These are words said each time that the United Church of Canada recites its creed, an "essential component of what we mean to be and do as church". They are also the title of an 88-page report on global economic justice just published by the UCC's division of world outreach.

From the cover of the report

The report, presented to the UCC's 37th general council in August 2000, invites its readers to see global economic injustice, to discern or judge what this means for our Christian faith, and to act in common mission for justice. It does not intend to suggest blanket opposition to all aspects of the global economic system, to oppose all international trade or profit-seeking activity, or to present a blueprint for an alternative society. Rather, it is both a cry and a call to seek justice and resist evil so that together in mission we can build a global economy for all God's people.

In the preceding years 1998-2000, as the division of world outreach focused on global economic injustice, it was agreed that it was important to share with the whole church what partners were saying about the effects of economic injustice in their contexts and the theological understandings of the global market which they are articulating so clearly.

"We journey to Central America in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch. We journey to Zambia in the grip of structural adjustment policies that destine families to suffer from disease and malnutrition. We journey to China, where we learn of the heavy price paid by the workers who make toys for our children. We visit Gold River, a Canadian community where economic globalization has exacerbated the effect of the boom and bust natural resource economy, displacing indigenous peoples and workers and upsetting the ecological balance."

"Our brothers and sisters in the south challenge us to open our eyes to the pain and suffering inflicted on their people by an unjust system which denies a decent life to the majority of the world's population and to join them in denouncing and opposing this system."

"The journey will not be easy because their stories show that we too are part of the same unjust system and are deeply influenced and captivated by its values and claims."

Theological reflection on the current economic system "provides a strong articulation of the evil we are identifying as the global market which has become a god and one which we are called to resist."

"In fact, neo-liberalism, the free-market paradigm that governs economic practice in the world today, makes absolute claims in relation to the marketplace, a practice some have suggested constitutes idolatry."

Action for justice is possible, the report asserts. "Although we may be tempted to deny or despair [of] the injustice around us, saying "there is no alternative', the gospel of Christ speaks to us about new hope... To uncover this hope we must unmask the economic order with its aura of inevitability and natural law. If the Spirit of Christ, calling through the suffering of people in Asia, Africa and Latin America, warns us of death, does not that same Spirit, through living examples of faith and hope, call us to life?"

Receiving the report, the 37th general council affirmed economic justice as a gospel imperative, "essential to the integrity of our faith in God and our discipleship as Christians". It confessed that the current system of unrestrained global market capitalism constitutes "a false god which demands sacrifice of humans and the earth for the sake of profit and competitiveness, and is thus a sin against God, against our neighbour, and against creation."

Copies of the report - which converges nicely with WARC's covenanting for justice process - and a guide to study, action and worship are available from the United Church of Canada (www.uccan.org). Contact Christie Neufeldt, Division of World Outreach, United Church of Canada, 3250 Bloor St West, Suite 300, Etobicoke, Ontario M8X 2Y4 (cneufeld@uccan.org).