our pressing practical problems is impossible.
In the name of the Son of Man, the Carpenter of Nazareth, we send this message to the workers of the world. We thankfully record the fact that at present even under difficult conditions a multitude of workers in the different countries are acting in accordance with these principles. We deplore the causes of misunderstanding and estrangement which still exist and are determined to do our part to remove them. We share their aspirations after a just and fraternal social order, through which the opportunity shall be assured for the development, according to God’s design, of the full manhood of every man.
13. We have said that this Conference is only a beginning. We cannot part without making some provision for the carrying on of our work. We have therefore decided to form a Continuation Committee to follow up what has been begun, to consider how effect can be given to the suggestions which have been made, to examine the practicability of calling another such Conference at a future date, and in particular to take steps for that further study of difficult problems and that further education of ourselves and of our churches, on which all wise judgment and action must be based. May we not hope that through the work of this body, and through the increasing fellowship and co-operation of the Christians of all nations in the one Spirit, our oneness in Christ may be more and more revealed to the world in Life and Work?
14. Only as we become inwardly one shall we attain real unity of mind and spirit. The nearer we draw to they Crucified, the nearer we come to one another, in however varied colours the Light of the World may be reflected in our faith. Under the Cross of Jesus Christ we reach out hands to one another. The Good Shepherd had to die in order that He might gather together the scattered children of God. In the Crucified and Risen Lord alone flies the world’s hope.
Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Source: G.K.A. Bell (ed.) The Stockholm Conference 1925: The Office Report of the Universal Christian Conference on Life and Work held in Stockholm, 19-30 August, 1925, Oxford University Press, London, 1926, pp. 710-6.

The World Missionary Conference 1910: Official Message

The Official Message from the Conference
To the Members of the Church in Christian Lands.

DEAR BRETHREN OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH,

We members of the World Missionary Conference assembled in Edinburgh desire to send you a message which lies very near to our hearts. During the past ten days we have been engaged in a close and continuous study of the position of Christianity in non-Christian lands. In this study we have surveyed the field of missionary operation and the forces that are available for its occupation. For two years we have been gathering expert testimony about every department of Christian Missions, and this testimony has brought home to our entire Conference certain conclusions which we desire to set forth.
Our survey has impressed upon us the momentous character of the present hour. We have heard from many quarters of the awakening of great nations, of the opening of long-closed doors, and of movements which are placing all at once before the Church a new world to be won for Christ. The next ten years will in all probability constitute a turning-point in human history, and may be of more critical importance in determining the spiritual evolution of mankind than many centuries of ordinary experience. If those years are wasted, havoc may be wrought that centuries are not able to repair. On the other hand, if they are rightly used they may be among the most glorious in Christian history.
We have therefore devoted much time to a close scrutiny of the ways in which we may best utilize the existing forces of missionary enterprise by unifying and consolidating existing agencies, by improving their administration and the training of their agents. We have done everything within our power in the interest of economy and efficiency; and in this endeavour we have reached a greater unity of common action than has been attained in the Christian Church for centuries.
But it has become increasingly clear to us that we need something far greater than can be reached by any economy or reorganisation of the existing forces. We need supremely a deeper sense of responsibility to Almighty God for the great trust which He has committed to us in the evangelisation of the world. That trust is not committed in any peculiar way to our missionaries, or to Societies, or to us as members of this Conference. It is committed to all and each within the Christian family; and it is as incumbent on every member of the Church, as are the elementary virtues of the Christian life—faith, hope and love. That which makes a man a Christian makes him also a sharer in this trust. This principle is admitted by us all, but we need to be aroused to carry it out in quite a new degree. Just as a great national danger demands a new standard of patriotism and service from every
citizen, so the present condition of the world and the missionary task demands from every Christian, and from every congregation, a change in the existing s ale of missionary zeal and service, and the elevation of our spiritual ideal.
The old scale and the old ideal were framed in view of a state of the world which has ceased to exist. They are no longer adequate for the new world which is arising out of the ruins of the old.
It is not only of the individual or the congregation that this new spirit is demanded. There is an imperative spiritual demand that national life and influence as a whole be Christianized: so that the entire impact, commercial and political, now of the West upon the East, and now of the stronger races upon the weaker, may confirm, and not impair, the message of the missionary enterprise.
The providence of God has led us all into a new world of opportunity, of danger, and of duty.
God is demanding of us all a new order of life, of a more arduous and self-sacrificing nature than the old. But if, as we believe, the way of duty is the way of revelation, there is certainly implied, in this imperative call of duty, a latent assurance that God is greater, more loving, nearer and more available for our help and comfort than any man has dreamed. Assuredly, then, we are called to make new discoveries of the grace and power of God, for ourselves, for the Church, and for the world; and, in the strength of that firmer and bolder faith in Him, to face the new age and the new task with a new consecration.

The Official Message from the Conference
To the Members of the Christian Church in non-Christian Lands.

