In response to the urgent catastrophes confronting the world today, Council for World Mission (CWM) convened a Planning Meeting on “Together in Transformative Ecumenism” on 23 – 25 March 2023 in Jeju, Korea, attended by 22 participants from Transformative Ecumenism (TE) International Reference Group, CWM, All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), Palestine Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) and Centre for Ecumenical Studies (CES).
Informed by a series of conversations on global crises since 2012, the meeting was aimed at sharing its vision and being enriched by a wider community’s perspectives and experiences on TE, working towards a concrete plan of action for the coming years, and its implementation.
As an alternative vision of the future, TE inspires partnerships for justice and truth anchored in theological reflections and actions in solidarity with movements for justice, peace, and dignity for marginalised communities.
As a calling to live out hope in action, TE is a vocation of discipleship that calls the church to create and nurture life-flourishing communities in response to their call to be the signs of the coming reign of God.
CWM General Secretary Rev. Dr Jooseop Keum said: “We must pursue ecumenism as a movement beyond institutionalism. Although we are a small group, I believe we are in a historical moment to rediscover the vision of the ecumenical movement and write a new history about it.”
Dr Keum added: “Transformative ecumenism is one of the four key areas of The Onesimus Project (TOP). CWM would like to support the engine for TE for the next 10 years of the project. Through this meeting, I hope to create new energy to start the second phase of the TE movement.”
On the last day, the participants visited Gangjeong Village, where villagers and peace activists have protested against the construction of a naval base on Jeju Island for the U.S. Navy in Northeast Asia.
Brother Song Kang-ho giving a presentation on Gangjeong Village.
The meeting discussed programmatic directions, methodologies, and timelines for the next three years, with the global launch slated for August 2023 in Nairobi.