S.H.E.B.A. Report 10 – 12 November 2006
Christianity in the 21 st Century – Migramt Churches:
a Mission or a Regression?
Friday Evening
It was another year of Refreshment and reuniting for SHEBA Members and Friends.
It started with the Board meeting, a small group and blossomed into a charade of laughter and buzz, as members and friends greeted and introduced each other, as they catch up with the events of the last year.
People from several Countries, Nationalities, Church Traditions, Professions and ages have all come together to discuss the follow-on theme, Christianity in the 21 st Century – Migrant Churches: a Mission or a Regression? which came out of the 2005 Theme “Youth and the Church”.
SHEBA prides itself on being relevant and dealing with the hard questions that are often avoided. Not only do we look outward, but our first point of critique starts with ourselves. So the air was filled with excitement and expectation as we look forward to what the week-end holds.
At last it was time to get started and the Moderator welcomed everyone and opened the meeting officially.
Reports were given by the various regions, The United Kingdom, Germany , The Netherlands and apologies were received from Italy , Switzerland , France and Belgium .
The SHEBA Youth gave their report which was enlightening and encouraging and formed part of the report of the SHEBA Leaflet, where they created the Logo for the leaflet.
During the presentation of the SHEBA leaflet by Ms Vallen Cangieter, a Board member (youth representative) she led us into an awe-inspiring analysis of the artwork.
The evening ended with prayers led by Mrs Marcia Mentar (Board Member).
SATURDAY
On Saturday we were joined by a number of guests from the Migrant Churches of the Netherlands and most were members of SKIN, along with a representative of SKIN and the PKN Church .
After a hearty welcome by the Moderator we were led into Morning Prayer by Lady Doreen Hazel (Secretary General), which prepared us for the work ahead of us that day.
The meat of the Meeting was the Theme. Presentations were given by a number of speakers followed by discussion, questions and answer session and workshops. Space and time will not allow me to go into all the details, so I will give a snapshot view.
The first speaker was the Revd. Myrna Lake , Minister, the Methodist Church .
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She started with the definitions of Church, Migrant, Mission and Regression
Church : this word originates from the New Testament of the Holy Bible in the form of the word ”ecclesia”, which means, the gathered Church or Body of Believers. Another meaning is a building for public Christian Worship.
Migrant: having moved from one place of abode to another
Mission : a special purpose, task, or goal, usually clearly defined.
Regression: “achteruitgang”, pattern followed seems to be distinctly contradictory to set goals and established mission
The “premise of her argument” was based on St. Matthew 28: 19-20, often referred to as the Great Commission.; along with the above definitions:
She argued that to speak of a Migrant Church is to engage in redundancy of language. The Church as called into being by the great Commission was never intended to be stagnant, but on the move, reaching new places (of all nations) and new heights (teaching them to obey everything) of witness.
She continued, the Church from its inception was a migrant Church. As a direct result of Christian persecution came the Dispersion of Christians all across Asia Minor and beyond. Christianity is a lifestyle hence they took their lifestyle with them and impacted others who were then won over to the Christian faith.
Mission , as related in 1Peter 2:9: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed and announce that the time has come when the Lord will save his people.”
1) Are we the migrant churches here in Europe blessings or burdens to or for Europe .
2) Are we problems or solutions for the Spirit of religion in Europe ?
So, ministry to the oppressed, poor and needy, underprivileged, marginalized, voiceless is ongoing and remains the same.
Regression: less clearly defined lines of demarcation between Christian and non-Christian lifestyles. St Matthew 5: 13-14 – “You are the like salt for all mankind….. You are like light for the whole world…”
A matter of perspective: initial bearer of “good news” is now the recipient.
Revd. Lake ended her presentation on the note that, The Church will prevail despite turbulence until the “bridegroom” comes.
