Thursdays in Black Ambassador

Some time ago I was approached by a co-worker at the World Council of Churches headquarters in Geneva. The question that was posed was: would I be interested in becoming an ambassador for the campaign

Thursdays in Black

With no hesitation I answered yes. I have supported the campaign for many years. Almost every Thursday I dress in black trousers and in a black shirt and put on the pin with the text:

Towards a world without rape and violence

How can anyone be in favour of rape? It is not possible to comprehend. Still it is happening all over the world. Every day. It is outrageous.

Here is the youtube film that the WCC has recorded. 

In 2013 I had the privilege of taking part in the General Assembly of the WCC, held in Busan in South Korea. I was especially present to moderate the men’s gatherings at the Pre-Assembly of Women and Men. The group of men that was gathered issued a statement. It started like this:

We the men in the first WCC Women’s and Men’s Pre-assembly express our immense gratitude to women who have enabled us to understand the pain and injustice of patriarchy and gender inequality.  We have experienced transformation in our lives, by the grace of the God of Life, which has begun to open our hearts and minds to a shared struggle for gender justice. Yet, we are painfully aware that we men still have a long way to go on our journey toward a true community of women and men in the churches and in society at large.

Since then I have tried to reflect on my own masculinity and the structures in society that we all are trapped in. Statistics are clear. Men are involved in more violent acts then women. This means that men also are victims many times. I cannot do much about this. But I can decide to be part of a transformation.

Being an ambassador for Thursdays in Black is one way to contribute.

Kyrkornas världsråd och utbildningsinstitutet

Igår fick jag ett efterlängtat mejl. Från Sydafrika. Jag hade skickat en artikel till en kollega och fick nu äntligen svar. Vad jag förstår håller den för publicering och det känns mycket bra.

Artikeln beskriver den process som ledde fram till det första 'förmötet för kvinnor och män' som ägt rum i samband med en generalförsamling med Kyrkornas Värdsråd (KV).

Det är nu snart två år sedan och på tiden att jag blir färdig med min text. Ännu återstår s k 'peer review', vilket innebär att ett par kollegor ska läsa texten och godkänna att den håller måttet. Förmodligen får jag tillbaka den med några kommentarer och förbättringsförslag.

Det är i nuläget särskilt en detalj som jag minns från förmötet i Busan, Sydkorea. I en av samlingarna, när både kvinnor och män var med, skulle en av de svenska deltagarna beskriva situationen i Svenska kyrkan en smula skämtsamt. Hon var då studerande vid en av föregångarna till Svenska kyrkans utbildningsinstitut, nämligen Pastoralinstitutet i Uppsala (PIUS). Temat för samlingen var, tror jag, hur det ser ut med genusrättvisa i de olika medlemskyrkorna. Genomgående gällde att de allra flesta kyrkorna i världen styrs av män men att kvinnor är i klar majoritet när det gäller medlemsantalet.

Hon berättade att hon och de andra kvinnorna som var på väg att bli präster i Svenska kyrkan försöker få de få män som finns på PIUS att inte känna sig mindre värda, bara för att de är i minoritet. Att även de har en viktig uppgift i prästkåren, som män.

Hon förklarar både före och efter att hon ironiser en smula över en situation som är relativt unik i kristenheten, nämligen att majoriteten präststuderande är kvinnor.

Minns jag rätt hade många i auditoriet svårt att förhålla sig till det som sas. Jag tror alla förstod att det som sades, var sagt med glimten i ögat. Men ändå var det svårt för många att inse att det kunde vara så, att kvinnor var i majoritet i en prästutbildning. I många kyrkor finns ju inte en enda präst som är kvinna.

Min artikel handlar inte om just detta men mina reflektioner inför terminsstarten på Svenska kyrkans utbildningsinstitut gör, bland mycket annat, det. Ännu vet jag inte hur fördelningen kommer att bli. Men jag tror att det kommer att vara en dominans av kvinnor. Bland kollegorna är det helt klart så. Rektorn är kvinna och tre av fyra programchefer. Av de 13 som arbetar i Uppsala tror jag att vi är 3 män. Sedan finns det några timanställda. De är, tror jag, alla kvinnor.

Spelar detta någon roll? När jag själv läste på dåvarande pastoralinstitutet var det helt annorlunda. Då tänkte jag inte så mycket på saken. Det var bara så.

Det är overdersägligen så att det har skett ett skifte i Svenska kyrkan. I en annan artikel, som jag lämnat in för publicering, beskriver jag bland annat detta. Minns jag rätt är ungefär 55% av de som prästvigs idag, kvinnor. Bland kyrkoherdar är det dock helt klart flest män. För att inte tala om biskoparna.

Min uppfattning är att det är bra med en balans. Den kan ju aldrig hamna på 50/50. Om det ibland blir 40/60 eller 60/40 är det ju inte hela världen.

