Our Spiritual DNA – Final report to CANAAC and the WCRC

March-April meeting – 2014 – Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Submitted by Sara Harrington (Canada)  Kelvin Marte Sena (Dominican Republic)
Lisa Vander Wal (US) Donette Ritchie (Guyana) and Anne Weirich (US)

How to do justice – unity in and THROUGH the bond of peace – was the general theme of the CANAAC meeting and the opening Bible study.

Did we know that we were a part of such a diverse and amazing group of Reformed Christians?

Gathered in Jamaica, we quickly learned that although few in number, compared to the possibilities of the wider CANAAC grouping, our cultural, spiritual and theological DNA was rich and varied.

This complex diversity is something to be honored and celebrated.  But it was also acknowledged in our opening Bible Study with sister Jackie, that it can conform us into a comfortable sense of completeness long before God is ready for us to rest.  There are some steps to leaving conformity so that we can be a part of transforming the world.

First we need to be aware of oppression sickness – when the oppressed are infected by some of the culture of the oppressor.  In the CANAAC DNA, this is often a North American/Caribbean issue.  We were reminded that there are pockets within North American contexts where the Caribbean exists and experiences the same “treatment” any infection would.

The awareness of oppression sickness in CANAAC’s DNA is nothing simple.  But as time went on, what seemed to rise to the surface, was the idea that most of what we humans struggle with is a stewardship of power.

Perhaps CANAAC could engage in a season of discernment about itself, and the broader context of the WCRC and the ACCRA Confession, to see where all of what we do is “infected” by our struggle for power.

We have chosen one example from our experience in Jamaica to illustrate what we mean by this.

Stewardship of power in the context of the visit to New Kingston.

One of the more obvious mandates of the ACCRA confession is the emphasis on gender justice.  When most of us hear these words, we think, “Oh, equality for women.  Empowerment for women.”  We understand that women are, in many cases, are sidelined and ignored, with death dealing consequences in the most extreme cases.  Several times in the course of our week together, we heard it said that it was important to remember that gender was much broader than the male/female cultural, spiritual and economic justice we strive for.

Gender also includes those who are part of the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer or Questioning) family.

About 17 members of the CANAAC/CANACOM group journeyed to New Kingston one night to visit a group of boys and young men who lived in a fragile, hidden community in a culvert under a bridge in a busy, commercial district there.  They were ministered to by a local clergy woman.

Their fragile existence was caused by the deep homophobia of the Jamaican context.  Some had been thrown out of their homes.  Some had chosen to live there to protect their lives.  All were engaged in prostitution, providing a service to an clearly underground demand for sex.

The BBC was present the night that our group visited.  They filmed interviews with some of the delegates, which they hoped to include in a documentary film about homosexuality in Jamaica.

The stewardship of power and its misuse in this story are everywhere.

The power of hatred and ostracism which drove the boys from their home.

The power of Scriptural interpretation may have added fuel the the fires of hatred.

The power of the market, which has created a demand for prostitution.

The power of crime which changed the safety and security of the neighborhood.

The stewardship of power and its use for justice is also present.

The power of the boys to survive by banding together.

The power of Scripture which empowered the pastoral care for these boys.

The power of the BBC to shed light on a hidden and oppressive lifestyle.

The power of face to face encounters, which was in some cases, a first contact, that began to move people from conformity to a certain way of thinking of the LGBTQ community.

The story continued….

Several days later, we learned that within 48 hours of our visit and the BBC’s filming, the police raided the culvert.  40 boys were arrested.  While they were in custody, their ramshackle, fragile home was dismantled and cleared away.  10 boys have been released into the unknown.  The rest are still in custody.

The power brokers used police force to restore the culvert to its intended function.  The local residents are restored to living without fear and intimidation in their homes.

The police have done their job.  What then, is the job of the church?  We pray.  We struggle with our comfortable conformity.  And we wonder – was it our presence and the BBC’s reporting that became the tipping point for action?  Are we somehow a part of the danger that the boys now face as they try to regroup and find a new way to survive?

This situation presents the entire church with an opportunity.

We remember the words of our sister Jackie when she reminded us that “the oil flows from the press.”  This means that we will be led into places we do not want to go by the Spirit.  Is this one of those places?  And if it is, is there a way that we can help one another, support one another and encourage one another as we step out of our own cultural DNA to be a pastor and a friend to those in need?  Is this the time to examine and question whether we tiptoe around the fears we have about homosexuality?  Can we move forward with courage to begin the conversations in our churches?

Stewardship of power among ourselves

We are Reformed Christians and therefore, we love order.  We believe that orderliness is a part of God’s creation.  And when we can reflect that order in human affairs, we are honoring God and lifting the burden of chaos from our lives.

Orderliness can sometimes confound us.  Could this be because it can also hold remnants of the very things we are trying to overcome when we call for economic, ecological and gender justice in our world?

