Ecclesiology and ethics: the state of ecumenical theology in Africa.

Conradie, Ernst ; Engdahl, Hans ; Phiri, Isabel Apawo 等

The theme of ecclesiology and ethics has lain at the very core of the modern ecumenical movement since 1910. In its simplest form it addresses the creative tension between what the church is and what the church does, between discourse on Faith and Order and on Life and Work/Church and Society. It raises questions about the social responsibility of churches, but in such a way that the focus is on the distinctive difference that churches can make in the world. What, if anything, can churches do to address current challenges that no other institution or sector of society can? If such a distinctive responsibility can be identified, then it would be inappropriate to merely do what can also be done within other sectors of society.

In the 1990s the World Council of Churches (WCC) hosted a series of conferences on this theme that indicated that this creative tension may easily degenerate into tensions that undermine the very integrity of the ecumenical movement. Debates on the distinctive nature of the church may easily become vague about what the church actually does and what churches should do. Inversely, discourse on the social responsibility of the church may lose focus on the distinct nature of the church by treating the church merely as one role player amongst many other non-government organizations and faith-based organizations. The outcome of this series of conferences was published in a landmark volume edited by Thomas F. Best and Martin Robra, namely Ecclesiology and Ethics: Ecumenical Ethical Engagement, Moral Formation and the Nature of the Church (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1997). (1)

Since 2006, the Department of Religion and Theology at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa has embarked on a project to explore the continued significance of this theme within the contemporary African context. (2) The intuition behind this project was that the tension between ecclesiology and ethics may help to assess the state of the debate in ecumenical theology in the African context. Most would agree that churches have an immense social responsibility in the African context, but the emphasis may be placed either on the nature of the church or on the nature of that responsibility. In the field of African theology this may also be explored with reference to theologies of inculturation (where issues of faith and order are typically at stake) and theologies of liberation and reconstruction (where such social responsibilities are explored). (3) The question that has been explored throughout this project is therefore how the elusive "and" that connects ecclesiology and ethics, or spirituality and society, or liturgy and life, should be understood.

This project was taken forward through a series of think tanks and public conferences on selected themes related to the interface between ecumenical studies and social ethics that have been hosted at UWC since July 2012. (4) It culminated in a conference on the theme of "Ecclesiology and Ethics: The State of Ecumenical Theology in Africa" that was hosted by the Department of Religion and Theology and the Desmond Tutu Centre for Spirituality and Society at UWC (3-5 June 2015). The aim of this conference was, quite simply, to assess the state of the current debate in ecumenical theology in the African context and to engage the current generation of African theologians and ecumenical leaders on this theme.

The contributions included in this volume of The Ecumenical Review are all derived from the plenary sessions at this conference. They include the opening remarks by the Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba, the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, who is also the chancellor of the University of the Western Cape. This is followed by a contribution from Rev. Dr Andre Karamaga, the current general secretary of the All African Conference of Churches, and one by Professor Ernst Conradie on "The UWC Project on Ecclesiology and Ethics," which also provides some background on the conference theme and the project behind it. The other contributions cover a wide range of issues on the interface between ecclesiology and ethics, from different perspectives and situated in different contexts. The contributions by Musa Dube, Roderick Hewitt, Nico Koopman, Tinyiko Maluleke, Sarojini Nadar (with Saras Reddy), Nelus Niemandt, Isabel Apawo Phiri, Jerry Pillay, and Vuyani Vellem are included here simply in alphabetical order. Together they offer a rich mosaic of the current state of ecumenical theology in the (southern) African context, but also indicate the cutting edge of current debates and expose underlying tensions.

Given the shifts in the centre of gravity of global Christianity, these contributions will hopefully be of significance within the wider ecumenical movement. The tension between ecclesiology and ethics is clearly one that emerges in different geographic contexts in different forms.

DOI: 10.1111/erev.12187

Guest Editors

Ernst CONRADIE

Hans ENGDAHL

Isabel APAWO PHIRI

Ernst Conradie is senior professor in the Department of Religion and Theology at the University of the Western Cape, where he teaches Systematic Theology and Ethics.

Hans S. A. Engdahl is extraordinary professor in the Department of Religion and Theology at the University of the Western Cape and previous ecumenical officer for the Church of Sweden.

Isabel Apawo Phiri is associate general secretary for Public Witness and Diakonia of the WCC and honorary professor in the School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics at the University of KwaZulu Natal.

(1) See also Thomas F. Best and Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, eds., Costly Union: Koinonia, Justice, Peace and Creation (Geneva: WCC Publications, 1993); Thomas F. Best and Martin Robra, eds., Costly Commitment: Ecclesiolog) and Ethics (Geneva: WCC Publications, 1995).

(2) This followed upon an earlier conference conference on "African Christian Theologies in Transformation: Respice et Prospice" that was also held at UWC in June 2003. See Ernst M. Conradie, ed., African Christian Theologies in Transformation (Stellenbosch: EFSA, 2004).

(3) There is a vast literature here. These tensions are explored by Teddy Sakupapa in a current doctoral project entitled "Ecclesiology and Ethics in the Context of the All Africa Conference of Churches 1963-2013."

(4) This process resulted in the following publications: Ernst M. Conradie, ed., Reconciliation as a Guiding Vision for South Africa? (Stellenbosch: SUN Press, 2013); Ernst M. Conradie, ed., South African Perspectives on Notions and Forms of Ecumenicity (Stellenbosch: SUN Press, 2013); Ernst M. Conradie and John Klaasen, eds., The Quest for Identity in So-called Mainline Churches in South Africa (Stellenbosch: SUN Press, 2014); Christo Lombard, "Desmond Tutu's Style of Ethical Leadership," paper presented at the launch of the Desmond Tutu Centre for Spirituality and Society, University of the Western Cape, 2 December 2014; and Ernst M. Conradie and Miranda N. Pillay, eds., Ecclesial Reform and Deform Movements in the South African Context (Stellenbosch: SUN Press, 2015).