Living out the ACCRA Confession – Jerry Pillay

1. The Accra Confession was adopted at the 24^th General Council of WARC in Accra, Ghana in 2004.

2. It is a faith statement that commits churches to “covenant in obedience to God’s will as an act of faithfulness in mutual solidarity and in accountable relationships.” A covenant which binds us to work for justice in the economy and the earth in both our local communities and in our shared world.

3. It is a prophetic call, raising important questions and demanding a clear stand on economic and environmental injustices as part of our Christian witness and mission. The prophetic element is captured in what ‘believed’ and what is ‘rejected’.

4. The Accra Confession was received with mixed reactions. It was widely welcomed by many who experienced deprivation, exploitation and the economically disadvantaged. It drew strong reactions from those who identified with the Empire and therefore felt that it was a target against them.

5. Douwe Visser has provided a helpful summary covering some of the reasons why the Accra Confession proved to be problematic for Europe (see Europe Covenanting for Justice, pp. 30-31):

6. The above-mentioned factors played a role in the relation between the WARC and its European member churches.  However in the reception of the Accra confession and the involvement in the covenanting for justice work there are other problematic factors directly linked to the European context:

Europe is for many of its countries part of the global North from the perspective of economic wealth.  As such Europe is directly profiting from the global economic situation that causes economic injustice for many of the poor countries.

• Looking at the global ecological situation, Europe as a whole has a very large so-called ecological footprint and is as such most probably the cause of pollution and climate change.
• European countries have played a dominant role in colonising countries in the global South and still play a role in neo-colonial situations.
• Also European churches and especially many of its members are directly profiting from the lack of balance of global economic wealth.
• European theology has often played a role and still plays a role in justifying situations of economic and ecological injustice.
• European churches have often played, not the least by using their financial powers, a dominant role in the ecumenical movement hindering equal global involvement.

7. However, the economic recession in 2008 has shed new light on this debate and more people are now able to see the 2004 Statement as a prophetic message speaking to what was eventually to come. So there is a new appreciation and a more inviting spirit to engage on this topic. In spite of the criticisms the European churches have again put the question of justice and poverty on the ecclesiastical agenda as a matter of urgency.

8. Sadly, in my opinion, the WCRC has not adequately sustained this conversation or implemented some of the suggestions which emerged out of the Accra Confession and I like to offer this more especially as a critique of us in Africa.

9. But this does not mean that there is silence. The Council for World Mission has taken this document and used it as a basis for its own Theological Statement undergirding its work and witness: “Mission in the Context of Empire”. The WCC has used it in its justice and mission programmes and produced books outlining the themes covered in the Confession.

10. I have said on many occasions that the WCRC needs to put the Accra Confession back on the table and that we need to integrate it in the very fabric of our work. It is, of course, embodied in our Strategic Direction of: Communion, Justice, Mission, Theology and Ecumenical Engagement but it needs to be spelt out a lot more boldly and clearly. Silence does not mean that the issues raised in the Confession does not exist, it may mean that we are just not prepared to talk about it.

11. This then is the challenge for Africa. Seeing that the Accra Confession was born on the African soil does it not place on us a responsibility to ensure that we continue to live out our “covenanting for justice in the economy and the Earth?” It does not start with us pointing fingers at Europe or America but with us. We need to ask: “How are we living out the Accra Confession?” What are we doing as Member Churches to implement the Accra Confession?

12. Africa is plagued with poverty, HIV and AIDS, unemployment, violence, economic discrepancies which see the rich get richer and the poor getting poor, hunger, malnutrition, political turmoil, cultural domination, gender discrimination, abuse of women and children, devastation of the land and soil erosion, struggles against imperialism and colonialism, the domination of rich corporations and the list goes on. In this context we need to ask how we can live out the Accra Confession.

13. It is the latter part that we now turn to in the rest of this presentation: What can we do to live out the Accra Confession?” The first question we ask is: What can Member Churches do? Here are some practical suggestions:

–                      Make the text available to all congregations and structures in the church

–                      Set up discussion groups and invite comments.

–                      Formulate Bible Studies around the themes captured in the Confession

–                      Arrange ministers/ lay peoples workshops on the Confession

–                      Preach sermons on themes

–                      Address issues of injustice in the church and community.

–                      Look at your church’s view on money and its use.

What are the practical things your church is doing in these given areas?

14. What can we do together in the African context? Some suggestions are as follows:

–                      Make a critical analysis of the African context.

–                      Establish ways in which we could act together on common issues.

–                      Set up a Regional communiqué to provide information and raise awareness of issues related to the Confession in different areas.

–                      Dialogue with Politics and Commerce.

–                      Dialogue with others across the globe on these matters.

–                      Work on joint Bible Study material and sermons on themes in the Accra Confession.

–                      Establish joint development work and projects/ programmes, e.g. on poverty, globalization, HIV and AIDS, etc.

–                      Challenge one another on justice issues (gender, economics and eco-justice).

–                      Engage theological discussions on the theme in the Confession.

–                      Ask Universities and Theological Seminaries to include it as part of their curriculum.

–                      Initiate a forum for academic debate and dialogue on relevant themes.

–                      Journey with Member Churches of the WCRC who require assistance.

15. In concluding, the main point I wish to leave with you is that we in Africa must start to put the Accra Confession back onto the WCRC table but we need to begin here in Africa. We need to seriously interrogate the ways in which we can live out the Accra Confession in our context. We need to assume the responsibility to promote it, explore and engage the conversations around it in our very churches. I hope that we would be able to agree on some joint initiatives and self-responsibility in taking the Accra Confession further and not simply leaving it on the shelf or WCRC archive.

 

The Rev. Dr. Jerry Pillay is President of the World Communion of Reformed Churches.  He currently serves as the General Secretary of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA). He served as a trustee for the Council for World Mission until June 2012 and presently serves on the Executive of the South African Council of Churches and the National Religious Leaders Forum in South Africa. His ecumenical commitments also include mediating the processes of unity talks within the Dutch Reformed family in South Africa.