12/8/2003 News media contact: Linda Bloom · (646) 369-3759 · New York
See UMNS story #576 for related coverage. Photographs are available.
By Carol Fouke-Mpoyo*
Religious
leaders take a break during the All Africa Conference of Churches’
assembly in Yaounde, Cameroon. From left are the Rev. Samuel Kobia, new
top executive of the World Council of Churches; the Most Rev. Kwesi
Dickson, president of the All Africa Conference of Churches; the Rev.
Mvume Dandala, chief executive of the conference; and the Rev. Konrad
Raiser, outgoing top executive of the council. A UMNS photo by Carol
Fouke-Mpoyo, National Council of Churches. Photo number 03-512,
Accompanies UMNS #584, 12/8/03.
No Long Caption Available for this Story
An
African band enlivens the opening worship service at the All Africa
Conference of Churches’ 8th Assembly in Yaounde, Cameroon. A UMNS photo
by Carol Fouke-Mpoyo, National Council of Churches. Photo number 03-513,
Accompanies UMNS #584, 12/8/03.
No Long Caption Available for this Story
Cameroonian
dancers welcome delegates from some 40 countries to the All Africa
Conference of Churches’ 8th Assembly in the capital city Yaounde. A UMNS
photo by Carol Fouke-Mpoyo, National Council of Churches. Photo number
03-514, Accompanies UMNS #584, 12/8/03.
No Long Caption Available for this Story
YAOUNDE, Cameroon (UMNS) - Africa's ecumenical movement is getting new wind.
Church
leaders are intent on harnessing the potential of pan-African Christian
unity for the well-being of the continent, judging from the All Africa
Conference of Churches' 8th Assembly in the central African capital city
of Yaounde.
"This may mean speaking out to those in power in
ways that will not always make us popular, but we have a responsibility
to God and to the continent to do so," said the Rev. Mvume Dandala, the
group's new chief executive. Dandala, a Methodist pastor, drew a
standing ovation after giving his report to the assembly.
The
Nov. 22-27 meeting of delegates from the conference's 169 national
member denominations and 27 national ecumenical councils was part
business meeting and part family reunion. The event drew representatives
from 39 countries. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, the 40-year-old
organization is Africa's largest ecumenical body.
Drawing on
Nehemiah 2 for its theme, "Come, Let Us Rebuild," the assembly committed
to a 10-point plan of action on HIV/AIDS; set in motion a restructuring
of the organization aimed at making it an example of integrity,
prophetic witness and self-support; and resolved to promote good
governance by Africa's nations.
Dandala said churches must hold
the new African Union accountable to its own commitment to ensure that
member countries are "governed democratically, responsibly and
transparently." Religious leaders also must examine the values and
strategies employed in the union's New Partnership for Africa's
Development to make sure those are accompanied by values and principles
that the church believes should guide stewardship of the world's
resources, he added.
"The church must ... constantly subject
capitalism to the values of the Kingdom of Christ, where caring for and
sharing with the weak are the operative maxims," said Dandala, the
immediate past presiding bishop of the Methodist Church in Southern
Africa.
The years since the conference's 7th Assembly in 1997 in
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, have been rocky ones, marked by management and
budget problems. However, staff reports show much ongoing work,
including advocacy for an end to Liberia's long-running civil war. But
funding from members and international donors declined, partly because
of their own financial struggles and partly out of concern about the
effectiveness of the conference's management.
One general
secretary stepped down and an interim was appointed, serving for 18
months until Dandala took office. The organization undertook a
wide-ranging process of reflection and consultation, summing up its
recommendations in a "concept paper" titled, "The All Africa Conference
of Churches We Want in the 21st Century."
Agnes Abuom from
Kenya, the World Council of Churches' vice president for Africa,
presented the paper to the assembly, which approved the plan to
restructure and reorganize the conference.
The Nov. 22 opening
worship drew some 8,000 - including delegates and the wider Cameroonian
Christian community - to Yaounde's broad May 20 Boulevard. Worshippers
included Mozambique's President Joachim Chissano, chairperson of the
African Union, who that afternoon gave the keynote address opening the
assembly.
His words were both harsh and hopeful. Chissano said
the assembly theme, "Come, Let Us Rebuild," prompted him to ask, "Who
destroyed Africa?" for the continent to need rebuilding. He asserted
that Africa is responsible for its current woes and should not put the
blame on past colonial governments.
Chissano, a Roman Catholic,
affirmed the importance of the church, with its capacity for mobilizing
people from the grass roots and its experience in providing services
such as education and health, both crucial for development.
As
the assembly proceeded, speakers and resolutions addressed a wide range
of issues under four sub themes: health and healing, Africa and
democratization, human rights, globalization and poverty, and the
"selfhood" of the African church.
African Americans and Africans
engaged in an evening of dialogue, and the outgoing and incoming
general secretaries of the World Council of Churches - respectively, the
Rev. Konrad Raiser and the Rev. Samuel Kobia - spoke about the
worldwide ecumenical movement and African churches' place in it. Kobia
is a Methodist from Kenya; Raiser belongs to the Evangelical Church in
Germany.
They challenged Africa's churches to make ecumenism real
"on the ground" in local communities and to join forces for radical
structural change in the living conditions of Africa's working poor.
A
full day was devoted to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, ending with a
candlelight vigil and service of commitment to a 10-point plan of
action.
The Right Rev. Nyansako-Ni-Nku, moderator of the
Presbyterian Church of Cameroon, was elected as the conference's
president for the next five years. He had harsh words against
corruption and greed in both church and state, and emphasized the
importance of a strong voice from the churches. # # # *Fouke-Mpoyo
is media liaison for the National Council of Churches USA and served
on the communications staff at the 8th Assembly.
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