Men hur ser det ut bland musiker, pedagoger och diakoner? Min misstanke är att åtminstone diakoner och pedagoger kraftigt domineras av kvinnor. Är det bra? Förmodligen inte.

Det känns viktigt att hitta språk och arbetssätt, som bidrar till att både kvinnor och män känner sig hemma i kyrkan. Som anställda, ja. Men framför allt som medlemmar.

Under min termin som vikarierande lärare kanske jag återkommer till hur genusaspekten påverkar innehållet i det som sker vid utbildningsinstitutet.

Men det får bli i en senare bloggpost. Ännu har ju inte terminen börjat.

HeForShe

My eldest daughter sent me a message. The message included a link to a speech that Emma Watson has held at the UN.

Dad, this is something you ought to write a blog post about.

She is of course right. My children often are! Children often are!

In short: The United Nations has launched

A Solidarity Movement for Gender Equality

The front figure is the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson. I listened to her speech held in the UN Headquarters in New York. I liked it!

Of course this is nothing new. It has just reached the UN-level. Nothing strange! Of course there are men who, for a long time, have understood that both women and men benefit from gender equality. Nevertheless, I think this is a great initiative. I am not going to comment on a lot of things. Rather listen to the speech yourselves. It’s less than 12 minutes long. Here is the link.

Last year, in the end of October, I attended the WCC pre-assembly of Women and Men in Busan, South Korea. It was for the first time that the World Council of Churches arranged a pre-assembly of both women and men. For 60 years it had been a pre-assembly for women. I happened to be the moderator of the men’s gatherings in this pre-assembly. The program of the pre-assembly is here.

Amongst other things we as men made a statement. The link is here. In my view the statement was progressive. But we were only around 50 men in a pre-assembly were the women were close to 500. Emma Watson also speaks about this, when she refers to the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995. Also at that conference men were a minority.

For us, at the pre-assembly in Busan in 2013, it was important to underscore that gender inequalities, affect both women and men. We stated:

Unjust gender relations have not only dis-empowered women but also distorted us as men and limited the way we, as men, relate to others, nature and ourselves.

Our statement tried to problematize this even further. One issue we stressed were the different forms of masculinities that we experience:

There are many forms and practices of masculinity and we have not honoured the diversity of men.  We express our solidarity with men who have been outcast because of their sexual orientation and suffer from the violence of homophobia.

Emma Watson focuses, throughout the speech, on the word feminism. She believes that many people understand the word as gender exclusive. That it, for some, even means “man-hate”. And this has to stop, she says.

For those who listen carefully to feminists, I think it is quite clear that most feminists are aware that feminism is about gender equality. For the sake of all human beings. But of course, it is easy to misunderstand. Sometimes we as men put up a defense because we experience quilt. I therefore welcome Emma Watson’s speech also on this note.

Lastly I have to express a critique that I cannot withdraw. "He For She". Really? Shouldn’t it be “We together for All of us”? I’m just asking.

Nevertheless I am prepared to join this movement. It is a good initiative. On the way to a world of equality! You can also join. Do it on the HeForShe-website. The link comes here.

Vem vill bli prinsessa?

I slutet av oktober och början av november var jag med på Kyrkornas Världsråds generalförsamling i Busan. En omvälvande upplevelse. En del bloggade jag om där och då. Men det är många minnen som nu börjar poppa upp. Låt mig berätta om ett seminarium jag deltog i. Det ordnades av YWCA och temat var:

The Role of Christians in Violence Against Women, Young Women and Girls

Fr v: Moderatorn (tyvärr uppfattade jag inte namnet på henne) Namsoon Kang,  

Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, MiJung Lee, Yi-Ting Wang. 

De var fem i panelen. En moderator och så fyra som höll anföranden. Prof Namsoon Kang (Texas Christian University) började. Sedan kom Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, som är Generalsekreterare för hela YWCA. En forskare från Korean Women Development Institute, MiJung Lee, var den tredje och sist ut en student från CHANJUNG Christian University i Taiwan – Yi-Ting Wang. Det som grep mig mest hände i det sista anförandet.

Yi-Ting Wang berättade hur det påverkat henne att alltid ha prinsess-idealet som ett mål. Hon berättade hur omgivningen förväntat sig att hon skulle se ut som och bete sig som en prinsessa. Hon nämnde sin lärare och sina föräldrar. Men hon ville inte. Hon ville vara sig själv.

Först tänkte jag: skulle det inte handla om våld mot kvinnor, unga kvinnor och flickor? Jo, just det. Vi har ju ett uttryck som heter:

Att göra våld på sig själv.

Som ofta bottnar i andras uttalade eller outtalade förväntningar. När föräldrar och lärare behandlar ett barn på detta sätt, då är det våld!

När Yi-Ting Wang talat färdigt reste sig en kvinna i auditoriet upp och tackade just för detta. Hon berättade att hon upplevt att Yi-Ting Wang talat om hennes liv. Och så började hon gråta. Starkt!

Mitt intryck var helt klart att Yi-Ting Wang hade stått emot trycket och orkat vara sig själv. Men hur många flickor och unga kvinnor gör det?

Ett uppdrag jag hade i Busan var att organisera männens samlingar under förmötet för kvinnor och män. Min reflektion är att även pojkar och unga män utsätts för liknande våld. Att bli någon de inte vill vara. Detta förringar inte Yi-Ting Wang’s upplevelse utan visar bara att varken män eller kvinnor far väl i en värld som pressar in människor i boxar eller normer eller vad vi nu kallar det.

På eftermiddagen gick jag till Shinsegae, som åtminstone har varit världens största köpcentrum Det ligger mitt över gatan från koferensanläggningen. I rulltrappan såg jag följande bild:

En bild säger mer än 1000 ord. på gott och ont!

Då tänkte jag på vad Jesus sa:

Därför talar jag till dem i liknelser, ty fast de ser, ser de inte, och fast de hör, hör de inte och förstår inte. (Matt 13:13)

Jag kände mig som om mina ögon öppnats något litet.

Closing prayer in Busan

Father Michael Lapsley, who lost both his hands and one of his eyes in a letterbomb attack carried out by the South African Security Police in 1990 - after the release of Mandela. He can speak convincingly about the need for healing of memories. 

The 10 Assembly of the World Council of Churches is over. I am just back from the closing prayer. Allow me to quote the preacher, Father Michael Lapsley, on some important points:

About post-apartheid South Africa:

In our context in South Africa when a black mother sits with a white mother and says that her child never returned form fighting apartheid, the white mother may reply, my child did return but is still damaged by what s/he experienced. Suddenly they are both mothers united by the pain they carry.

About the Armenian genocide in 1915:

Your Holiness and All Armenians – may I today say from this place, we have heard what you said – your people did indeed suffer a great wrong. May the Great healer accompany you so those wounds may truly heal to enable all Armenians to also help others on their journey of healing.

About human sexuality:

Today I want to say as a Christian, as a priest, to all the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex community, I am deeply sorry for our part as religious people, in the pain you have experienced across the ages. I have a dream that in my lifetime, I will hear all the leaders of all our great faith traditions making the same apology.

Referring to the context of the risen Lord, as the scripture was read from Luke 24:28-35:

The crucified and risen one invites us to look at and touch one another’s wounds – to listen and to hear the pain of each other and so become one.

It was a strong message about how we as an ecumenical movement, being so different, still are called into unity.

The need for this became very clear when after the sermon we were invited to exchange peace with one another. Just before this one or maybe two protesters ran into the worship hall and aimed for the microphone in order to denounce the WCC as evil. The protesters were literally carried away and we were a few who felt sorry that they were handled quite brutally.

Tomorrow I will start the journey back home, back to South Africa. It has been very rewarding weeks. Although I am quite exhausted I know I will cherish this for the rest of my life. And I am more dedicated than ever to the theme of the Assembly:

God of life, lead us to justice and peace.

A different day in Busan

I felt something coming already yesterday. Some head ache, possibly fever but nothing more. So, I tried to find a pharmacy, to get some pain killers. In order to do so, I went to the WCC infirmary. I explained to the doctor that I just needed some advice. What kind of brand would be similar to the empty packet of paracetamol and ibuprofen I showed him? And where would I find a pharmacy? Well, he asked me to sit down outside and after a few minutes a nurse came out with two small plastic bags with tablets. She informed me to take one tablet from each bag together with breakfast and dinner. I was very grateful. So service minded!

So I never went to the pharmacy. I went home to the hotel and took as prescribed two tablets with some food. But the night I experienced was something special. Of course I know that fever can make you a bit dizzy but this was something else. I felt as if I and my body were two different entities! The feeling was not nice at all. I am not going to continue with this medication.

This means that today has been a different day at the WCC Assembly, because I have spent the whole day in my hotel room. I just went out a short while to get some food. And good colleagues from Sweden have given me from their own supplies of ordinary, Swedish paracetamol. I look forward to a good night’s rest and tomorrow my plan (and my prayer) is that I can take part in the last day of the Assembly.

Naboth’s Vineyard

Today the text for the bible study was 1 Kings 21:1-22. My colleague from UKZN, Sarojini Nadar, asked me to play the role of Naboth. So here’s the text itself and some footage:

Some time later there was an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.” But Naboth replied, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors.”  

Jione Havea as king Ahab and me as Naboth.

So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my ancestors.” He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat. His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, “Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat?” 

Queen Jezebel (Evangeline Anderson Rajkumar) talks with her husband, king Ahab.
I, Néstor O. Míguez, Maake Masongo and Pernilla Stam are waiting for the story to continue.

He answered her, “Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, ‘Sell me your vineyard; or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” Jezebel his wife said, “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, placed his seal on them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city with him. In those letters she wrote: “Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them bring charges that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.” So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them. They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people. Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death. Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned to death.” 

