"I was a stranger and you invited me"

The UEM has invited church leaders, representatives of diaconal institutions, pastors, and theologians from Africa, Asia and Germany to attend a seminary to be held in Stellenbosch in South Africa from 10th to 15th November. The theme of the conference is: “Inclusive Communities and the Churches – Realities, Challenges and Visions”.

All over the world, people are being marginalised and there are many reasons for their exclusion: extreme poverty, lack of access to education and vocational training, child labour, sexual violence, racism, human trafficking, displacement, traditional practices, handicaps, and diseases such as Aids.

The churches and their congregations play an important role in bringing back those people into the mainstream of society. How must churches and diaconal institutions be equipped and positioned to be able to ensure this important work? In which way should congregations and their representatives present themselves so that marginalised people feel that they are welcome? How can we be successful in our service to those people and how can the marginalised find a haven and home in churches and diaconal institutions?  These questions are among the topics to be discussed in detail by church leaders, representatives of diaconal institutions, pastors, and theologians for five days.

Top-ranking speakers from Africa, Asia and Germany have been invited. Alfred Jebanesan from the Methodist Church of Sri Lanka, for example, will be speaking on “Inclusiveness in a context of ethnic and religious discrimination in a post war situation”, referring to the situation of his home country that is suffering the effects of a long civil war.

Esther Ngalle Mbonjo from the Evangelical Church in Cameroon will be giving an insight into a society that is still discriminating against widows and justifying this with cultural traditions.

“Inclusion is a modern term that became popular in the context of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,” noted Dr Jochen Motte, member of the Management Team and Executive Secretary Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation and co-organiser of the conference, in the run-up to the event. “In this seminar, we want to raise the question if we as Christians are not called upon to reach out to others and to welcome them – when we consider the biblical parables and how Jesus encountered people; and if we are not called upon to do so across social, cultural, economic, religious, and other boundaries. In doing so, it is essential that we do not ignore those who are the most likely to be neglected. How we can achieve this, this is what we want to learn with the help of models and stories of the worldwide Church and, of course, of the hosting churches in South Africa,” Motte said.

The international conference has been organised in co-operation with the Uniting Reformed Church of Southern Africa, URCSA, the Rhenish Church in South Africa, and the New World Foundation in Cape Town.