Dinesh Suna, coordinator of the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Water Network, contributed a paper to a gathering, “Indian-German Theologians Meet: Mission from Post-Colonial Perspective,” held from 4-7 September in Breklum, Germany.
The importance of water for Christians around the world cannot be overemphasized. From Genesis 1:1, where we read that “a wind from God swept over the face of the waters” to its sacramental role in baptism and the Eucharist, water is integral to the faith.
When Fernando Enns thinks of water in a German context, he is reminded of thousands and thousands of refugees who have come to the country fleeing the conflict in Syria.
Climate-induced loss and damage is one of the key points being raised by faith groups during COP21. A discussion panel and a demonstration held at COP21 in early December brought to light many facets of this issue.
Humanity cannot ignore its responsibility for creation, the WCC general secretary, the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, has stated in Stuttgart during the German Protestant Kirchentag.
A statement issued at the WCC consultation calls on churches, governments and the United Nations to ensure universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene, while placing access to water prominently on their post-2015 agendas.
In a talk during the German Protestant Kirchentag in Hamburg, the WCC general secretary stressed the leading role of churches worldwide in the process of establishing justice and an ecologically-friendly way of life.
The German Protestant aid agency Brot für die Welt has handed a steering wheel, symbol of its water campaign, over to the WCC, thus symbolically handing responsibility for this concern and a newly formed Ecumenical Water Network.