As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead.” When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard. 

Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: “Go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He is now in Naboth’s vineyard, where he has gone to take possession of it. Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Have you not murdered a man and seized his property?’ Then say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: In the place where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’” Ahab said to Elijah, “So you have found me, my enemy!” “I have found you,” he answered, “because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. He says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you. I will wipe out your descendants and cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel—slave or free. I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and that of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have aroused my anger and have caused Israel to sin.’ “And also concerning Jezebel the Lord says: ‘Dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’ “Dogs will eat those belonging to Ahab who die in the city, and the birds will feed on those who die in the country.” (There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the Lord drove out before Israel.) When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly. Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: “Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son.”

After the drama the main actors were invited to share their views in a talk show, where Sarojini asked everyone a few questions. 

And thereafter we all shared thoughts in smaller groups. This text is a very important text for Christian Palestinians. That became very clear in the report back. This overshadowed another aspect which also could be found in the text, namely the conflict between Elijah and Jezebel. She is described in rather negative ways. The question is: is it fair? A few chapters earlier in the story we can read about how 450 of Jezebels prophets were killed. But of course, Naboth had nothing to do with that.

Unity in diversity or mere disunity?

This evening I am a bit tired. That is probably why this post will focus on a few problems.

We had the last ecumenical conversation today. The leadership has been good but have we reached anywhere? When were to decide on a few affirmations and a few challenges I felt that we worked too much with details. One of the facilitators repeatedly asked us to focus on the content of every sentence and say yes or no to that and if we had time we could go back and work with details. It seemed as if very few listened. The dilemma with the WCC is also that so many perspectives have to be taken into account so the final statement sometimes becomes watered down to almost nothing. But maybe the process itself is the most important.

The delegates were supposed to elect the Central Committee yesterday. They did not, because of a lack of young nominees. So tomorrow there is an extra business plenary. My concern is this: Haven’t the churches known this for seven years? Are they not interested in young people? (Probably not in decision making. Maybe as stewards!)

On top of questions relation to gender and age I know from conversations I have had with individuals that indigenous people and people with disabilities also struggle to be listened to. Not to mention sexual minorities.

Are we not all humans? It becomes very clear to me that there are power struggles and unjust structures to be addressed.

So, let me end by saying that I still am happy to be part of this gathering. It is important that churches, so different, still talk to one another and still pray together. Possibly the Holy Spirit, who moved on the first Pentecost (which was the theme today) also will move now, almost 2000 years later!

Evangeline Anderson-Rajkumar was one of the presenters in the Oikotree workshop. This is an initiative that brings hope. I want to get more knowledge about it before I write anything. Former WCC General Secretary Samuel Kobia also spoke at the workshop.

Another person who brings hope is Fr Michael Lapsley who list both his hands in letter bomb attack but now signs a copy of his book: "Redeeming the Past. My Journey from Freedom Fighter to Healer." I got a copy from "Women in Church and Society" together with other men, who had been involved in the Pre-assembly!

Glimpses from the WCC Assembly

Another interesting day at the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan. Allow me to just give a few glimpses. It was the fourth day of the Assembly program but it was my 9th day.

In the Morning Prayer the scripture reading was interpreted by a drama group. While several readers read about Philip baptizing the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:26-40) the drama group illustrated the reading. When the scripture reading quotes a passage from Isaiah and the drama group was acting it became very clear to me, that this also was a message into our own time:

He was humiliated, and justice was denied him. 

This happens all the time to human beings as well as to the rest of creation.

In the thematic plenary we got greetings from both the Palestinian bishop Munib Yuonan and Rabbi Norman Solomon (I think this was his name) from the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations. It gave me hope to see them together.

After lunch I took part in a workshop with the YWCA and thereafter Ecumenical Conversation number 3. And after the tea break another activity in the Madang.

We were many thousands who could not take part in the most important activity today, namely the Elections in the Business Plenary. Only delegates and a few others can participate. I know it was a difficult session, though. According to the election rules of the WCC there are many perspectives to take into account. First of all the different geographical regions have to be represented equally and according to how many member churches they have (or how big the churches are). Secondly the different traditions have to be represented (Oriental, Orthodox, Protestant etc.) Thirdly the nomination has to take into account that it should be a balance between lay and ordained people. There is furthermore a quotation system for people with disabilities (sometimes called people with special abilities) and for indigenous people as well as for gender and age. Not an easy task to solve.

I do not know if they managed to elect people to the central committee including a new moderator. But I know that the 8 presidents have been elected. The one for Europe is the Archbishop of Church of Sweden, Anders Wejryd. As far as I know there were no other nominations. He has a long experience from the WCC and will have time for this, as he retires next year.

But outside BEXCO other Christians continue to pray and demonstrate. One has to admire there persistent struggle against a movement, which for them is Antichrist. Every time I pass them I greet them with the peace of God and usually they greet me back. At least we are not fighting physically!

