Council for World Mission (CWM) has recently concluded the South Asia region consultation on Discernment and Radical Engagement (DARE) Context Reading Resources from 2nd to 3rd December in Chennai, India.
Dr Sudipta Singh, CWM Mission Secretary for Research and Capacity Development led the consultation which was participated in by around 30 esteemed theologians, academicians and representatives from different churches, theological colleges and social movements in South Asia. The consultation was organized to review the proposals of the book projects in the DARE South Asia series: “Reimagining Church as Event: Perspectives from the Margins.”
DARE is CWM’s new initiative to enable the Church in its public witness. It seeks to rekindle the passion to discern, to be radical and to engage in theological and biblical studies toward interdisciplinary studies, and at the same time toward becoming effective in practical, organic and public ways. The move toward interdisciplinary theologies and interpretations encourages theologians and biblical scholars to embrace other ways and views, while the move to be effective requires theologians and biblical scholars to be rooted, selective and specific. The DARE Programme aims to show how, through practice, the two shifts meet “on the ground.” The DARE Programme consists of two branches — the Global Forum and the Context Reading Resources.
The DARE Context Readings Resources aims to provide biblical and theological resources on the nine themes of CWM. Each region of the CWM will prepare and share biblical and theological resources on the themes: children and young people, economic justice, climate change, evangelism, human trafficking, interfaith dialogue, inclusive communities, militarization, worship and discipleship, drawing upon the experiences and resources from the region for the use of all regions.
For the South Asia Region, this will bring out resource books for churches and congregations to facilitate conversation and reformation so that the Church will happen in the lives of the communities as an Event. The series will include resource books on Interfaith Engagement, Ecumenism and Inclusive communities against de-humanizing social ideologies and practices. Each book will have stories and narratives, analysis, biblical reflections, liturgical resources, theological and ethical reflections, and missional/praxis proposals.