HEALING: HOPE IN ACTION
CWM Assembly Message – Summary
CWM’s Assembly met on Jeju Island, South Korea from June 18th – 23rd 2016 where we faced the urgent bitter pain of many contexts. We heard stories of the many who long for hope and healing – from Korea’s divided peninsula, to Palestine’s struggle against occupation, to the historic and current experience of marginalised communities worldwide, to those who experience hate crimes because of their perceived difference, to the earth itself in the midst of Climate change. Each of these point to other places of hurt and pain that are interconnected in the web of exploitation that CWM defines as Empire.
The Assembly’s exploration of healing moved us beyond merely bringing comfort to actively seeking change. A change to our systems and structures, values and practices is necessary because peoples, communities and the earth are deeply wounding. In seeking such change the church needs to listen to the cries of those who hurt, especially those who experience pain as a result of the church’s collusion with, or its complicity and/or compromise in the face of Empire.
An inclusive community, that affirms unity in diversity and commits to mutuality, equality and interdependence, is the outcome of healing, one of the fruits of justice, which challenges vested interests, paves the way for reconciliation and enables the church to become an authentic expression of healing and hope. Healing is mission at work in the context of Empire, naming the forces that profit from inflicting pain and advocating for just relationships and generosity of spirit.
Hope is active; it is more than empty promises or ideal utterings as so often expressed by the church. Christ and the hurting world are calling on the church to bear witness to the hope we have in Christ, a hope not just in salvation from the world (escapism) but salvation for the world (engagement), a hope grounded in action for the healing. CWM is committed to working with member churches and other partners to discern and act in ways that bring focus and energy to such witness.
CWM affirms healing as the missionary mandate given to us by Christ. We commit to a vision of healing, marked by change to the life-denying social order and care for those who hurt.
CWM affirms the urgency of engagement for advocacy with the victims of Empire, the need to confront the conspiracy of silence and to act in solidarity with those who have the courage to speak their pain. We commit to work in partnership with the ecumenical community, peoples’ liberation movements and the Wounded in proclaiming the Resurrected Christ in the midst of Empire.
CWM affirms our counter-cultural calling to dismantle divisive walls and pursue a vision of peace. We commit ourselves to challenge all theologies, ideologies and narratives that do not contribute to fullness of life for all creation; and to contribute to an alternative way of thinking and being.
For the full document download here – Jeju-Assembly-Message-FINAL