So many protesters. I was there but I didn't get the T-shirt.

God of life, lead us to gender-justice and peace.

Not knowing what to expect I went to BEXCO, the conference center where the WCC 10th Assembly is taking place. I had got the information that the bus should leave at about 9. The bus was to take us to a Lutheran church service. Well, that did not materialize (as people often say in South Africa!) Instead the bus left after 10 and brought us to a Presbyterian Church Service, which started at 11. That was still OK. In the bus we were supposed to be 29 (according to the list of the guiding team) but we were only 13. (This made me a bit sad, because the Korean churches have really walked the extra mile with us and when we don’t stick to our promises, this is unfortunate.) But we who were in the bus were, as usual, treated with such a wonderful hospitality.

In every church we have visited they have
a large screen. And usually men are in charge.

The church we attended was the GUDUK Presbyterian Church. (The Presbyterian church is the biggest denomination in South Korea). We got a translation of the sermon before the service. Based on Isaiah 6:1-8 Pastor Yoon preached about our talents: To see with spiritual eyes, to hear with spiritual ears and to be used by God – using spiritual lips.

The service was short. Only 1 hour. A good choir sang, accompanied by an orchestra. Behind the pastor a big screen which was used though out the service. For instance during the announcements.

After church we had lunch. Traditional Korean food. Nice! And after that a cup of cappuccino in the Church café. (Or Latte, for those who preferred that). After only five minutes we had to rush to the next attraction. Busan Modern History Museum. A lot about the Japanese occupation. It is really an open wound.

From the museum of to the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple. Situated not on a hill but near the sea. It was a beautiful scenery. And some interesting aspects of this type of Buddhism. For instance the “Buddha of Granting a Son”.

On this tour were people from Indonesia, Germany, Norway and Sweden. The Swedish part was in majority. I enjoyed the company of the young participants from Church of Sweden youth. But I also enjoyed talking with Henriett Hutabarat Labang, who is the General Secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia. She made me aware of the absence of a “Buddha of Granting a Daughter”. The theme of this assembly could also have been:

God of life, lead us to gender-justice and peace. 

Due to up-coming exams in Korea
the temple was crowded.

The temple was situated at the sea. Beautiful.

On the margin?

Saturday. No plenaries and no Ecumenical Conversations today. But programmes planned by the Korean churches for the WCC delegates and participants. We could choose from 15 different programmes. The most spectacular was the journey to the border between North and South on the 38th parallel. Other programmes included visits to places close to Busan. We were supposed to register on line before coming to Busan. I didn't do that, but was still able to register for a programme named: Empowering the marginalized.

Before I say anything about the day I have to refer to a very important document that the Assembly is dealing with. It’s called:

Together towards life: Mission and Evangelism in Changing Landscapes.

Sometimes it is called:

Mission from the margins. 

I have written about this before. The new perspective is that people on the marginhave agency, have a contribution to give.

So my expectations were these: I knew we were going to a hospital and I thought we would meet a group of patients and have a conversation with them. Maybe also visit an area where people live in poverty and some interesting projects. I thought we were going to see another Korea than BEXCO and the fancy hotels we stay in.

I was wrong and I was right. The day did not meet my expectations in the sense that we did what I thought we were going to do. But it was very rewarding and interesting in other ways.

First of all we did visit a hospital and was led to a room where refreshments waited for us. A presentation followed. The history of the hospital. 95% was the history of Australian Presbyterian missionaries and their work to open the hospital, nursing school etc. With names, photos and detailed facts about their lives. Interesting! But what about the marginalized?

The Mackenzie sisters were instrumental in the history of the hospital.

Next stop was an old school. More facts about the same missionaries and their contribution. The old school was now a museum and one of the oldest buildings in Busan, built in Western style. (And not in Japanese style). Why focus on western architecture?

Where are the marginalized? Where is the empowerment? I was confused.

But then they showed us a room in the museum which told a story about the resistance movement during the Japanese occupation. (1910-1945). It is called "the March 1st Movement" and it started in that building. And I understood that the Australian missionaries were deeply involved.

Information about the March 1st Movement.

My prejudice (coming from another context) was that missionaries work closely with the colonial power. Missionary work goes hand in hand with paternalism. In South Africa the churches both love and hate the missionaries. (This I know from experience but Purity Malinga – a Methodist priest from Pretoria, who was also in the bus – expressed it just like that). Not so in Korea. People love the missionaries. At least the Presbyterian missionaries from Australia. They were supporting the Korean people against the colonial power: Japan. (The first invasion from Japan took place between 1592 and 1598. They have a long history together).

I understood that I had to listen for the empowerment of the marginalized with other ears. And then I also realized that the hospital was a hospital mainly for women and that the church paid for migrant workers who are not part of the Korean health insurance system. Maybe there is more empowerment here then I first saw.

