Second week of AEI–2020 focuses on interrelatedness of earth sciences and theology to restore the creation

Students of AEI–2020 (partial only)

CHIANG MAI: The second week of the Asian Ecumenical Institute (AEI)–2020, organised by the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), enabled the students to reflect on the interrelated aspects of ecumenism and its manifestations in the real world. The 38 students representing the diverse CCA constituencies from across Asia affirmed the importance of collaborative action and pledged the application of ecumenism to combat several issues that plague the world today.

Dr Dietrich Werner, Senior Theological Adviser for Ecumenical Education and Research of Bread for the World in Germany took two sessions on Keeping Ecumenism, Ecology, and Economics together: Kairos for Creation in Asia, and Diakonia and Development in Restoring the Creation, which focused on eco-theology and ecumenical action. Dr Werner explained the ramifications of climate change and its impacts in Asia. He stated that Asian people would suffer the greatest impacts of climate-related disasters as well as the brunt of total global economic losses if steps were not immediately taken to mitigate carbon emissions. He also initiated conversations on the relationship between earth-system sciences and theology, offering a unique interpretation of the understanding of the oikos.

Dr Werner affirmed the importance of bringing together modern scientific research and the insights from scripture and Church tradition to develop new planetary ethics—one that was cognizant of the boundaries of our environment, rather than advocating for “unlimited” growth—and move towards a circular economy model, which was restorative and regenerative by design.

Sharing the achievements, challenges, and priorities of the global ecumenical debate on eco-theology and eco-diakonia, Dr Werner outlined examples of how churches and faith-based organisations have been key actors for sustainability and restoration.

Prof. Dr Yoon-Jae Chang, Professor of Systematic Theology at Ewha University in South Korea, facilitated two sessions on Ecclesiological and Ethical Challenges to Restoration of God’s Creation, and Eco-theology and Environmental Justice. Describing the sessions as “enlightening,” the AEI–2020 students heard a refreshing interpretation of the story of Noah’s Ark and the Great Flood in Genesis 9.

Dr Chang explained the transition in the meaning of the cultural commandment in Genesis 1:28 and in Genesis 9:1 where humans were no longer instructed to “subdue” the Earth or “have dominion over it”. Dr Chang also noted that God “repeats, restates, and re-emphasises” the new covenant with not just humankind, but all living creatures. The imperative then was to re-interpret the meaning of stewardship in the context of caring for creation.

Dr Chang also shared theoretical understandings of creation as the “body of God” and shattered the prevailing hierarchical worldviews. He affirmed the need for community-based understanding which perceived humans as those who belonged to earth (and not the other way around).

“Today, God asks, ‘Adam (human/farmer), where are you?’ to humans who are living in the illusion thinking that we are the owners of this world and nature, and are running towards the extreme of arrogance. Indeed, God’s question asks us to think about the issue of life beyond the boundaries of human beings, to define the right to life (eco-justice) beyond the rights of humans. We are called to reflect upon God, nature, and human being beyond the arrogance of modern Western humanism and beyond the impotence of orthodox theologies which are all the way too dualistic,” concluded Dr Chang.

Dr Binsar J. Pakpahan, Dean of Ethics and Public Theology at Jakarta Theological Seminary in Indonesia, facilitated a session on Redefining Ecclesiology in Global Pandemic Context. He challenged the very foundations of the students’ understanding of the “Church”. Given that worship had moved online, many communities were facing a pivotal moment, where they were being forced to reconsider what defined them and their faith traditions.

Dr Pakpahan spoke of how the current disruptions to normative community worship were shaping the church. With the separation of ecclesia and koinonia, there was an increasing divergence in the perception of the importance of the physical church. The presentation led the students to question and establish for themselves the basis of formation of the physical church itself. Dr Pakpahan also introduced the concept of the “liquid church”, or the church without walls, and said that the spatial constraints of the physical church were rendered irrelevant.

