ONA News July 2007

 

Spirituality . . .
   for global survival
Education . . .
   for global community
Action . . .
   for global justice

Narrative Report from the 30th Oikosnet Annual Encounter

Bonn, Germany
June 1st to 4th, 2007
prepared by Mardi Tindal, President of Oikosnet North America

Margunn Sandal, the President of EAALCE (the European centre network) did a wonderful job of chairing the meeting, beginning with an imaginative opening reflection on how a meeting “takes place.” If a meeting takes “place,” then the Spirit of the place is fundamentally important. And this is especially important during a time in history when, as Marc Auger suggests, people are spending increasing amounts of time in non-places (places without history, relationships or identity); where people are anonymous, relating to machines more than one another and paying the corresponding price of loneliness. Non-places include highways, large supermarkets and airports, which illustrate the opposite of what is brought together in the eucharist which holds within it an act of remembrance; a personal encounter with one another and with God; and an act of community. Our centres are places where meetings can indeed take place!

And so we remembered…. How the organization got to this place, its relationship with the World Council of Churches and EED, and how we’ve been birthing a new organizational reality over the past two years.

And we encountered one another and God through community as we listened to the challenging realities within one another’s regions; saw hope in what we are called to do together as people of faith, and as we made plans to do this work.

With two representatives from each of six Oikosnet regions, our sharing provided an opportunity to receive a global picture of centre work, and to discover that we are all connected by a common framework:

• OIKOSNET sees its role in the wider ecumenical movement as a global leadership resource development agency.

• OIKOSNET is pursuing DIALOGUE FOR PEACEFUL CHANGE, as a global project by offering training courses around the world (2 have been completed already in 2007 in Ghana and at Tatamagouche Centre, Canada, with 8 more planned for this year).

• OIKOSNET is now registered as a foundation (Stichting) under Dutch law in Utrecht/Netherlands.

• OIKOSNET is governed by a BOARD OF REGIONS with rotating composition that meets annually. A CORE COMMITTEE oversees the work between meetings. The COORDINATION of OIKOSNET is carried out through one of the member regions on the basis of two year contracts. For the years 2006 and 2007 this is with EAALCE-OIKOSNET EUROPE in Brussels/Belgium, and beginning in 2008, the coordination will be with CONOSUR. Thus, OIKOSNET has a flexible and light governing model.

Tim Kuschnerus of EED, the primary funding agency for Oikosnet met with us at this meeting and encouraged every region to give him regular reports about the impact of our regional organizations and on-the-ground practical activities with which we are involved, demonstrating that we as a global network of leaders are seeing significant outcomes as a result of our work.

Oikosnet North America was challenged to raise a good deal more of its own operating budget, so must find ways to do this.

We articulated a desire to continue developing global and inter-regional projects (such as the Americas Project) to address issues of common concern:

• Migration
• Environment
• Peace & Justice
• Inter-religious Dialogue and Citizenship

Upcoming related opportunities include:

• The next Global CLLT training session, October 5-24, 2008 in Chiang Mai/Thailand on the theme, “Other Worlds are Possible,” to include a Dialogue for Peaceful Change training, visiting local communities, theological workshop, scenario building training. It is important for ONA centres to begin thinking about how we will financially support 4 young participants (preferably 35 yrs or younger) to participate. And please encourage your young adults to begin considering participation; ONA will be able to send 4 participants, preferably 2 Canadians and 2 Americans.

• Another Global CLLT training session in 2010 is planned to address inter-religious dialogue. Location not yet determined.

The next Oikosnet meeting, June 6-11, 2008, to take place in Dhyana Pura (Bali/Indonesia). Oikosnet will meet again during the first week of June 2009 in Aleppo, Syria.

In 2011, the World Council of Churches may hold a global peace congress which would hold the potential for a global centres’ event to be held in conjunction with it.

We approved a new logo which Wolfgang Lenz will send to us electronically for use in our regional electronic and print materials. We also agreed to pursue observer status with the ACT (Action of Churches Together) development agency.

Serop Megerditchian offered theological reflection in which he helped us see that today’s clashes are not about ideology as much as they are about identity, demonstrating the importance of teaching about the others’ identity and faith so that we engage in communication rather than isolation. We must be peacemakers in our societies, communities and world, which is why Oikosnet is so important. “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons and daughters of God.”