DEAR BRETHREN IN CHRIST,

We desire to send you greeting in the Lord from the World Missionary Conference gathered in Edinburgh. For ten days we have been associated in prayer, deliberation, and the study of missionary problems, with the supreme purpose of making the work of Christ in non-Christian lands more effective, and throughout the discussions our hearts have gone forth to you in fellowship and love.
Many cases of thanksgiving have arisen as we have consulted together, with the whole of the Mission Field clear in view. But nothing has caused more joy than the witness borne from all quarters as to the steady growth in numbers, zeal, and power of the rising Christian Church in newly-awakening lands. None have been more helpful in our deliberations than members from your own Churches. We thank God for the spirit of evangelistic energy which you are showing, and for the victories that are being won thereby. We thank God for the longing after unity which is so prominent among you and is one of our own deepest longings to-day. Our hearts are filled with gratitude for all the inspiration that your example has brought to us in our home-lands. This example is all the more inspiring because of the special difficulties that beset the glorious position which you hold in the hottest part of the furnace wherein the Christian Church is being tried.
Accept our profound and loving sympathy, and be assured of our confident hope that God will bring you out of your fiery trial as a finely-tempered weapon which can accomplish His work in the conversion of your fellow-countrymen. it is you alone who can ultimately finish this work: the word that under God convinces your own people must be your word; and the life which will win them for Christ must be the life of holiness and moral power, as set. forth by you who are men of their own race. But we rejoice to be fellow-helpers with you in the work, and to know that you are being more and more empowered by God’s grace to take the burden of it upon your own shoulders. Take up that responsibility with increasing eagerness, dear brethren, and secure from God the power to carry through the task; then we may see great marvels wrought beneath our own eyes.
Meanwhile we rejoice also to be learning much our-selves from the great peoples whom our Lord is now drawing to Himself; and we look for a richer faith to result for all from the gathering of the nations in Him.
There is much else in our hearts that we should be glad to say, but we must confine ourselves to one further matter, and that the most vital of all.
A strong co-operation in prayer binds together in one all the Empire of Christ. Pray, therefore, for us, the Christian communities in home-lands, as we pray for you: remember our difficulties before God as we remember yours, that He may grant to each of us the help that we need, and to both of us together that fellowship in the Body of Christ which is according to His blessed Will.

Source: W. H. T. Gairdner, Edinburgh 1910 : an account and interpretation of the World Missionary Conference, Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier, London, 1910, pp. 277-281.

Information about the Kopenang Community Trust

The following document is further information written by Dominican sister Sheila Flynn about the KOPANANG COMMUNITY TRUST.
Do visit the Trust's website to learn more about their work. www.kopanang.org


