Network of Earthkeeping
Christian Communities in South Africa
NECCSA Update:
September 2004
A
monthly newsletter on Church and Environment in South Africa
1.
An African Earthkeepers Union
In various publications Inus Daneel, a patron of NECCSA, has articulated a
vision of an Africa-wide Earthkeepers Union. Such a union would be an extension
of his work with the Zimbabwean Institute of Religious Research and
Ecological Conservation (ZIRRCON) and the Association of African Earthkeeping
Churches in Zimbabwe. The idea was also that the Goldfields Faith and
Earthkeeping project (based at Unisa) would be involved in such a union (this
project is no longer funded by Goldfields).
This
vision was discussed at a recent NECCSA consultation during a visit of Inus
Daneel and his wife Dana Lee Robert to the University of the Western Cape. The
emerging consensus of this consultation may be captured in the following points:
·
Such an African Earthkeepers Union would not be an extension of NECCSA in
the sense that NECCSA is primarily a loose communication network of Christian
earthkeeping communities and not an organisation in its own right. A communication
network operating through the internet only would tend to be elitist and would
remain inaccessible for many who may make a valuable contribution.
·
It would be a union of faith-based organistions (FBO’s) which would
encourage cooperation between Christian earthkeeping groups and groups from
other religious traditions where appropriate in terms of a particular local
context.
·
The union would consist of a relatively small number of well-established
earthkeeping organisations engaged in particular projects. These organisations
should function as “centres of gravity” that could play a leadership role in
faith-based responses to environmental challenges.
·
The purpose of the union would be to stimulate such leadership, to
provide a platform for prophetic witness, to strengthen one another’s hands
through moral support, to ensure systems of accountability, to assist in
fundraising with donor agencies, and especially to concretise and develop
workable models of faith-based earthkeeping projects.
·
The vision for such a union will necessarily have to be a long-term one,
despite the urgency of many of the environmental issues that have to be
addressed on the African continent. A first step will be to identify such
well-established earthkeeping organisations across the African continent. A
next step may be to plan a consultation of such organisations where the details
of such a union could be fleshed out.
·
Once such an African Earthkeepers Union is in place, it would seek to
identify or help establish more such centres of gravity, especially in regions
where this may be needed.
Do you find such a vision attractive? Do you think it is feasible? Do you
know of such well established, faith-based earthkeeping
organisations? Please let us know what you think.
2.
World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC)
From
30 July – 13 August the World Alliance of Reformed Churches held its General
Council meeting in Accra, Ghana. There were a number of references to the
environment both in the presentations and in the statements produced.
Particularly interesting is a final statement called “Covenanting for
Justice”. This and other material may be accessed on their website, www.warc.ch.
Here are some extracts from the final statement:
We
believe in God, Creator and Sustainer of all life, who calls us as partners in
the healing and redemption of the world. … We recognize the sovereignty of God
over all life. As delegates in this 24th General Council we have
declared that the present global economic order places more and more power in
the hands of institutions that are not accountable, treats people as
commodities, and plunders and despoils the earth. This issue goes right to the
heart of our confession of faith. … We covenant to stand against the abuse of
the environment and take action to foster respect and appreciation for the
creation. Therefore we will work for the protection of the environment and seek
to conserve resources in every possible way. We covenant to witness against the
unequal distribution of resources in our society, and stand in solidarity with
those who suffer the effects of this global financial empire. Therefore we will
go as signs of grace of God, working with those seeking a just society. … We
covenant with others worldwide: we commit ourselves, our time, and our energy to
the call of changing, renewing and restoring the economy and the earth.
Therefore we choose life so that we and our descendants might live in a just
world.
3.
A Rocha Weekend
A Rocha
South Africa, which is part of an international “conservation organisation
working to show God’s love for all creation”, held a Time-Out Conference on
the weekend of 10-12 September. It was held at Kenosis Retreat, a small
retreat centre 10 km from Pietermartizburg, and was attended by people from Cape
Town, Johannesburg as well as KwaZulu-Natal. Input was given on the theme
of Sabbath by Bishop Philip Le Feuvre, former Anglican bishop of St Marks the
Evangelist, who lives in Limpopo where chairs the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s
Blue Swallows Working Group there.
NECCSA website address: HYPERLINK
"http:www.neccsa.org.za
where membership details could also be found. You are invited to accept
ownership of this website in order to use it to share information on
Christianity and earthkeeping practices. Please send any information to the
email address below.
You are welcome to distribute this NECCSA
Update electronically to any other interested person. You are also welcome to
send news to be included in the next NECCSA update to
HYPERLINK "mailto:%20andrew.war emcemp@iafrica.com
by 16 October. You may send such contributions in the language of your choice.
Distributed by EM Conradie 26/09/2004