MESSAGE OF THE CONGRESS
 
 Asian Theologians Setting Agenda for the 21st Century

We are 92 Asian theologians working with the people and churches of Asia. We are from Australia, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand and have been meeting at Somang Academy House, Suwon, Korea from May 25 to June 1, 1997. We are brought together by the Christian Conference of Asia and Asian theological education networks -- ATESEA, BTE/SSC, ETE, WCC and PTCA -- to share our stories, our hopes and our commitments in doing theology from the perspective of the struggles of our peoples and children. We had worshipped together, studied together and enjoyed life together, women and men from Asia and the Diaspora. Together we seek an Asian theological agenda for the 21st Century.

We are reminded of the momentous changes taking place in Asia as we face a new century. Some of the questions and challenges come from globalization, new information technology, poverty, religious and ethnic revival and conflicts, the ecological crisis, women�s movements and other movements of the marginalized. Further, we have experienced the rapid growth of churches over the last decade, especially among Pentecostal, fundamentalist and evangelical congregations. Old paradigms of theological construction and old patterns of ministry must be changed and transformed if we are to respond creatively to this new situation.

A renewed search for meaning and the fullness of life is evident even where communities are destroyed by violence and war and even when human life is threatened by systems and practices which reduce people to commodities for profit and dominance. As a community who engages fully in the lives of our people and participate in the realization of God�s reign, we are committed to the recovery of the richness of human life - in its beauty and grandeur; in its sacredness and responsibilities; in its relationships and sustainability.

In seeking new ways by which faith can be articulated we are led to make some affirmations which provide a direction for the task of theologizing:

1. People - minjung, dalits, women, the poor and other marginalized groups - continue to occupy the center of our theological reflection;
    

2. Theology for us is not a systematic explication of timeless truths nor is it a matter of imposing a pre-fabricated system of ideas on a situation. Its object is to help people in their struggles for justice, freedom and community as well as to serve the churches in their articulation and practice of faith.
    

3. We are committed to a vision of ecumenism that is expressed in our participation in this congress as Protestants, Orthodox and Roman Catholics (represented by the FABC);
    

4. Our ecumenical vision is broader than the unity of denominations. We are committed to a vision of the unity of the whole humankind and the integrity of the whole creation, a world of community of communities;
    

5. Asia is the home of world religions, and we celebrate the gift and heritage of these faiths. A pluralistic community which allows space for different identities to flourish should be our common goal. We need to mobilize the humanistic and liberating vision of religions for building a community of justice and peace;

Today we have formed ourselves into a new fellowship, the Congress of Asian Theologians, and we embark on a new journey of doing theology by reflecting on the great diversity and contradictions which are emerging in the present realities of Asia. The meaning of the reign of God, the language of God-talk, the imagery of Christ among the people; questions of sacrifice and suffering, human freedom and responsibility, particularly with regard to creation -- these are some of the issues which surfaced in our discussions.

More specifically, we identify some of our future tasks:

1. To deepen and broaden the networks of Asian theologians through the sharing of Asian resources for doing theology, exchanges among students and theological educators and inter-regional dialogues;
    

2. To investigate and seek resolution for the spiritual dimensions of communal conflicts, violence against women and children in many forms;
    

3. To analyze the dynamics and the destruction of war so that the viability of war-making as a social institution can be theologically assessed towards peace and justice;
    

4. To explore ways of relating positively to other spiritual and religious traditions, in order to refine and strengthen our Christian commitment and faith;
    

5. To discern ways of drawing on indigenous spiritual traditions in Christian theology and worship;
    

6. To deepen the emerging dialogue between emerging contextual theologies;
    

7. To integrate feminist perspectives an reality and in the language of theology and all disciplines of theology.
    

8. To continue to explore ways of articulating the meaning of Christ especially in the area of inter-faith dialogue and ecological concerns;
    

9. To articulate a �third generation� of missiology that goes beyond the paradigms of mission bequeathed to us by the ecumenical movement and Vatican II;
    

10. To commit ourselves to the formation of church leadership and theological educators by developing new theological curricula and pedagogies.

Our fruitful exchange, sharing and common visioning were made possible through the generous support of one congregation the Somang Presbyterian Church, Hanil University and Theological Seminary and the Christian Institute for the Study of Justice and Development. We acknowledge their help with a deep sense of gratitude.

We are sorry that due to financial limitations and other logistical problems not all theologians who wished to come to CATS could be accommodated this time. We also regret that there were no participants with us from some Asian countries.

We invite all Asian theologians to join us in this new venture. We leave here with a renewed commitment to Asia, our people and our churches, and our task as theologians.

May 31, 1997