April and May, 2001, saw the inception of the Kopanang Women’s Group – women choosing to walk a courageous journey of learning and training, implementing their own transformation in the process. If the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step (Lao Tse), then these women have surely traversed continents in the pursuit of their own self-discovery and self-worth. A not insignificant step, given the legacy they are heir to. Rev. Margot Campbell Gross from the Unitarian Universalist Church in San Francisco was an integral part of our humble beginnings.
Kopanang members comprise women from two historically divided communities – the African township of Tsakane (population approximately 72,000), and the so-called coloured township of Geluksdal (population approximately 7,000), and come from diverse religious backgrounds, but all Christian – though we would be open to non-Christian women. We were told that it had been tried many times, bringing these two groups ethnic groups together, and it had failed. We were not daunted. We are proof that it can work.
These two townships are set within the barren and unyielding landscape of the Far East Rand, about 55km from the centre of Johannesburg. They were set up to provide the labour force for the mines and factories in the area, both of which have subsequently closed down, escalating the poverty and unemployment endemic in the area (around 80%), and the pandemic impact of HIV/AIDS on the communities. We now have the specter of an untreatable TB strain worsening conditions and accelerating death. Weddings as a cause for gatherings, have given way to funerals.
Kopanang is on the site of the Sithand’izingane Care Project, a community-driven initiative made up of volunteers caring and serving in a variety of ways: a drop-in day-care centre for HIV affected and vulnerable children (35) up to six years of age; an after-school care programme for 55 orphans; an organic food garden training programme; crisis food distribution to 150 families; a counseling centre; a feeding scheme for 400 orphans in the township schools five times a week. Kopanang is the income generating wing for the mothers and grannies of the area. Kopanang means, gathering together. Sithand’izingane is a Zulu word meaning, “we love the children”.
Kopanang is about more than putting food on the table. Our work is about relationships. It is about wonder and creativity in the midst of struggle and poverty, the sharing of stories, faith and differing cultural identities, building understanding between each other. Lack of human rights or values, within a context of voicelessness, depression and lethargy, unemployment and diminishment are countered by human resource development and support.
The embroidery section (60 members are now highly skilled) produce high quality, vibrantly-coloured embroidered products such as wall hangings, waistcoats, cushion covers, bags, skirts, aprons, caftans and church stoles. Members teach new members in a cycle of empowerment, with ever widening circles. They have now also provided facilitated training to six other projects, two in the Free State (Kroonstad and Welkom), one in Mpumalanga (KwaNdebele) and three in Gauteng (Devon, Etwe-Twe and some leadership support to a project in Ivory Park). We have already undertaken in March 2006 a training programme for 25 HIV+ adolescents and 27 grannies at the Mildmay International Centre in Uganda, and provide ongoing marketing support for our sisters in the Vukani Poverty Alleviation project in Mpumalang. We are now looking to extend training opportunities to women in Ivory Park township, and Hlabisa in KZN. Truly, Kopanang is extending its borders.
Less than six years ago these pioneer women did not believe in themselves, nor did they expect too much from life, just the merest scrapings to feed their children if they were lucky, often at the neglect of themselves. Not a lot to beg for from life. Now, through their endeavours and own experience of transformation, they believe in both themselves and in a better life. They are shaping it. The group has fluctuating members – often due to sickness, sometimes death.
One of Kopanang’s primary objectives is to provide loving support to those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, and to this end each member contributes in some way to dealing with this issue either in her family, or close neighbourhood. Each year we have a dedicated HIV/AIDS educational workshop. We also have yearly workshops on communication (to develop relationships and continue working on conflict resolution, etc.) and leadership workshops.
It is not an easy road. Development is fraught with frustration and setbacks. The grind to get beyond the concept of entitlement which is corrosive to the spirit and culture of individualism, so closely aligned to the negative spirit, or to develop the structures of a sustainable future in the project, are experiences which need to be met head on. Also the experience of lethargy and depression breed hopelessness. They have been used to only living in the moment and often very dark one. The sheer hard work and commitment it takes to move beyond the boundaries of endemic despair or the experience of worthlessness common to township life, is daunting. Yet Kopanang women are determined to shape the future of their lives and their families.
Kopanang products now find a home in the United States, Germany, Ireland, England, Holland, Belgium and Australia. In November, 2002, two members traveled to San Francisco to install an incredible body of work measuring over 35 metres long, depicting the story of the Universe and evolution (Universe Canticle), exhibited in Johannesburg at the MTN Head Office before leaving the country. The Faithful Fools organisation who commissioned this work were taken away by the splendour of the work, far exceeding their expectations, considering themselves guardians of the work. This series is now available for any organisation to borrow for exhibition and educational purposes – it is an educational tool in itself – and has traveled to five States in America, including Atlanta for a two-month long exhibition at the VSA Gallery in 2004, North Carolina and Minneapolis in 2005, and among others is another tour to Detroit at the end of 2006. We have provided 15 large wall hangings for Oprah Winfrey’s new school for girls in Johannesburg. Such is the ripple effect of a small group who through their creativity, defy boundaries and despair.
We have extended the diversity of our product range and a dedicated group within the membership are now creating exquisite African quilted products. We have also introduced bead training and members are now creating beautiful beaded jewelry and homeware. Our embroidery group have had commissions to create Church cloths and banners in Australia, major wall hangings for corporate institutions (e.g. Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, NJ) as well as a banner for the Catholic Theological Society of America’s 60th anniversary conference. Kopanang members have also created a magnificent banner commissioned by the University of South Africa, for their African Spirituality Conference which was held in January 2006, attended by many African countries. We are glad to have at least one of Kopanang’s beautiful embroidered panels residing in South Africa itself.
In 2004 our Kopanang women created eight banners (3 metres x 1 meter each) on World Religions for the First Universalist Church in San Francisco. These larger commissions provide not only support for our members but a huge challenge, broadening their own development and knowledge base. Most of our members have not had the opportunity to complete their education, often as a result of poverty. This kind of learning extends their value in themselves and their worldview. Most recently members created a “Dikeledi Cloth” from a Kopanang circle of love, breaking open the story of their lives and suffering and creating a patchwork cloth to visualize this experience.
At our Kopanang Children’s art class facilitated by one of our mothers, Nancy, our children completed and sent off a body of work, including a portfolio of prints, to the Paint Pals International Exhibition at the Museum of Children’s Art in Athens, for the duration of the last Olympics, and its director, Linden Longino has now invited our youngsters to participate in the China Olympics. In July 2007 a new body of work was exhibited at Parliament in Sydney as part of an international exhibition, winning its international award.
We are truly proud to have been able to open a forth unit, our screen-printing section. New members are being initiated into this new creative artform. A newly acquired etching press will provide opportunities to develop printmaking. We print onto material as well as do occasional runs of cards, e.g. Christmas, or Seasonal Greetings. We will be expanding this unit in 2008.
Ours is a unique opportunity to be a prophetic voice to the unheard millions who live their lives less than they are able, simply because of the “accident” of birth or race, compounded by the awful prevalence of HIV/AIDS. We believe our project is strong because of its multi-dimensional, relational faith approach and community ethos. Even if our contribution is but a drop in the ocean of need in these two townships, drops eventually create lakes, rivers and oceans.
Together, Kopanang and Sithand’izingane Care Project members are restoring hope and beauty in a future which has now become welcoming instead of threatening. We expect a lot from each other. We are confident that we shall receive what we hope for, knowing that our God has placed these dreams into our hearts. For that reason alone, we know that they will come to fruition.
We are so grateful for your life-giving support. May God bless you.

