Churches Tackle Divisions by Discussing Ethics, Not Doctrine
By Dalia Acosta
November 6,
2007
CÁRDENAS, Cuba, (IPS) - A group of Christian
denominations and ecumenical organisations in Cuba have launched an ethical dialogue aimed
at smoothing over their historical differences and fomenting mutual understanding,
knowledge, and openness to debate.
"We want to be part of the solution, and that’s
why we’ve taken this step. This doesn’t mean we will be at the centre of the
ethical dialogue, but we’re going to promote it," Baptist pastor Raimundo
García, the head of the Christian Centre for Reflection and Dialogue (CCRD) in the city
of
"We don’t intend to discuss doctrine, but rather
ethical and moral issues. How is it possible to disrespect fellow-Christians, to recognise
no limits, to seek to convert members of a different church, and to poach pastors and
leaders with offers of higher salaries?" said García.
"Social action is part of Christian life, but we
don’t see it as a means of attracting new members for the church," he said.
"Some Christian groups are distributing material goods and other things in order to
bring people into their church. Some even disparage other churches and religious
leaders."
Baptists from the conventions of Western and Eastern Cuba,
Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Methodists are participating in the discussion process,
as are the Christian Reformed Church, the Brethren, the Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ,
the
About 40 people attended the workshop on contemporary
problems affecting relations between Christian churches and institutions, in
A World Council of Churches document, handed out to people
at the meeting, recognises church unity as a permanent priority of the ecumenical movement
and rejects inter-church proselytising as destabilising and creating tensions, scandals
and division. "Lack of unity is leading us to take arrogant, selfish postures with
spirituality that is divorced from reality, manipulation of the Bible and the gifts of the
Spirit, disagreements and prejudice," said Adolfo Ham, rector of the Higher Institute
of Biblical and Theological Studies (ISEBIT) in Havana, delivering the keynote lecture at
the workshop.
According to Ham, this crisis of unity imposes the need to
work out a code of ethics for inter-church relations, and to apply a strategy that
includes spreading information and knowledge, practising tolerance in the context of a
plurality of ideas, and dialogue within a framework of respect.
After decades of tension following the January 1959 triumph
of the Cuban revolution, relations between Cuba’s socialist government and churches
took a radical turn for the better in the wake of an Apr. 2, 1990 meeting between
President Fidel Castro and 70 evangelical and ecumenical leaders.
As a result of this meeting, the ruling Communist Party
opened up its membership to people of faith; discrimination for religious reasons
diminished; and new opportunities for religious organisations to work in the social arena
were created.
"In the 1990s, there was a change, in the sense that
internal obstacles were removed. Christian denominations became stronger, some that had
disappeared reappeared, and many new ones arrived. In 1967 it was estimated there were
about 50 denominations, but in the 1990s there were over 100 denominations and sects
nationwide," said García.
The growth in the number of churches coincided with the
worst period of the economic crisis in
Participants at the workshop in Cárdenas said the surge in
church membership occurred because many people were drawn to religion in search of hope at
that time, and were seeking ways of satisfying their spiritual as well as material needs.
The causes of the crisis in inter-church relations include
lack of understanding of other denominations, poor theological training, personality cults
and indiscriminate ambition for power, strong sectarian fundamentalism and the divorce
between the Christian message and practical living, according to participants.
"Lack of dialogue and the absence of an expression of
unity are confusing for society. People ask ‘why, if they are all Christians, are
there so many different names, and so much division? Why does each denomination make an
exclusive claim to the truth?’" Baptist pastor Gisela Pérez told IPS.
Other flaws tabled at the meeting were inter-generational
conflict, failure to include women in meaningful roles, economic dependence on foreign
churches, and competition between church authorities, causing divisions within different
denominations.
As well as analysing the situation, the Cárdenas workshop
produced a set of strategic working proposals including actions to encourage better
knowledge of each other, uproot prejudice, accept the right to dissent and to be
different, and foment dialogue with all who are willing to join in, without exclusion.
"A church not obsessed with making converts, that looks
outwards at the community and identifies with its problems," was the proposal from
one of the working groups, after acknowledging that an open attitude within a church is
not always applied equally in the community.
On the contrary, some churches and individuals isolate
themselves from society, as if to avoid "contamination," they said.
According to Gloria Rebustillo, of the B.G. Lavastida
Christian Service and Training Centre in
"The church is part of the positive forces in society,
and must see itself as one community organisation among many. Church people come from that
community and they can’t be split in two. I can’t belong to the Federation of
Cuban Women and, separately, to the church. I am not two people," she said.
SOURCE: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39936