We also visited a church nearby, where we were offered a fantastic lunch. Hospital, school, church. Those three parts of a classic mission station. Spirituality, health and education. Important parts of empowerment! Done in partnership with missionaries who really understood who they should support.

After lunch we went with the bus quite far, to visit a university run partly by the church. Now the time was really against us. We spent less than 20 minutes in a board room with the founder of the university. We go tea and a present. (We also got presents at the hospital and at the church!)

The plan was also that we should stop at school where people were waiting for us but due to time constraints we skipped that. I think that was sad. But we could do nothing about it.

The short visit at the university was very formal.

In the bus I thought about where the people on the margin fit in at the university. Well, maybe when one of the visitors, a priest from Myanmar asked if they accept students from Myanmar. Yes, the founder said. And they only have to pay half of the tuition fee. And then he asked the priest for his contact details and it felt as he was genuinely interested in helping students from Myanmar to get a chance to study at the university.

The first Australian, Presbyterian missionary died after only 6 month. Two Coptic priests from the US and Australia were amazed when they listened to the guide.

Lastly we stopped at a memorial site, where the church (with the help of the state) has erected memorial stones for those missionaries who lost their lives while they were far away from home, being in service. This memorial site was not old. Maybe a few years. I was again stunned. I don't think this would happen in South Africa. And I don’t think it should happen there. But the Korean people in this context obviously had a totally different experience. One of the missionaries who is still alive was with us. John Brown – more than 80 years. Fluent in Korean and very active.

We also ended up having vivid ecumenical (informal) conversations in the bus. Being a very mixed group of Lutherans from Sweden, a Czech Republic Hussite, a Moravian from Nicaragua, Coptic priests and nuns from Australia and America, a Methodist from South Africa,others from Myanmar, Indonesia, Australia etc. This fellowship of churches is really a great inspiration.

I am glad that participated in this part of the pilgrimage that we all make of during the Assembly. Tomorrow I will attend church somewhere in Busan. I just know that I shall enter bus number 4. At 9 am. That’s all!

Many identities

Of course it was a special occasion when the Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea (not the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea) addressed us. But it was another person who touched my heart this day. Yes, Mr Michel Sidibé (Excutive Director of UNAIDS) was excellent and said a number of very good things. So did also Dr Wedad Abbas Tawfik (A Coptic theologian from Egypt, member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians) when she told us about the very serious situation in Egypt, referring to the Coptic Pope’s wish that the Christians should reach out to other Egyptians. Churches that have been burned down can be rebuilt, but not people who have been killed. I were also impressed by the Anglican Bishop Duleep Kamil de Chikera from Sri Lanka. Although I didn’t think that the terminology of “victim’s theology” was helpful, his ideas were definitely so. He suggested that the WCC should include the ritual of washing of feet in the assemblies, since the sharing of Eucharist is not possible.

The perspective that stood out was Mrs Mélisande Shifter, a young theologian from Germany. Her mother is a Buddhist from Asia and her father Christian (from Germany, I guess). She said, that many young people have this mixture of different cultural and religious identities. She did not argue for some sort of syncretism, oh no! She was a very outspoken Christian person. But at the same time she did not reject her origin. It touched me. I think she is a good example of the whole Council of Churches. An ecumenical movement with many identities - and they live together. (Unfortunately I wasn't able to take a picture of her!)

When the moderator thanked her and said that the Church has nothing to fear for the future with such young persons present, it was of course a nice comment. But I do not like when we reduce young people to agents in the future. They are here now. They belong to the church today! And they are a vital part of the church in discernment and decision-making.

The bible study this morning was contextual and powerful. The Taizé lunch prayer was wonderful. An opportunity to get some rest in a packed programme. After a short lunch I attended the second business plenary. In the tea and coffee break I ran to the SHe-space in the Madang to help out with the serving of tea.

Gleeson, from Trinidad & Tobago and I serve tea to the thirsty.

Thereafter i want to the first of four gatherings with the ecumenical conversation I belong to and it is called:

Community of women and men in the church: mutual recognition and transformative justice.

I will most probably come back to this. After that we had regional meetings. I attended the one for Europe, where we were told that our Archbishop Anders Wejryd is nominated as President for Europe (well not the EU but for the WCC region in Europe.) He stands a good chance to be elected.

The evening prayer was also a highlight. In the orthodox tradition, led by the Ecumenical Patriarchate Orthodox Metropolis of Korea. We took part in the service of Artoklasia, which means that bread is blessed and shared with everyone. It’s not the Holy Eucharist. It is very inclusive and typically enough it was rice-bread.

In front of the altar a number of baskets filled with the bread made of rice, to remind us of Jesus, who multiplied five loves of bread to feed the people in the wilderness.

The last part of the day was dinner with all the specialized services in the World Council of Churches, which means faith based organizations (FBO’s) working with development aid, relief and advocacy.