Sister Sheila Flynn
Vice-Chair and Coordinator for Kopanang Community Trust
sheilaflynn@mweb.co.za

Registration No: 5144/2006 NPO No: 056-245
P O Box 10268, Geluksdal 1546, South Africa
Phone/Fax: 27 11 738 9306
Project email: kopanangwg@mweb.co.za

Visit our web page:
www.kopanang.org

Reflections on Epiphany – the Yesu ‘Darśana’ by Manoj Kurian

The following epiphany reflection was written by Dr Manoj Kurian who is involved in the WCC's HIV/AIDS programme. Manoj comes from an oriental orthodox church and is from Malaysia although his family originally come from India.
The footnotes have not been included in this post but may be added later.

Bible Text: Matthew 2.1-18

Two aspects of the narrative that grip me are the ‘visit of the Magi’ and the massacre of the ‘holy-innocents‘ These are the bright and dark side of the narrative of Yesu ‘Darśana’.
Yesu ‘Darśana’
Darśana is a Sanskrit term meaning "sight" (in the sense of beholding; from the root" to see"). It is most commonly used for "visions of the divine," in the sense "to see with reverence and devotion”. The term can also translate to epiphany, and could refer either to a vision of the divine or to being in the presence of a highly revered person . Darśana could also be described as having ‘seen’ and ‘being seen’ by the Deity .
Yesu ‘Darśana’ is to see with reverence and devotion the God child. To see God and to be seen by God. To worship God and to be blessed by God. God in the form of a vulnerable and marginalized child. Seeking and finding God in the most unlikely of places.

Magi
In the Aramaic and Arabic translations St: Mathew’s Gospel the Magi are called "Mgoshi" The word also indicates that they were ‘worshippers of fire’ . The word is probably derived from maguš in old Persian / mâgî in Proto-Kurdish. The Magi were a tribe from ancient Media who, prior to the conquest of the Medes by the Achaemenid Empire in 550 BC, were responsible for religious and funerary practices. They accepted the Zoroastrian religion, but followed a variant of the faith known as Zurvanism, which would become the predominant form of Zoroastrianism during the Sassanid era (AD 226–650).
Zoroastrianism has an important place in the history of religion because of its possible formative links to both Western and Eastern religious traditions. It is also the oldest of the revealed creedal monotheistic religions. The Zoroastrian name of their religion is “Mazdayasna”, which combines Mazda from “Ahura Mazda”, - the one universal, transcendental , uncreated creator God - with the Avestan word yasna, meaning "worship and devotion".
From the 1st century AD onward the word in its Syriac form (Magusai) was applied to magicians and soothsayers, chiefly from Babylonia, with a reputation for the most varied forms of wisdom. As long as the Persian empire lasted there was always a distinction between the Persian magi, who were credited with profound and extraordinary religious knowledge, and the Babylonian magi, who were often considered to be outright impostors. It is in this context Magi, in the English language may refer to a shaman, sorcerer or wizard and is the origin of the words magic and magician .

Visit of the Magi
From wherever we come from, seeking Jesus in unlikely places a couple of thousand years later, with a much narrower vision and shallower wisdom , the narrative of the Magi is very reassuring. It is reassuring that the quest for God is universal and should consume the whole of creation. It is striking that apart from the pure and obedient parents of Jesus and the humble shepherds, the first ‘learned’ persons God chose to reveal the God- child to were the ‘heathen’ Magi, seekers of truth, who ultimately reached Jesus and did not destroy him. They depended on the wisdom of God –by being perceptive to the message from the Angel and obeying it; depended on God’s creation and signs – by keenly studying the night sky and interpreting what nature manifested to one and all.
They came a long way, from a very different cultural and religious setting. Taking a lot of trouble and risk and investing time and effort. They were analytical, methodical, systematic and thorough in their search. They were prepared for the journey and knew what they had to offer. The tributes the Magi brought for Jesus reveled their deep understanding of whom they were seeking. ‘Gold’- worthy of a ruler who has dominion over the earth and symbolizing the infant's royalty. ‘Frankincense’- incense worthy of a child of God to be worshiped and symbolizing the infant's divinity. ‘Myrrh’ as an expensive embalming resin- making reference to the infant’s future, sacrifice and death.

The Magi’s religious, cultural or racial identity, beliefs and practice did not hinder them from approaching God and Jesus Christ being revealed to them.

