WEA Theological Commission to Focus on Africa for 2006 Gathering

The World Evangelical Alliance’s Theological Commission’s (TC) preparations for its 2006 annual meeting in Nairobi, Kenya have continued to develop.

|TOP|The program has now progressed to include a mini-consultation on the topic, “Theological Reflection on Religious Fundamentalism as a Global Issue” for which ideas and contributions are welcome.

There will also be networking sessions with local theologians and church leaders on matters of local interest, as well as the TC's planning and strategy meeting.

Participants will include TC Commissioners drawn from around the world and for the first time, those who are participating in the new expanded membership scheme announced in January 2006. They include Affiliates (TCs affiliated with national Evangelical Fellowships/Alliances), Affiliates (seminaries and other institutions) and Associates (personal membership).

Another part of the program will focus on “Poverty and HIV/AIDS” with a detailed workshop.

|AD|A small group of local church leaders and theological educators will participate in the workshop to be held at the start of the TC session and in parallel with part of it. It will attempt to understand the complex socio-economic processes at work in African societies, together with a conceptualisation of poverty and development.

The TC will contribute to this process with biblical theological thinking and spell out some practical guidelines for action.

Dr Ken Gnanakan, who is the Vice-Chair of the TC, and has organised much of the event, is in conversation with World Vision to jointly conduct the workshop.

He said, “It is recognised that one of the major issues facing people in Africa is HIV/AIDS. UNAIDS estimates in Sub- Saharan Africa for 2005 were 5.8 million (out of 40 million worldwide) living with HIV, 3.2 million (out of 4.9 million worldwide) new HIV infections, 2.4 million (out of 3.1 million worldwide) AIDS deaths.

“It is critical for the church to explore the relationship between poverty and HIV/AIDS, through an understanding of the processes by which the experience of HIV and AIDS in households and communities leads to an intensification of poverty. Findings from the workshop will be of great value to the Christian community.”

The WEA-TC annual meeting will take place from 19-24 September 2006 at Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology.