Churches together, breathing together

A consultation on the Korean Protestant presence in western and central Europe

John Knox International Reformed Centre, Geneva, June 5-8 2001

Preamble

The world movement of peoples has in recent decades decisively changed the demographic landscape of Europe. A plurality of nationalities, cultural traditions, religious practices and languages has now become a European reality. This new diversity raises many questions and issues regarding how people relate, co-operate, experience truth and look at the world.

Among the newer residents in Europe are large numbers of Koreans (believed to be around 150,000 in western Europe alone) who have created a diverse group of Korean speaking Christian church congregations in many countries of central and western Europe. The diversity of the denominational allegiances in these congregations, as with all division in the Christian church, reflects the undesirable and painful fragmentation of a body which is called to be one.

In order to address this situation a consultation took place at the John Knox International Reformed Centre, Geneva, 5-8 June 2001. It was called to address this brokenness and to create an opportunity to explore the kind of relationships and forms of co-operation which will enable Koreans and Europeans to be witnessing communities in the Europe of the 21st century.

The consultation was convened by the Mission in Unity programme of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the International John Knox Centre, together with the Conference of European Churches (CEC). It brought together some 55 persons, including 40 Koreans from Europe, Korea, the USA, Japan, and representatives from European churches engaged in relationships with Korean congregations.

The objects of the encounter included the need to reflect on the structures, role and mission of Korean churches in Europe; their relationship to the European churches as well as other "diaspora" churches, and to explore ways in which Koreans and Europeans can address the challenges of ministry and mission in today's rapidly changing Europe.

The consultation experienced joint worship, both at the John Knox Centre and at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, and visits to places of special interest in Geneva connected with the life and work of the 16th century reformer Jean Calvin.

The consultation was a voyage of discovery for both Koreans and Europeans. It was the first time that Koreans had come together in this way and it opened opportunities for reconciliation between denominations and groupings. Especially notable was the experience of younger participants who are less conditioned by divisions inherited from the past. It was also the first time that Koreans had met on a multilateral basis with European church representatives.

Challenges identified by the consultation

The consultation identified a number of critical challenges which urgently need to be addressed both by Korean and by European churches.

Ecclesiological challenges

1. What is the church? What is the guiding vision of the church? How does this work out in a context of migration and multi-ethnic communities? How do we define the struggle for the true church?
2. What is the policy of the European churches towards immigrant communities and their churches? What kind of welcome do they offer to brothers and sisters in Christ?
3. What is the policy of the different Korean denominations on their work in the Diaspora and in mission outreach in Europe?
4. What is the relationship of the local Korean congregation to regional and national structures (both Korean and European)? Many congregations are basically independent with only loose and variable ties with denominational structures, though there are a few examples of Korean fellowships closely connected to local European congregations (the consultation heard e.g. of cases in Stockholm and Prague).
5. How can we best take account of the "lay" perspective, which is often based on long-term residence, is interdenominational in outlook and differs from the general perspective of the clergy?
6. Do bilateral partner-church relations between European churches and churches in Korea strengthen efforts for unity among Korean Christians in Europe or do they weaken such efforts?
7. Does the concept of inter-church "partnership" adequately express the oneness to which we are called in Jesus Christ? Such language can be experienced as being kept at a distance rather than being welcomed into a common belonging.

Contextual challenges

1. The Diaspora experience - should there be a move from the "synagogue" mentality (with "temple" being in Seoul)?
2. How to address the questions of identity raised by second-generation immigrants who are bicultural and bilingual?
3. How can Korean ministers develop the kind of ecumenism which is needed for effective mission in Europe?

Missiological challenges

1. Can we define a shared mission agenda? Are there challenges in the society that Europeans and Koreans can best take up together?
2. Can a variety of approaches be developed to meet the variety of contexts (both in terms of the nature of the European situation and the nature of the Korean presence)?
3. How does the Korean Christian presence in Europe relate missiologically to presence of other immigrant communities?

Practical challenges

1. Is there a place for a regional Korean association or synod or conference in Europe? If so, which type of organization would be best? (Existing associations are organized on denominational lines and tend to be composed only of ministers.)
2. By what means can the European churches address the relationship between the historic European and the newer migrant churches?

Next steps: an enabling committee

The consultation was aware that its meeting was an historic one, carrying great potential for advancing the witness of Korean Christians in Europe and also in Korea itself. In view of the urgent need to strengthen cooperation and not to lose the momentum generated by the consultation, it was agreed that there is need for continuing work. Primarily this work will be taken forward by a movement among Korean Christians in cooperation with European partners. However, to facilitate the ongoing process, the participants unanimously agreed to establish an interim enabling committee for Korean Christian cooperation in Europe. This is not intended to be a permanent structure but rather a provisional form of organization established to implement the next steps which the consultation identified as being necessary.

Consultation participants appointed to the interim committee are:

The committee has power of co-option at any time when it finds the need to add to its membership.

The mandate

A two-fold mandate was given to the committee:

Mandate for work among Korean Christians

1. To communicate the results of the consultation to Korean congregations in Europe and to Korean church headquarters in Korea.
2. To organize an event which will enable Korean Christians in Europe, together with Europeans, to address the urgent issues identified by the consultation.
3. To establish a communication network among the Korean congregations in Europe.
4. To develop a common liturgy - drawing on Korean and European sources to compile liturgical resources for the use of Korean congregations in Europe.
5. To develop effective second generation ministry and/or inter-generation ministry.
6. To find ways to develop solidarity with other ethnic minority groups in Europe.

Mandate for work among European Christians

1. To communicate the results of the consultation to European churches at all possible levels.
2. To promote face-to-face encounter between European and Korean Christians in local situations, including table-fellowship.
3. To encourage churches to identify members who will learn the Korean language and develop an intimate knowledge of Korean church and society, in order to fulfil the role of interpreter or cultural mediator.
4. To identify means by which the European churches can address the relationship between the European and the migrant churches. To assess the role of the Churches Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME) and the Conference of European Churches (CEC).
5. To offer advice to churches concerning practical action to secure visas, work permits, accommodation, and buildings required for work of immigrant churches.

Common future agenda

The following points were identified as a common future agenda for the committee:

1. Identifying what Korean Christians have to contribute to European churches and society.
2. How best to develop networks of co-operation with the Korean Diaspora in other parts of the world (particularly in the CIS)?
3. How can reconciliation among the Korean people best be promoted by Korean and European Christians?

A call to breathe together and walk together

Recalling the pia conspiratio - "breathing together" - which was urged by John Calvin in his Preface to the Catechism and the Confession of Faith (1538), the consultation made a commitment to breathe together and walk together in this journey.

The consultation issues a call to:

• all members of Korean Christian congregations in Europe to join this movement towards unity for the purpose of more effective mission.
• all the churches in Korea who have sent pastors and members to Europe to accompany and support this movement spiritually and materially.
• European churches to respond positively to the Korean Christian presence on the continent today.

Our commitment is a sincere, faithful and concrete response to the biblical calling:

"You are no longer aliens in a foreign land, but fellow-citizens with God's people, members of God's household. You are built upon the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, and Christ Jesus himself is the foundation-stone. In him the whole building is bonded together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you too are being built with all the rest into a spiritual dwelling for God." (Ephesians 2:19-22) Amen.