The massacre of the ‘holy-innocents‘ (Matthew 2: 1-18)
The unfortunate massacre took place because the Magi initially searched for God in the wrong place. When they initially targeted their search to Palestine they decided that the final identification could be made with the assistance of the rich and the powerful. The king is in charge- he should know! So when they approached King Herod, his consultations with the chief priests and teachers of the law revealed that a great ruler was prophesized to be born in Bethlehem . Herod’s deep sense of insecurity prompted him to scheme nipping the new King in the bud! But when the Magi saw through this and slipped away without reporting their findings from Bethlehem, Herod resorted to massacring all male children of Bethlehem two years and younger. This was a horrific strategy in Herod’s quest to eliminate all potential threat to his own power base.
The Christian community has traditionally considered these children as martyrs and as Saints and commemorate this sad event as Childermas, Children's Mass or Holy Innocents' Day
In the gospel the massacre of the holy innocents comes after the story of the Magi. Yet the western church's marking of that date coming after Christmas on the 28th of December and before celebrating the Epiphany in January 6th seems almost to hide this story away – almost as if it would be rather bad taste to have such a sad unpleasant story spoiling the celebration of Christmas and Epiphany .
So by conveniently separating this sad event and the celebrations of Epiphany , we risk losing the holistic understanding of the consequences of Epiphany. By sanctifying and elevating to sainthood the massacred children we cannot sanitise the fact that the martyred children were victims of raw human greed for power and control and their massacre was the horrific consequence of wise people searching for God and salvation in the wrong place.

Let us seek God among the poor and the vulnerable. Let us recognise God around us. Let us discern God within us. But let us not delude ourselves into thinking that salvation is dependent on the power and resources that are linked exclusively with people and our own enterprises. Let the choices we make in life be dependent on how we can contribute to the extension of the reign of God on earth, with a liberating vision of a God centred world.

“Let Your reign prevail, and Your will be done”

By being humble;
By stepping outside our comfort zones;
By sharing in the pain and suffering of people and the environment;
By retaining a sense of justice in the face of adversity and by responding in useful ways;
By being sensitive to the needs of those around us and responding with compassion and competence;
By reflecting the love of God in our lives;
By pursuing holiness and purity in our personal and community life;
By striving for harmony and peace;
By withstanding evil, hatred and persecution;
By recognizing that all we achieve is through the Grace of God:
We see you God, here on earth, TODAY!
O Lord and our God, “Let Your reign prevail,
And Your will be done”

Dr Manoj Kurian, copyright (c) WCC

Epiphany Sermon

This sermon was preached for Epiphany in the Ecumenical Centre Chapel January 7th 2008.

Bible Texts:
Isaiah 60.1-6
Matthew 2.1-12

A light for all peoples

How did the writer of Matthew's gospel dare to write the extraordinary story of the Magi?

We of course are so used to the story - from countless Christmas cards and carols and pageants - and so we can no longer really tell how strange, daring and shocking this narrative of the wise bearers of the three gifts would have sounded to Jewish believers hearing it in first century Palestine.

What sort of king or messiah is this, visited and fêted by astrologers, fortune tellers, soothsayers, the epitome of Jewish non-believers, bringing highly inappropriate pagan-style presents for the child (well apart from the gold of course, that can always be useful but the gifts are hardly "spiritual").
You're telling us we're supposed to believe like those strange foreign characters who thought it was a good idea to follow a star?

Truly somewhere in the telling of this tale an epiphany occurred.
The foreign bearers of the three gifts become "wise" in Matthew's tale.
The story of their long, searching journey to bear homage to a newborn has borne meaning across the generations.

Yet, though these wise, erudite travellers could supposedly read the signs in the skies
They do seem to have lacked an ability to read the earthly socio-political context of the province of the Roman empire they were entering.
And if Matthew's narrative is to be believed they don't actually seem to follow the star that is guiding them;
Instead they head straight for the seat of dubious power
And spill the beans to the arch-collaborator turned dictator Herod.
I'm sure those wise travellers and mappers of the skies thought they were doing the right thing going to the palace…

Despite theologians and interpreters often saying that these bearers of wisdom represent “reason”
Perhaps no intellectual reasoning could foretell the wailing and lamentation in Ramah that would result from Herod being told the name of the town where the child was to be born
In the gospel the massacre of the children of the holy innocents comes after the story of the magi. Yet the western church's marking of that date coming as it does on December 28th seems almost to hide this story away – almost as if it would be rather bad taste to have such a sad unpleasant story spoiling the celebration of Christmas.
Yet the story of the glorious homage bore the marks of violence from the beginning
- the gifts included not only frankincense for praise and glory rising to the skies but also myrrh as preparation for death.
The only throne this king would reign from was a cross.

Perhaps I am being unfair, maybe the Magi were seeking to be diplomatic in visiting Herod first, perhaps their telescopes and maps had got damaged on the long journey, making it difficult to follow the star
(As we pray this week among other countries for Iraq in the ecumenical prayer cycle, I can hear the former prime-minister of my country Mr Blair saying “I believed I was doing the right thing” - in going to war – as if the beautifully honed sound of sincerity with which he utters such words is more important than the thousands of dead bodies telling another and more sincere truth.)

Matthew's daring, radical entrée to his gospel was certainly a great way of grabbing attention and it challenges us to think about how we communicate and receive the good news.

Do strangely clad travellers with dubious beliefs have anything to say to us?
Have we in this international setting, so used to trying to communicate unity in diversity, sometimes become rather blasé - oh we understand all there is to know about difference?
In the age of the global village – when everyone knows everything and when strangeness may just be a new marketing ploy - is there actually anything new or different left to know?