I left the hotel 7.30 and was back 22.00 – the days are long but I will probably only do this once I my lifetime, so I’d better suck out as much as I can.

A few minutes ago the WCC news show for the second day was broadcasted on youtube. I am in it. About 10 minutes into the programme. Here's the link.

First day of the Assembly

This morning I had time to get outside the hotel and run on the beach front. Not for a long time but it was nice. The days are so long. One really needs a lot of oxygen.

The day started with an orientation session for the delegates, advisers etc. I attended it and it was interesting. At 10.15 the gathering Prayer began. Many thousands of people from all over the globe and from many different churches and denominations were there. Inspiring!

A very powerful moment is of course when all pray the Lord ’s Prayer in their own language. But I was also moved by the first part of the prayer which was called Lamentation. From all regions perspectives were given. While one person lamented with words, an artist/dancer was lamenting with her/his body, using ashes as a very visible sign, spreading this all over his/her body. Powerful.

The opening plenary included many greetings from present and absent persons, like the Pope and the Ecumenical Patriarch. But the more significant messages were given by four young delegates from Cyprus, Brazil, South Africa and Fiji. The person from Brazil, Thomas Kang, has Korean parents. The father from the North and the mother from the South. It gave deep meaning to the theme:

God of life, lead us to Justice and Peace.

It has to be said that the leadership of the WCC made a good decision to give the floor to four young delegates.

After the formal opening and all the greetings the Korean host committee presented a wonderful performance, where we were taken through the painful history of Korea. This unsolved conflict really plays a significant part in many respects.

The Japanese occupation!

At the end on the show bishops, metropolitans, cardinals and others were invited to the stage to join hands with the Korean people. Symbolic!

The reading of long reports from the Moderator and General Secretary was of course not so exciting. But nevertheless important. After a tea and coffee break some initial decision were taken in a so called Business Plenary. It is nice to experience the Consensus method in function. At one stage all raised orange cards except one person who raised a blue card. So the moderator gave that delegate an opportunity to voice out the problem. Only thereafter was a decision taken.

With the consensus method there can also be decisions taken when a minority are against the decision, but then the moderator has to make sure that the minority has been heard and are OK with that. Both majority and minority have to take responsibility for this, when a consensus cannot be reached. Then they agree to disagree.

Delegates showing orange cards - signalling that they are in agreement with the proposal. The young woman in orange dress is Thabile Lolo from Eastern Cape in South Africa. She was one of the four young delegates on the stage earlier.

The evening prayer was fantastic. Anglican evensong! I just love it! After that the Church of Sweden had late dinner together, which was also important. Now some sleep is needed. Tomorrow the Assembly will be visited by the Prime Minster of the Republic of Korea. We need to be in the Auditorium early. Security!

Pre-assembly of Women and Men finished!

It has been a good experience to be part of this event. First of all I have met many wonderful persons from all over the globe. I had lunch with a new friend from Serbia. In the bus that took us back to the hotel I sang a Swedish hymn (Bred Dina vida vingar, O Jesus över mig) together with a professor from India, who actually suggested we should sing it. The professor had been to Sweden a year and we could actually communicate freely in Swedish. I was impressed.

The question this morning was of course: Had the draft committee been able to reach consensus about our statement? They were supposed to meet at 8 am in a café named “Café B”. What they didn’t know was that there were at least two cafés with that name. So one group waited at one of the cafés and the other group started at the other. There were some frustration and I had to leave the Pre-Assembly to help them find each other. Eventually they did and started to work.

In the meantime I was asked to answer some questions by the communication department of the WCC. So, when the men met during the first coffee and tea break I stood in front of a TV-camera. After the interview I rushed down to our room where the other men were working themselves through the document. I spent a few minutes but realized:

This is not working. It takes too long time!

So, I excused myself and asked Victor (who is a radio talker) to come with me and join the Pre-assembly. We were just about to enter in to the next session:

Report back from the Women’s and Men’s separate gatherings.

Victor reporting.

What were we to say? (I asked Victor to talk, since I had heard that Marit was going to talk on behalf of the women. Two Swedish persons in report back session would have been awkward. Victor is from Malawi!)

Luckily the moderator started with the women. So, when it was time for Victor to say something, he had been able to write down some notes and he did well. When he was about to wrap it up, the other men entered the Ballroom and I could see that they had a statement. So, they asked if they could read it and the moderator said OK.

All of us men stood up in the midst of the women and Maxwell started to read:

We the men in the first WCC Women’s and Men’s Pre-assembly express our immense gratitude to women who have enabled us to understand the pain and injustice of patriarchy and gender inequality.  We have experienced transformation in our lives, by the grace of the God of Life, which has begun to open our hearts and minds to a shared struggle for gender justice. Yet, we are painfully aware that we men still have a long way to go on our journey toward a true community of women and men in the churches and in society at large.

The statement was longer, but I stop here. After our statement was read up, the whole ball room gave applauds. After that the moderator invited us all to stand up and then she prayed and it was really a precious moment. I felt relieved and happy!

