News
Pan-African Women of Faith, Bread for the World, the World Council of Churches (WCC), Pan-African Women’s Ecumenical Empowerment Network, Pan-African Diaspora Women’s Association, African Union, and All Africa Conference of Churches have announced plans for a November conference as well as the rollout of a social media campaign aimed at promoting profiles advocating justice and equity.
The “African at Heart: 2019 Advocacy and Resource Summit” will be held in Washington, DC, from 13-15 November. With the theme “400 years is enough,” the summit and social media campaign will raise awareness from ancient to present times. The “400” refers to the 400th anniversary of the arrival of enslaved African peoples to Jamestown, Virginia (USA).
Pan-African Women of Faith will also be featured in a special issue of The Ecumenical Review, the quarterly journal of the WCC. In the journal, they outline their vision of inclusive global theological education.
The issue builds on the legacy of female theological educators, relates the biblical narrative with Pan-African female stories, and interrogates the past and charts a course of the future of theological education.
Related to this theme, the Christian Churches Together in the USA 2019 Annual Convocation, held 2-4 October in Montgomery, Alabama, explored the theme “A Historic Moment of Lament and Transformation.” Participants shared their faith journeys, and a panel of young adults discussed “Ending Racial Discrimination and Promoting Justice and Equality.”
Those gathered also watched the film “Emanuel,” then had a conversation with Dimas Salaberrios, the film’s producer. They also visited the Legacy Museum and Garden.
Montgomery recently made history with the election of its first African American mayor, Steven Reed, who was also the first African American probate judge in the first capitol of the white confederacy.
“This is a major victory for Alabama, our country and my own family and friends,” said Rev. Dr Angelique Walker-Smith, a member of the WCC Central Committee, who has family roots in the Montgomery-Tuskegee area. “Many Christian leaders recognize current racial tensions in our country are unacceptable. The responsibility of the church and its witness to the gospel are at stake. The leaders of the member communion in Christian Churches Together are committed to confronting racism in the name of Christ.”