Epiphany cuts across all of our sense of reasonableness, of having seen it all before, of knowing all there is to know about new things, of wanting to show that we of course understand.

In TS Elliott's poem the journey of the Magi
one of the Magi reflects years later on that strange journey following a star and says this:
All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we lead all that way for
Birth or Death?

Epiphany sets faith in Christ within an age old narrative
each one of us, though infinitely precious, is not the centre of the universe,
our certainties and way of perceiving things
can be upset by a simple visit from strangers we may never see again

The promise of epiphany is that incarnation and revelation are one
That the light of justice and hope and peace and reconciliation is for all
And not just for those who think of themselves as the holy or the believers.

The biblical tale of those bringing gifts to the promised child
was set in troubled earthly times of political upheaval and terrible violence.

As a result of their visit to the Christ child in Bethlehem the Magi do finally become wise
- travelling home they listen to the angel of their dreams, taking another route,
and this time they avoid telling all to the violent despot in Jerusalem who is so fearful of the future he seeks to kill the present.

We don't know which way they go on their travels.
We do know that one precious child of light will escape the terrible massacre and the spears and lances of the soldiers.
And the family will flee, not eastwards but to Egypt.
Perhaps the visit from exotic strangers convinces them that a welcome in a faraway land is possible.

As the new year assaults us with news of violence and repression
from Pakistan to Kenya
from Burma to Naples
From Afghanistan to Bolivia

As we remember an old year which for many of us has had its share of upheaval and tragedy,
the light of epiphany is promised to us,
even to those of us in international organisations who seem often to constantly be travelling to new places.

As we gaze in wonder on the Christ child
may we also like the Magi receive wisdom
The promise is of wisdom
Wisdom to see
Wisdom to be
Wisdom to learn
Wisdom to pray

And may we carry the joy and light and peace of the incarnation of Christ with us as preciously as gold on all our travelling in the coming year.
Amen



Copyright (c) World Council of Churches

Alain Blancy: a life which exemplified ecumenism's challenges

00-0381 | 2 October 2000 | Article first published by ENI.

Alain Blancy: a life which exemplified ecumenism's challenges


By Stephen Brown
Geneva (ENI). Alain Blancy, who was born in Berlin of German Jewish parents but went on to become one of France's most prominent Protestant ecumenists, died from cancer on 30 September at the age of 73.

He once said that it was his experience of receiving help from Christians in Hitler's Germany that contributed to his "ecumenical calling".

At the time of his death, Alain Blancy - a pastor of the Reformed Church of France - was the Protestant co-president of the Groupe des Dombes which brings together Protestant and Roman Catholic theologians from France and Switzerland. Their work, particularly the 1991 publication of For the Conversion of the Churches, has won high praise locally and internationally. Dr Konrad Raiser, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), has paid tribute to its "penetrating biblical and historical analysis".

In recent years, Alain Blancy was particularly proud that the group's discussions and publications were devoted to one of the most divisive issues between Protestants and Roman Catholics - the role of Mary. "We give credit to the Catholics for the fact that what they say about Mary does not contradict the [Protestant understanding of the] question of mediation," Blancy said. "At the same time, the Catholics accept that the Protestant refusal to accept the Marian dogmas is not a refusal of Mary herself."

Blancy was born on 5 January 1927 as Arved Ludwig Bielschowsky - he took the name Alain Blancy when he settled permanently in France after the Second World War. His father's family, though of Jewish origin, had converted to Protestantism before his birth. After Hitler's rise to power in 1933, his mother decided to emigrate with her two sons to France in order to bring them up in a more tolerant society and to protect them from the Nazi campaign against the Jews. After France's defeat and its occupation by Germany, the young Arved and his brother tried to escape from France, but were captured and deported to Germany in 1943.

But, thanks partly to the intervention of a Protestant pastor in the Confessing Church, they escaped the fate of so many Jews - including their uncle - who were shipped to Auschwitz.

The pastor arranged for the two brothers to work as nursing assistants and gardeners at a Protestant diaconal institution at Bethel, near Bielefeld, in northern Germany. After Germany was defeated in 1945, Alain returned to France, took French citizenship, and - because of his wartime experiences - trained as a Protestant pastor, studying theology in Montpellier, France, in Basle, Switzerland, as a student of the leading theologian Karl Barth, and in the United States. He took degrees in German and in philosophy at Bordeaux University, in France, while serving as a pastor in a nearby parish.

He taught at a number of French Protestant institutions before becoming assistant director of the WCC's Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, near Geneva, in 1971, a post he held until 1981.

He was greatly influenced both by the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur, himself a Protestant, and by the "Theology of Hope" of German theologian Jürgen Moltmann - the subject of his doctoral dissertation.

Blancy not only wrote and spoke about ecumenism, but actively participated in ecumenical ventures. He was a delegate of his church at the talks that led, in 1973, to the Leuenberg agreement establishing full communion between Europe's Lutheran, Reformed and United churches.

A prolific writer, Blancy was known well beyond the confines of the circle of professional ecumenists and theologians because of his regular columns in Réforme, France's main Protestant weekly, and in other publications. His final column in Réforme appeared on the weekend of his death. Alain Blancy retired officially in 1992 with his wife, Christiane, to the small French village of Farges, near Geneva. Christiane died from cancer in 1994. Alain's cancer was diagnosed in 1996, but he remained active until four days before his death, travelling across Europe and beyond in response to requests to give papers at academic conferences, and to work as an interpreter at ecumenical events - he spoke French, German and English fluently. But he was equally at home organising Bible study in his local parish.

Not least because of his own background, Alain Blancy was passionately committed to Jewish-Christian dialogue, a commitment that increased in his final years. In July this year he spoke at Remembering for the Future 2000, a major interfaith conference in London and Oxford intended to "evaluate the Holocaust in a genocidal age". Five days before his death he was putting the finishing touches to a paper on "Christian Theology after the Shoah" that he intended to deliver two days later in Mulhouse, in eastern France. But his illness made that impossible.

For Alain Blancy, uniting in his own life many religious strands, ecumenism was far more than an academic issue. It allowed him, he said, the freedom to bring together in his own life elements which otherwise divided humanity. "Can I, with the inheritance of my Jewish past, the past of my forebears, identify myself as a Christian, without thereby being torn apart, without having to betray either Christ or this inheritance? Am I able to live this unity - this 'ecumenism' - in my own body and life, to test out in myself and on myself a new unity, to reconcile that which in the world is divided and opposed? I cannot avoid this conflict ... For me there is no other ecumenism than that which dares to hold together and to practise this repentance and struggle."

• In a message read at Alain Blancy's funeral on 4 October, Michel Bertrand, president of the national council of the Reformed Church of France, praised his ecumenical commitment and his theological rigour and integrity. In a tribute published by the WCC, Dr Konrad Raiser said that Alain Blancy would be "remembered as one among the cloud of ecumenical witnesses of the 20th century. His passion for unity, the clarity of his vision, and the generosity of his personality in spite of the bitter memories which shaped his younger years, will remain a precious legacy for a new ecumenical generation." Dr Setri Nyomi, general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, described Alain Blancy as "a man with a rare capacity to interpret the Reformed tradition in ways which brought it to bear compellingly on the issues of today".

Alain Blancy, born 5 January 1927, died 30 September 2000.

Source: ENI Bulletin No. 19/2000, 18-10-2000

Sermon preached at Alain Blancy's funeral

Prédication lors de l'enterrement du pasteur Alain Blancy,

Textes Bibliques:

Genèse 28 16-22
2 Corinthiens 4 6-9 et v 16
Marc 16 1-8

Nous commençons avec la mémoire
Nous passerons par le chemin du creux et du vide
Nous arriverons à la fin qui n'est finalement que début

Pour commencer alors quelques courtes phrases de la sagesse juive

"Se Souvenir s'appelle vivre"
"Se souvenir mène à la libération, oublier mène au désert"

Pendant une grande partie de sa vie Alain Blancy a essayé de donner forme et sens à sa propre mémoire, de remémorer, de remembrer son propre passé de manière à ce qu'il puisse apporter vie dans le présent, espérance et défi pour l'avenir. Ce travail de mémoire qu'il tentait est exigeant Il m'a écrit dans une lettre: "La mémoire est déchirure à l'intérieur d'elle-même, discernement critique, tri entre ce qu'on garde et ce qu'on jette. Douloureux procès. Jésus en fut lui même "rompu" comme son pain, ren-"versé" comme son vin. Qu'a-t-il dû sacrifier, qu'a-t-il pu garder, qu'a-t-il dû et pu convertir?"
Il faut essayer d'entreprendre notre travail de mémoire, de souvenir d'Alain de manière à nous laisser ouvert à une remembrance enracinée dans une espérance pour demain.
Dans une conversation que nous avions il n'y a pas encore 15 jours Alain réfléchissait sur la question est-ce que la mémoire représente dans le judaïsme un peu ce que représente la résurrection dans le Christianisme? (on devait y revenir!)Mais c'est seulement lors d'une journée comme aujourd'hui que l'on voit combien mémoire et résurrection sont des mystères qui nous permettent de concevoir un Dieu qui agit à travers le passé et dans le présent, un Dieu qui nous appelle vers l'avenir.Jeune homme, avec son frère aîné Alain se trouvait en Prison en Allemagne à Cologne, C'est là qu'il commence à lire la Bible que le gardien de la prison leur permet de garder à condition qu'ils la cachent. Alain décrit ce gardien comme un des petits anges que les deux frères ont rencontré sur leur pénible chemin de guerre entre 1942 et 46. Cette Bible était déjà dans les bagages quand les frères essayaient de fuir à travers la frontière espagnole. Mais Alain ne se souvenait pas d'avoir lu la Bible avant de se retrouver en prison. C'est la lecture en prison du récit de Jacob, qui fuyait son frère, qui permet à Alain de faire le vœu de Jacob aussi le sien "Si Dieu me ramènes sain et sauf à la maison, il sera mon Dieu."Alain disait que ce vœu était peut être "intéressé", mais qu'il allait tenir dans le temps Ce vœu l'a amené vers un avenir de passeur de frontières géographiques, théologiques et ecclésiales, un avenir inimaginable depuis la peur d'une prison ou on est accusé d'être juif. C'est le personnage de Jacob : rêveur, travailleur et lutteur de Jabbok; Jacob dont le nom va aussi changer pour devenir Israel qui parle à ce jeune homme pas encore chrétien et d'origine juif. (Un jour Arved qui fait ce vœu va devenir Alain.)

