07.09.2022

Brunnen-Workshop: It's now or never!

The moderators and speakers of the workshop from left to right: Agnes Quansah (Mission Academy Hamburg, Germany), Dr. Judith Königsdörfer (WCC and EMW, Germany), Prof. Dr. Daniel C. Beros (REET, Argentinia), Frances Namoumou (Pacific Conference of Churches, Fiji), Dr. Michael Biehl (EMW, Germany), Dr. Andar Parlindungan (UEM, Germany)

Dr. Andar Parlindungan sums it up: "We need to strengthen our mutual commitments as global churches through the WCC. Only then can we ensure the ecological turn to save our planet. Otherwise, it is too late." He is a member of the Management Team of the United Evangelical Mission (UEM) and was delighted to see how well recieved the workshop was, with 40 participants joining.

At the World Council of Churches (WCC) assembly in Karlsruhe, the UEM, in cooperation with the WCC's Climate Working Group, called the churches to expand their cooperation. Therefore, international guests were invited to a workshop on a podium in the "Brunnen-" or "fountain"-area of the assembly. Moderated by Dr. Parlindungan (UEM) and Dr. Michael Biehl (Evangelical Mission Worldwide), they discussed the regional and professional consequences of this global catastrophe. Sabine Hübner, who is an assistant for Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation at UEM, emphasized the current relevance of the topic: "The devastating flood disaster that recently occurred in Pakistan once again shows the urgency. We cannot continue wasting our time. We have to connect our existing forces, especially in the churches."

The goal is a net-zero balance in CO2 emissions and a limitation of the global temperature increase to below 1.5^oC.