Meeting for Sufferings: Economy of life, justice and peace for all
Trish Carn reports on a call to action considered by Meeting for Sufferings
Economy of Life, Justice and Peace for All is a ‘call to action’ produced by the World Council of Churches (WCC). It is ‘about recognising that the churches must be part of a movement for positive change’ referring back to the way the wider Christian church changed its stance on slavery in previous centuries.
The preamble to Economy for Life states that ‘this call comes in a time of dire necessity. People and the Earth are in peril due to the over-consumption of some, growing inequalities as evidenced in the persistent poverty of many in contrast to the exaggerated wealth of a few and intertwined global financial, socioeconomic, ecological and climate crises… This urgency is born of our profound hope and belief: An Economy of Life is not only possible, it is in the making – and God’s justice lies at its very foundation.’
As the ‘result of a six-year worldwide consultation and regional studies linking poverty, wealth and ecology’, the call to action will come before the tenth General Assembly of the WCC to be held in Busan, Korea from 30 October to 8 November 2013.
The introductory paper by Matthew Biggs, assistant clerk of the Quaker Committee for Christian and Interfaith Relations (QCCIR), spoke of the sentiments in the call echoing Britain Yearly Meeting’s ‘Canterbury Commitment, Friends’ general concerns about the current global financial system and the 2012 Kabarak Call to Peace and Eco-Justice’. QCCIR feels the language, such as ‘building a new international financial and economic architecture’ will resonate with Friends and asked if MfS agreed.
Realising that some Friends may have trouble with some of the language in the ‘call’, MfS was asked if it would endorse this paper. A Friend responded that though the language may be difficult, ‘we should listen to where the words come from’.
Another Friend referred to the last paragraph: ‘The process is envisioned as a flourishing space where churches can learn from each other and from other faith traditions and social movements about how a transformative spirituality can counter and resist life-destroying values and overcome complexity in the economy of greed. It will be a space to learn what an Economy of Life means, theologically and practically by reflecting together and sharing what concrete changes are needed in various contexts. It will be a space to develop joint campaigns and advocacy activities at the national, regional and global levels with a view to enabling policy and systemic changes leading to poverty eradication and wealth redistribution; ecologically respectful production, consumption and distribution; and to develop healthy, equitable, post-fossil fuel and peace-loving societies.’ She felt this was totally in keeping with Quaker values.
A Friend said: ‘I am glad to be here for this paper… it shows the theology of power thought through with great care about how money is disadvantaging those without it.’ He felt the WCC was trying to deal with this appalling problem and supported the paper.
Another Friend stated that she was not Christian but was involved in ecumenical work. She struggled with Christian language in documents such as this. She said it was helpful to think of the words as metaphor and felt that we must ‘wrestle with the creative tension between the letter and the Spirit. It is a growing point for us.’ She continued: ‘I hope we will support this. The spirit is correct.’
‘For all the thought that went into it, it is totally Christocentric,’ said another Friend, wishing that it could include those of other faiths. However, he still supported the paper.
Matthew Biggs said he was thrilled that MfS supported the call to action. He said he heard the request for multifaith language. However, he warned that the next papers that will be coming to MfS are a bit more difficult.
While Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) is not a member of the WCC, it is a member of the British ecumenical bodies – Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI), Churches Together in Wales (Cytûn) and Action by Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS) – who are. They are engaging with the subjects raised by the WCC in this way and BYM, through QCCIR, is part of these discussions. Friends United Meeting, Friends General Conference and Canadian Yearly Meeting are in membership of WCC. QCCIR also reminds Friends in the UK that Quaker Peace & Social Witness has a strong tie with the WCC through the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel.
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