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Semper Reformanda |
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Caribbean and North American area |
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The work of the Caribbean and North American area council (CANAAC) during these years has been carried out through its three working committees on theology, cooperation and witness, and civil and religious liberty. It has been characterized by several interwoven themes: the theological issues of Reformed understanding of ecclesiology and mission in our changing world; developing stronger participation within CANAAC of people of ethnic minority, people from the Caribbean region, and women; and building closer relationships with our neighbours, both those who live beyond our geographical boundaries and those who live within them. The traditional commitment of the Alliance to cooperation and joint witness requires new ways of working together in this area where we experience radical economic disparity among our member churches and subsequent questions of joint decision-making regarding mission work are placed before our member churches. At the same time, we also experience a challenge to traditional ways of understanding ourselves as Reformed people as we realize that the membership and self-consciousness of our churches has expanded far beyond the narrow cultural inheritance of Reformed faith as a north Atlantic expression of the Christian faith. We have seen a greater participation of women in leadership roles and we have added to our membership three youth delegates, two of whom will come from the Caribbean region, in order to hear such voices with greater clarity. Two of our annual meetings have taken place in the Caribbean, the first in Jamaica, where we met together with the Caribbean and North America Council for Mission (CANACOM), exploring ways of greater cooperation among our shared member churches; shared life in Christ across current issues of economic and political dominance calls for careful exploration of the gospel and efforts to hear and support one another. The second Caribbean meeting took place in Puerto Rico where we met together with our Latin American counterparts of the Asociación de Iglesias Presbiterianas Y Reformadas de América Latina (AIPRAL). Similar issues emerged as when we focus on the disparities within our own geographical boundaries. The key concerns of this encounter focused on the theological questions of Reformed Identity. The whole of the Americas experiences considerable challenge of our inherited faith; these challenges, however, take on a different appearance in different subregions. Latin America focused its presentation on the issue of living as a religious minority in societies which are dominated by the Roman Catholic Church and where the charismatic movements are growing, while North America showed its struggles of coming to grips with our multicultural and multiethnic populations. Representatives of both AIPRAL and CANACOM participate regularly in our annual meetings, as well as a representative of the European area. At the request of WARC, during this period CANAAC has sponsored several area-wide consultations in preparation for the 23rd general council. In cooperation with McCormick theological seminary in Chicago a consultation was held on Reformed self-understanding, and in cooperation with the Presbyterian theological seminary in Austin, Texas a consultation was held on gospel and cultures, both bringing together widely representative groups of men and women. A third consultation, on partnership in God's mission, jointly sponsored with Pact, was held in the Caribbean. The work of CANAAC is being carried out while most of its member churches are undergoing significant challenges, facing serious theological and moral issues which threaten to create more rather than fewer independent ecclesial institutions. At the same time, we note a change in giving patterns within the churches, where local congregations tend to keep more of their funds at congregational level, thus diminishing the funds available for wider ecumenical and mission work. We also observe a considerable blending within the membership of these churches: many church members come from other than Reformed backgrounds, and our members in turn, when they move, may very well seek out a congregational home of another denomination. These are factors which put significant pressures on our churches both financially and with regard to theological self-understanding. That means that the ecumenical arena is undergoing significant institutional change while the issues of division persist in finding new ways of confronting CANAAC. Area council meetings, 1990-1997
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