Perhaps we struggle among ourselves and our abilities to actually step outside ourselves to DO JUSTICE because we are constrained by the systems we have in place to steward our organization.  Is there a sense in which we make our work more difficult because we cry out for a  justice that we may not fully express within CANAAC?  Do we say one thing and do another?  Does this cause a disconnect in our message?

The Accra Confession, the work of WCRC and CANAAC – and our partners – such as CANACOM AND CWM – are clearly pastoral and missional movements for justice for all people.  But our structure can sometimes get in the way.  It is a based on traditional/colonial models of hierarchy.  Some efforts have been made to change this.  There is a collectivism to the way we structure our dues and fees.  Meetings are often conducted with a consensus model.  But we ask, is there a way to bring even more justice to our own way of organizing ourselves?

CANAAC presents a unique opportunity to ask and answer this question because we are a microcosm of the larger picture – we are the North and the South trying to be together.  It was stated in our meeting that the Caribbean voice can be silenced by the dominance of North Americans at the table.  There are only 2 North American voices, but they happen to be 2 of the largest in the world – Canada and the US.  There is the possibility of more than 20 from the Caribbean.  How do we gain the parity and equanimity which we hope for given the net of rules that runs from WCRC to CANAAC?

Is there a way to rename our offices, create more offices and encourage WCRC to relax its requirements for a seat at their table?  We have taken up a suggestion made by the CANAAC nominating committee to create working groups for specific areas of mission and pastoral work such as modeled by the South American group.  How will we express this?

Could North America and the Caribbean meet as one group at General Council meetings to nominate the slate of positions?

We will study our by-laws to see if there are ways to create flexibility for the rules for nominations and structure.  Perhaps we need to allow our focus to empower our nominations – being gift based rather than geographic and economic – if the times call for this.  We will also address other issues of potential injustice.

What is envisioned is the community envisioned in the book of Acts.  All things held in common – the purse, the power and the justice.  Perhaps the word that captures this most closely is “equanimity.” This can be difficult.  But if we remember that justice is one of a trinity of callings – the others being kindness and humility – then perhaps we will be able to become less of a monument to the past in the way we structure ourselves and more of a movement of the Spirit, which may blow where It will.

CANAAC focus moving forward

Knowledge is power.  This power can be used to exclude and separate, or it can be used to unite and strengthen.  To that end, COMMUNICATION, is a tool for justice.

COMMUNICATION, therefore, is a priority.

As we have noted, STRUCTURE can be a tool for justice as well.

STRUCTURE, therefore, is a priority.

In order to be a movement rather than a monument (to quote one of our youth Bible study leaders) we need to BUILD RELATIONSHIPS

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS, therefore is a priority.

Societal change comes quickly in our times.  The current economy and the state of the planet dictate that our YOUTH and YOUNG ADULTS will face challenges that we cannot begin to dream.  They will need a church that keeps up with their lives.  They are our best barometers for the future.  Youth and young adults lead us.

YOUTH and YOUNG ADULTS, therefore, are a priority.

As the Accra Confession notes, nothing touches at the root of our common and shared concerns more than the sin of inJUSTICE in the economy, the earth and with gender equality.  Human trafficking is an urgent example of this.  North and South are entangled in this evil system of trade.  Because of the fact that it is often the young and poor that are taken from their homes and sold, human trafficking falls under all of the rubrics of Justice expressed in the Accra confession – economic, gender and ecological justice.  It has been named as a priority for CANACOM.  CANAAC has received an invitation to partner with them.  And CANAAC accepts this invitation.

JUSTICE, therefore, is a priority.  The end of HUMAN TRAFFICKING is something we can immediately address through our partnerships and relationships.  We will also be guided in our work of justice by the Accra Confession priorities.

This statement conveys our impressions of the stewardship of power.

Power has conformed us, in many cases, into a structure that is human-made, bending to human will, that is not informed by the will of the Holy Spirit, who demands no distinction between North and South, rich and poor, the powerful and the powerless. To live according to the will of the Holy Spirit, we, the members of CANAAC, intentionally move into a new and transformed reality; a unified body, North and South together, bound and moving forward together, speaking with one voice, and with one concern: that all may flourish and thrive, with abundance of life for all.

Therefore, we end this report with a simple word.  And?????

Rev. Anne Weirich is the Pastor at College Drive Presbyterian in New Concord, OH. In 2004 she attended the WARC conference in Accra as an observer and participated in the consultation for the final draft of the Accra Confession. In 2005 she was part of a Synod group that presented a day long conference on the Accra Confession in LA, CA. In 2010, Anne was the PCUSA representative for the Grand Rapids, MI host committee for the Uniting General Council meeting of WARC and REC.  She was a delegate to the CANAAC meeting in Jamaica in 2014. She a new member of the GACEIR (General Assembly Council for Ecumenical and Inter-religious Relations) of the PCUSA.