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4. Input 2: “The Internet in the Ecumenical and Mission Work of Churches in India“ by Rev. Dr. Joshva Raja Rev. Dr. Joshva Raja, United Theological College Bangalore/ India 1. Introduction Being a student of Electronics and of the Theology I have often tried to explore the common ground between the two. In 2001 I organised a conference on the ‘Perceptions of Islam in the Media’ for the mass media practitioners at the United Theological College, Bangalore. Many journalists, reporters, editors and other communication scholars were present and made this programme a successful one. The participants proposed forming a network to bring more awareness of the false perceptions in the media about our friends from different religions. They asked me whether I could create an e-group that would bring them together. This led to ‘interfaith interaction’ a yahoo e-group with twenty members (mainly media personnel) in 2002 January. As we began to engage in this interaction more people expressed their willingness to join the group. Now, we have 200 members from all over the world. a. Net and Action We continued to discuss issues relating to interfaith issues. As we began discussing the issues our vision widened to include all the issues of religious dialogue and human concern. Religious leaders and scholars from all over the world received the email. I wish to give an example of the impact of our e-group on one person’s life. Mr Ian Stillman is a disabled British charity worker who was working in India among the disabled people since 1974. During his stay in India, he was arrested and was given a ten-year sentence in India on charges of possessing 20 kg cannabis, a charge he refuted. When he was arrested on 24 th June 2002 one of our members placed this information in our group asking people to help his release. As the different religious leaders received this mail from around the world some of our members tried their best to get Mr Ian Stillman released. Mainly the Hindu groups such as Rashtria Sweyamsevak Sangh and Visva Hindu Parisad (fundamentalists groups) requested the government to release him. Even church leaders in UK brought the matter to the British Government and kept the public informed about him. Thus with a lot of pressure from all sides Mr Ian Stillman was released on December 7 th 2002. By networking people, institutions and churches with the help of the technology of convergence, we can carry out the tasks of Christian mission and ecumenism in the new ways that was not possible before. I have a few more success stories in using technology that brought changes in the life of individuals and communities. b. Net and Dialogue Through this group we have conducted a number of major programmes of dialogue between different religious leaders (for example RSS-Christian dialogue at the UTC on 22nd March 2002). We carried out peace marches in many parts of India and held a few major ecumenical and interreligious discussions between church leaders and other religious groups in August 2003 (after the recent violence in Gujarat – a state in India). I have established a website separately for this group which will slowly be developed (www.interfaithinteraction.org). As an individual who still explores the possibility of bringing about changes through information communication technology, I am planning other explorative websites to see how far the Internet can bring about changes in people’s perceptions and attitudes. My exploration of using the Internet for Interfaith has given me an experiential knowledge in this field. I have also worked as a missionary among Tribal communities in Kerala. I will be reflecting on the use of Internet in the area of mission and ecumenism from these two different experiences. While highlighting a few examples I am also conscious of the limitations of the Net. Now I would like point out the areas of mission and ecumenism in which the Internet can play a major role. Before I identify the role of the Internet in this area, I like to explain the concept of mission and ecumenism from different perspectives. 8
2. Mission and Ecumenism The words, ‘mission’ and ‘ecumenism’ are understood in a number of ways. In an Indian context the word mission is often understood in terms of evangelisation of the masses by the established churches. As many of you know we have a number of indigenous as well as foreign supported Christian missionary institutions in India. Their prime purpose is to send missionaries to those areas where the Gospel is not proclaimed. Most of the churches in India support evangelising efforts and send missionaries to work in other parts of India (CSI and CNI). However the word ‘mission’ is often understood among some Christian seminarians, leaders and intellectuals in terms of liberative praxis, solidarity and dialogue with other religious communities. This is also broadly identified as ecumenical mission which refers to mission as the struggle for economic justice, political freedom and cultural renewal of the world 1 . a. Tension in Mission The tension between the evangelical and ecumenical groups is reflected even in the WCC’s Assemblies and also in the Conferences Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) held at different parts of the world 2 . In 1982 the participants of the WCC’s Central Committee (Nairobi) stated, “There is a growing awareness among the churches today of the inextricable relationship between Christian unity and missionary calling, between ecumenism and evangelisation” 3 . Though a complete consensus is yet to be achieved between the so called evangelical churches and those who engage in the liberative and dialogic praxis, the mission conferences arranged by the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism in 1989 at San Antonio (USA) in 2000 brought people from different groups to a closer position. b. Plurality of Mission For me mission and ecumenism are not two different contradicting concepts or words. The churches are called to do mission which clearly means communicating the gospel to all people, making people disciples and baptising them in the name of the triune God 4 . Our mission is also guided by Jesus’ other sayings and deeds. Jesus’ mission was to show his care for the fullness of the people which also includes liberating them from evil spirits and physical sickness. There is a triangular method of his mission which are communicating the message of the kingdom; caring for the people at the margins such as sinners and tax collectors; and holding a dialogue with his opponents. In this sense Jesus used different methods of mission in different contexts and so we need a new approach known as ‘Plurality of Mission’. This means various dimensions of mission need to be held together and thus bring the churches closer together. It demands mission agencies to accept each other’s mission. Such an acceptance of the other is possible in the context of Net and its users. While accepting the churches’ methods of evangelisation as part of mission, there is a need to enable the churches also to recognise the issues of justice, development and dialogue as other dimensions of mission. The churches need to work together with other traditions in mission. One may have to accept the other way of doing mission as part of Our Lord’s mission and thereby come together in order to share the diverse experience and correct each other’s weaknesses and mistakes, thus perfecting in mission. 1 The Ecumenical Movement. An Anthology of Key Texts and Voices. Edited by Michale Kinnamon and Brian E Cope, WCC Publications, Geneva, 1997, p.356-358. 2 Andreas Gross, A Brief Survey of Mission Discussions and Its Importance for the Theme, in New Horizons in Christian Mission: A Theological Exploration edited by Victor Premsagar, Chennai: Gurukul Lutheren Theological College, 2000 - 106. 3 (37) Scherer James A and Bevans Stephen B ed, New Directions in Mission and Evangelisation 1 Basic Documents. New York: Orbis, 1992. 4 Matthew 28:18-20: And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." 9
Page 1 and 2: Evangelische Landeskirche Evangelis
Page 3 and 4: 1. Program of the Consultation "Mis
Page 5 and 6: communication and learning - and we
Page 7: 3. Input 1: “Implementing Multicu
Page 11 and 12: Critique In such an instrumental pe
Page 13 and 14: offices and improving the services
Page 15 and 16: A few years ago one of our visiting
Page 17 and 18: gap between sender and receiver is
Page 19 and 20: 6. Internet and Mission: Possibilit
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Page 23 and 24: i. Net as Alternative Media Net can
Page 25 and 26: Appendix FTP - File Transfer Protoc
Page 27 and 28: Here the Internet seemed and seems
Page 29 and 30: studies on the New Testament compil
Page 31 and 32: 6. Working Groups on the three Inpu
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Page 39 and 40: 7.5 Results of Working Group 5 Advo
Page 41 and 42: 8.3 Results of Working Group 3: Dif
Page 43 and 44: Annex 1: Power Point Presentation b
Page 45 and 46: Virtual Learning Community • Cont
Page 47 and 48: Different communication styles •
Page 49 and 50: Layout of learning environments •
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Page 53 and 54: Annex 2: Power Point Presentation o
Page 55 and 56: Jesus’ Mission and Communication
Page 57 and 58: Mass media Networking Churches and
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Annex 3: List of Participants EMS S
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Resource Persons Dr. Joshva Raja, A
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