The second presentation was given by the Rt. Revd. Oheneba Agyei-Mensah, Bishop and Senior Pastor of the IPCC Church in Germany
He started his presentation by stating that “ Mission is not a one way street”. Mission must be understood in order not to be copied. Three questions were posed:
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3) Are we Christian Pets or Christian Pests – are we provisions or are we to prophesy in Europe ?
4) Are we threats or truth bringers?
5) Are we here to proselytize or to evangelize?
He went on to look at some of the mentalities that are displayed on both sides of the fence. Things such as religious pride,, religious arrogance, hypocrisy, discrimination, colonial Christian market, let them not grow big strategy, divide and rule atrocity, mental slavery/manipulation.
On the other hand the migrant churches are their own pitfalls. The word pitfall is defined as a concealed or covered trap either in material or non-material sense; an hidden snare into which one easily falls. Some of the common ills of these are:
a) Lack of proper leadership, which undermine our own integrity. One cannot teach what he does not know and cannot give what he does not have. Many leaders have never been led, but they want to be leaders. Authority can never take the place of Christian leader, because of a “belief in anointing”.
b) Lack of proper or quality training
c) Lack of proper structures – for example: no records
d) Lack of ministerial discipline – ethics etc.
e) The mushroom churches – without roots – it is easier to follow the leader than to become the leader of the followers of the leader.
What is our contribution? Europe is in great difficulty because people have ran away frm the Churches and nobody wants to be trained for the Ministry.
We are here as God’s Ambassadors and need to be transformed to preach transformation..
He spoke about the “-matics” of the Charistmatics: They have become troublematics, moneymatics, confusionmatics, supplantmatics, problemmatics, self-centredmatics ( the I, me and myself trinity is evil).
He defined Regression as an absence of Christian virtues and qualitative living. The more tolerant one becomes the more compromise is being made.
Bishop Oheneba ended his presentation stating that; the Spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation along with the love of God and compassion is needed to be Christ’s witness in Jerusalem (our own town or city), Judea ((your Country), Samaria (neighbouring countries) and the end of the world .
After these two presentations there was a lively and engaging and challenging discussion, which included our guests and their contributions to the Theme. The interaction were prompted by the following questions which were circulated to all participants in preparation for the discussion and each speaker bore this in mind when they gave their presentation: the questions are:
1) Are Migrant Churches a Mission to Europeans, or are they a Mission to Migrants in Europe ?
2) What part, if any, do the Indigenous people of Europe play in this Mission ?
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3) If Migrant Churches are a Regression? Regression to what? and in what ways?
This session had no conclusion but left us with real “Food for Thought”. It was the beginning of a process which has to go on after we leave De Bergse Bossen that week-end.
LUNCH TIME was not only a break, but a further buzzing on the theme. Especially for those guests who were not able to spend the afternoon.
Saturday Afternoon
After lunch we had a changed of scene and process, we divided into five workshops under the themes:
a) My parents’ church and the church I wish for my children
b) Being a Church in a new society
c) Starting a multicultural Church
d) Looking for new liturgy
e) SKIN
Some feedback from the workshops follows:
My Parents’ Church and the Church I wish for my children led by Mrs Estella da Veiga
Survive and live – their parents’ community is based on cultural estate from their country of origin. It is the church that wants to conserve their culture. For most people in the migrant communities it is about experiencing their own culture which is important and help them to find a way to survive and a place where they can find strength to survive in Europe . In this case the Church as a different role for them – I t is a meeting point, a classroom, a place where their own language is spoken, where they are known and what is important for them is also known. The Church therefore tries to offer everything the people need to survive in Europe .
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Their Parents’ Church has no choice and today’s children have choices. For example many extra activities and sports take place on Sundays and so families cannot attend Church as they would like. A solution to this is to take the Church into the homes where it is transparent and relevant.
An example was that being a family is like the Church and so whether one is inside or outside the Church building, Church should take place. In that Church is not a building, but the relationships which take place around faith and belief.
- The Church should be transparent and relevant.