Dans notre douloureux travail de mémoire, nous nous souvenons de la fidélité d'Alain à ce vœu, mais ce beau récit de vivre et de survivre malgré les persécutions doit nous ouvrir à la mémoire des autres six millions et plus qui ont aussi sans doute de leur prison et de leurs wagons de transport et camps fait des vœux similaire envers Dieu.
L'inhumanité d'un système de penser a arraché aux autres et à Dieu lui même la possibilité de montrer la fidélité.
Nous commençons notre travail de mémoire mais … Nous arrivons au chemin du creux et du vide.

C'est un vide réel
Qui doit affronter la réalité de la souffrance
C'est un vide qui ne trouve pas de réponses toute de suite
Un vide qui fait peur
Alain n'est plus avec nous.
Il ne va plus arriver là avec son panier chargé parfois de sa délicieuse tarte au streusel à partager, chargé toujours de différentes sortes de lectures et textes à remettre aux uns et aux autres.
On n'entendra plus son rire
Ses enfants ne vont plus pouvoir appeler papa pour voir comment il va
Son intellect ne nous fera plus courir dans plusieurs directions en même temps
Le corps d'interprètes et de traducteurs n'entendra plus sa voix
Pourtant je pense que Alain est maintenant relativement serein de ne pas
devoir se mettre devant encore un texte difficile qui sort de la KEK!

Et Christiane est sans doute ravie de l'avoir avec elle, il ne peut plus dire j'ai une conférence à préparer ce soir.

Le groupe des Dombes et tant et tant d'autres groupes œcuméniques ont perdu un intervenant de grande qualité.

Nous avons tous perdu un homme qui avait des dons extraordinaires pour la théologie et pour l'amitié.

Nous sommes plus creux sans lui, mais plus riche car nous l'avons connu.

C'est le tombeau vide, le creux qui fait fuir les femmes lors de la résurrection dans l'évangile de Marc. Lors des études bibliques qu'il nous a faites ici dans la paroisse Alain a essayé de nous faire comprendre que c'est dans ce vide, dans le creux, au fond de l'abîme que le travail de résurrection commence.

Nous pouvons alors remplir le creux avec de beaux souvenirs, avec beaucoup de regrets aussi. Mais le travail que l'évangile nous demande de faire est plus profond que cela. Alain nous a bien montré combien dans l'évangile de Marc la résurrection c'est le vide, presque le néant, mais que ce vide ne renvoie pas vers un avenir de peur mais vers un nouveau commencement. La fin de chaque évangile renvoie de nouveau à son début. Le vide de la fin de l'évangile de Marc se reflète dans son début, pas de récit de la naissance de Jésus juste l'appel de Jean Baptiste et le baptême du Christ. Le vide de la résurrection nous renvoie à un nouveau commencement et à nos propres engagements, notre réponse à l'appel de Dieu.

Dans une lettre d'il y a presque exactement 5 ans Alain m'a écrit: "La mémoire est double pour ouvrir à l'avenir et ne pas en rester au regret et à la culpabilité du passé….. La mémoire n'a de sens que si elle est tournée vers l'avenir, un élan pour aller au delà, un da capo al fine, cette fin survoltant le présent."

Nous arrivons alors à la fin qui n'est finalement que début.

Notre souvenir est empreint d'une profonde joie et reconnaissance de tout ce que Dieu nous a donné à vivre à travers la présence amicale, intellectuelle, riante, impatiente, créatrice, écoutante d'Alain Blancy dans nos vies. Une reconnaissance aussi envers les anges et archanges que Alain et Edouard ont rencontré lors de leurs pénibles expériences de guerre. Quelle joie pour nous qu'il y a eu ces personnes qui ont vaincu la peur devant le vide pour s'engager et résister.

Cette reconnaissance nous renvoie à un nouveau commencement un nouveau engagement dans le creux créatif de la résurrection. Nous sommes appeler à un travail de mémoire et d'oubli qui fait vivre, qui fait ressusciter. Un engagement à surmonter nos peurs, à résister au mal de notre époque.

Car nous avons l'assurance que même accablés de toutes sortes de souffrances Dieu ne nous abandonne pas, c'est pour quoi que avec Alain et beaucoup d'autres nous ne perdons jamais courage.

Pasteure Jane Stranz