August 27-September 2, 2012
Editorial
Editorial: Reflecting on the essence of ecumenical partnerships
Translated by Lydia Ma
The PCT has been an active member in the ecumenical movement for half a century now. Since the inception of the PCT General Assembly in 1951, the PCT has been an active member in various ecumenical organizations and its involvement has helped it stay current with regards to new trends and philosophies in the ecumenical world. We are constantly learning new ways to partner with other churches in furthering missions, justice, peace, gender equality, religious dialogue, good interethnic relations, and creation care.
Besides these issues, reaching out to children, women, indigenous groups, disabled groups, migrant workers, and marginalized groups, and ensuring that they enjoy the same level of human dignity we enjoy, has also been at the core of our mission. We are deeply grateful to our ecumenical partner churches for coming alongside us and helping us grow stronger and more mature with every passing year.
In the past 20-30 years, the PCT has slowly emerged from being a “receiving church” to being a “sending church”. It has grown to a point where it is able to take an active role in missions and in reaching out to parts of the world affected by natural disasters and helping small, marginalized churches in their ministries. In fact, the PCT has begun sending missionaries to various parts of the world in need of assistance, such as northern Thailand, Malawi, eastern African regions, Hokkaido, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, and China. Many of these partnerships forged with foreign countries and churches were built and facilitated by the PCT General Assembly while others were started by local churches or individuals.
One thing we need to learn is to share our knowledge and mature with other churches through these ecumenical relationships and via platforms such as ecumenical organizations. Our ecumenical partnerships need to be built upon mutual respect, equality, and reciprocity, with local churches as the point of contact.
The reason why I stress on the importance of respect, equality, and reciprocity is because Western countries have been sending churches in the past few centuries. During those years, imperialism, colonialism and furthering God’s kingdom were all intertwined, resulting in tinges of condescension and paternalism when it comes to evangelistic ministries. Consequently, it was very difficult for local churches in colonized countries to become self-sufficient and independent. It was for this very reason that some churches in Africa put a moratorium on receiving foreign missionaries in the 1950s and 1960s. As the historian Andrew F. Walls later pointed out, what Christians in 3rd world countries want the most is friendship and mutual respect and equality.
As we remember Ecumenical Ministries Sunday this week, let us challenge ourselves to have an open mind and a global perspective so that we can truly learn what ecumenical partnership is all about.