After that I was going to moderate the next session. So I still had to be concentrated. And the tension came back when there was an announcement from the management of the BEXCO Conference Centre spoken in the loud speakers. I had to stop the presenter and then we all heard:

Police is searching the whole centre. There has been a bomb threat. They will go in with dogs. There is no need to panic.

It was given two times in English and two times in Korean. I went to the microphone and suggested that we should continue, which we did. But we were really thrown into the harsh reality of many people around the globe.

There are groups in Korea who have strongly negative sentiments when it comes to the WCC. In the Korean Newspaper "The Korea Times" I read about the Christian Council of Korea (CCK), which is one of the ecumenical organizations of Korea:

CCK insists that the WCC runs against core Christian values because it supports religious diversity and is willing to discuss the acceptance of sexual minorities in the church.

The truth is that the WWC is very careful when it comes to these issues. Many member churches feel that the Council is moving too slowly. But there are other member Churches who feel that the Council moves to fast. Not an easy situation. I don’t think that the question of sexual minorities even will be discussed in the plenary.

I don’t say that those in Korea who are critical against the WCC are behind the bomb threat, but when we went outside for a photo shot, people had gathered to protest about the Assembly. And a large police force was there to protect us.

The protest is OK. It is part of democracy. So, until we know for sure who came with the bomb threat I have decided to listen to the police:

Don’t panic!

These are some of the police women and men that were posted outside the conference centre.

Untity, justice or both?

After a day full of impressions I am back at the hotel. Well, it has been a fantastic first day at the Pre-assembly of Women and Men. I am not sure how many participants we are. Some say 700. And then there are also a few other pre-assemblies. But of course there will be more people when the assembly starts on Wednesday!

I guess we are more than 60 men in the pre-assembly. In the historic men’s meeting close to 30 came. Which I think was a good result. A number of men remained in the women’s assembly.

Using the "fish bowl" method with only a few men in the middle, 

was helpful to get closer to our feelings.

We had a few good presentations with discussions thereafter. Time was of course limited and we started late. The reason for this, I think, was partly the problem of finding the room where we were. It was on another floor, in a corridor not easy to find. Anyhow, we managed to start ten minutes late and do what we had decided to do.

Our last session dealt with a statement on us as men and our relation to gender justice. My impression was that we all agreed in principle but the problem was about strategy. Should we state exactly our opinions or try to be diplomatic? I have much to learn here. If we come out with a statement, which is too provocative, the churches which don’t allow women to be part of the leadership won’t even listen. So, the argument was to rather form a platform for further discussion. The mere fact that we as men come with a statement is prophetic as it is. Others felt that we should be more outspoken. There were many reasons also for this standpoint.

A draft committee is working tonight or tomorrow morning and during coffee break we’ll come together and hopefully we come to a consensus!  After our short coffee break we have a jointed session with the women were we had hoped to present a statement. If we have no statement to offer we will have to say that and continue to work with the statement later on.

The person who is going to report back might be me! I would love to read a statement, even if it was short and tentative. But I will be prepared for a situation where that does not happen, and have something else to communicate.

It is now a bit late. I think I will just post some photos in the blog post and say good night. (Which to most of my readers will be good afternoon!)

In the opening session Korean women and men were dancing together. 

The beautiful pole was not foreign to a Swede, who is used to midsummer poles.

Pre-assembly of Women and Men

So, after a long time it is happening. For the first time I meet people I have been working together with more than half a year. Men and women from all over the world are gathering and although I haven’t met so many, I keep on meeting people, with home I have communicated through e-mail, facebook, skype etc. Social media in combination with physical encounters mean a lot in a world, where we cannot and should not travel all the time. We can keep in contact without flying. (Although I have traveled a lot this year. I know!)

At 4 pm (local time) the organizer of the Pre-assembly of Women and Men, Fulata Moyo, had called us together to go through the last details for tomorrow. At 8.30 am tomorrow we start and the programme is packed with lots of interesting persons and perspectives. I will try to write something tomorrow night, if I am not exhausted. My main role will be to open the men’s gathering, which is part of the combined pre-assembly. As men we will meet separately in the afternoon. Together with other men I will also share the responsibility for the different sessions.

It is indeed somehow historic. For the first time men gather to discuss gender justice in this kind of meeting. But this pre-assembly is historic in another sense, which is not so positive. We see set-backs in the work towards gender justice in the world. One is of course gender-based violence, which seems to escalate. This is terrible. So, the time has come. We usually use the word KAIROS for this. Is a great concept. I am using it with humility. But when we as men come and join forces with women we do not come as saviours. It is not about that. The road towards the goal must be part of the goal. We walk together. That’s the thing.

Fulata Moyo together with Aruna Gnanadason, 

who organised the pre-assembly of women seven years ago in Porto Alegre.

Both very concentrated!