“The church must cater to the needs of the people, rather than focus on what the church itself wants,” said Dr Pakpahan, in context of the migration of worship from the physical space to the virtual space.

Dr Ester Pudjo Widiasih, Professor of Liturgy at Jakarta Theological Seminary in Indonesia delivered a presentation on Worship and Liturgy in a Digitalised World. “Worship is a ritualised encounter with God, and we must now make this worship contextual and relevant in the virtual form by using different ‘mediums’,” she said. These included synchronous, asynchronous, and mixed forms of online worship.

Dr Widiasih raised a thought-provoking question—“Is God present in the cyberspace?” She then went on to say that God was spirit, God was intangible, and God only needed to be experienced. “New forms of worship challenge our intentionality and our engagement,” she said, emphasising the necessity of authentic involvement rather than a tokenistic online presence. She also stated that the absence of one’s own physical body in online forms of worship served as a reminder of those who were absent from the church community, who were not included, and who needed reaching out to during and after the pandemic.

“Let us strengthen our self-perception and understanding of worshipping—not in body, but in spirit,” exhorted Dr Widiasih to the students.

The AEI–2020 cohort also participated in two workshop sessions during the week.

Seo Young Kim, a doctoral student at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, initiated a workshop session on Climate Change, Environmental Pollution, and Human Lives. The AEI–2020 students discussed the manifestations of climate change and related issues in their local contexts. Many paradoxes across the region were highlighted—water scarcity and extreme flooding, drought, famine, decreasing agricultural yields, hotter temperatures, unsustainable production, rise in vector-borne diseases, and so on. They also discussed what it meant to be a “good steward,” both at the individual level and the community level; along with action plans to enable their churches and communities to address climate change.

Rev. Grace Moon, Programme Coordinator at the CCA, organised the second workshop of the week on Churches’ Ministry and Liturgy in the Context of Pandemic. Given that the COVID-19 pandemic had jarring impacts on liturgy and worship, the students discussed the implications of the transition from attending worship in-person to attending online or virtual services, and whether it could be considered an “authentic” form of worship. They also discussed the digital inequality wrought by the pandemic. Finally, they discussed the new forms of koinonia and diakonia in church ministry and brainstormed the different ways in which multilateral cooperation could be established to address pressing concerns and challenges.

The students also shared their learnings at the end of the second week.

Subin Tamang, a data specialist who belonged to the Immanuel Church in Nepal, said that the week’s sessions had given him interesting and helpful insights in the action he could locally take.

“The churches in Nepal are not quite focused on social issues. The sessions have empowered me with ideas on how I can approach tackling the issues of environmental justice and the protection of creation in partnership with my church,” he said.

Wei-Cheng (Patrick) Tseng, a theological student from the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, was highly impressed by Dr Chang’s sessions on the restoration of creation and the interpretation of creation as the “body of God”.

Contextualising the discussions on the digital divide, he said that it had widened the chasm between the rich and the poor in Taiwan and that the church could no longer afford to neglect the issues of poverty and inequality. He also said that the content of the course was highly relevant to his current studies in systematic theology.

Apner Songa, from the Gereja Masehi Injili di Halmahera in Indonesia was fascinated by the discussions on diakonia and koinonia.

Speaking of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, “Here in Halmahera, we do not feel the heavy burden of the pandemic, unlike other areas. However, listening to the experiences of my fellow students during this pandemic has made me more sensitive.” He also shared that he felt extremely privileged to be a part of the 2020 cohort, given that this was his first international ecumenical engagement.

Preciliana Harianja, a theological student from Gereja Kristen Protestan Indonesia who is studying in Germany, shared that digital spaces currently promoted “community” only through an artificial sense of solidarity and not true spirituality, and that it was necessary to redefine one’s intentions and motivations while participating in online worship, lest the liquid church lose its significance.

The month-long AEI–2020 will conclude on 30 November.