Being a Church in a new society led by Bishop Oheneba Agyei-Mensah
- The discovery of oneself is important.
- Never talk about the system without being in the Community.
- Team work, training and fellowship are important.
- Social activities
- The need to empower, monitor and motivate
- Self commitment.
SKIN led by Mrs June Beckkx
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Some terminologgy which came up throughout the day are:
- Economical migrants
- Pentecostalism
- Myth of return
- Citizenship
- Language unite/unity
- Community
All guests were thanked for their contributions and input into making it a special day.
It was now late Saturday afternoon and with most business out of the way, it was time for a bit of relaxation with fun aerobics to gospel music led by Mrs. Dorritt Okoye. We had a marvellous time.
After Dinner we had the famous SHEBA Social Evening, where an array of talents were on display. Words are inadequate to capture the atmosphere, enjoyment and togetherness that ensured.
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All good things must come to an end!! Yes it is Sunday Morning our last session.
This was started with the Agape breakfast worship which is one way of partaking of the Eucharist together regardless of our church traditions. This is a symbol of us all sharing ithe body and blood of Christ in our brokennes and with tears. The breakfast became our meal of love.
The final business session of the day was led by the Moderator which included the Statement and the website.
Summing up the affairs of the discussions were Mrs Patricia Farrell and Sir Alfed Glasgow. This led us into the discussion on the Mission Statement which was eventually agreed and accepted.
The Mission statement which came out of the Refreshers’ meeting and brought the meeting to a conclusion is as follows:
SHEBA statement. “Christianity in the 21 st century: Migrant Churches: A Mission or Regression?”
The Refreshment meeting of SHEBA was held on the 10 th -12 th November 2006 at Driebergen in the Netherlands and welcomed participants from the UK and Germany .
The theme was “Christianity in the 21 st century: Migration Churches – A Mission or a Regression ? “
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The presentations were followed by stimulating discussion and lively debate. In addition to this, several workshops highlighted the vast experiences that participants brought with them, the cultural evening, the Agape breakfast, and the business meeting left the participants eager for the next gathering.
The debate continues with these issues:
Has the face of Christianity in the twenty-first century changed as compared to earlier centuries?
The Church as “a mission” to whom? Is there a need to redefine its mission and to recognize the need for integration into the European community?
Is the view of the migrant church as a regression a matter of perspective when reflecting on the Europeans initially being the bearer of the Gospel?
Sheba will fulfill its commission through revelation by analyzing ourselves, our church, and our community. Through transformation, by renewing our mind, body, soul and spirit in preparation for outreach and building moral support to bind people together with cords that cannot be broken, thereby creating churches without walls.
Some suggestions regarding information to be included on the website are:
§ information about our churches and countries
§ Details of Board members
§ Photographs from various meetings
§ Reports of our meetings
§ Mini messages
§ Youth page
§ SHEBA Leaflet – which was revised during the meeting
§ Resource lists – books, CDs, etc.
§ Current news.
Evaluation:
Once again words like excellent, moving forward, something different happened, educative, encouraging, wonderful, very stimulating to name a few were some of the echoes which came from members..
We added to our membership and the membership is growing once again.
Expression of thans and appreciaiion goes to the PKN Church, our Secretary General, Moderator, the Board, all Members, friends and family, SKIN, the Migrant Churches and the De Bergse Bossen, for making this a very special occasion.
PKS/January 2007
4) Regression for whom?
5) Do the cultures and lifestyles in Europe have any affect on the manner in which Migrant Churches:
a) Evangelize?
b) Minister?
c) Plant Churches?
It was truly a self-searching, thought-provoking, self-analysing session. This session proved that SHEBA is not afraid to deal with the questions that are not easily discussed in our Churches and that we create a platform for tackling all aspects of a given theme. For some this may be “too dangerous” but for us we want to grow and develop and all of this is a part of it. No child likes to take bitter medicine, even though it is good for them. So SHEBA tightens its seatbelt every time she enters the “War Zone”.
