WCC News: All Africa Conference of Churches sets sights on growth, harmony, and praying for peace

Rev. Dr Fidon Mwombeki, general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches, reflects below on the biggest challenges facing churches in Africa, and hopes for the future. Rev. Dr Fidon Mwombeki, general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC 01 May 2023 What are the current most challenging issues for the churches in Africa? Dr  Mwombeki: Looking at the churches, we are facing the challenges of growth; the churches are growing fast, and with that growth there are some theological challenges. Therefore, we are living with so many misleading theologies in the continent of Africa, from health, from wealth and prosperity, how we allow the government to interfere or intervene in religious matters—but also at the same time we are seeing the challenges of how churches engage in their own countries,  specifically the questions of peace and development, and also other social issues, especially the question of good governance when it comes to corruption. Now we have issues of ballooning international debts which is a new crisis even bigger than before the year 2000 Jubilee campaign, so we are seeing how the churches should be engaged with such kinds of conversations in their respective countries.  How is the All Africa Conference of Churches constituency assessing the ongoing crisis in Sudan? Dr  Mwombeki: We are very sad. We have issued a statement really lamenting that Africa has failed in its goal of silencing the guns by 2018 which they agreed in 2013 in “The Africa We Want Agenda 2063.” They accepted and had pledged to silence all the guns but now this has erupted again. This is a big disappointment. There was actually a prayer session we convened online including the African Union and other constituents to pray that God will bring wisdom and come so that solutions are found, and to pray that reconciliation will discourage this egoistic conflict between two leaders. We are very much saddened, we pray for peace, and we are trying to do whatever we can.  How are the preparations going for the AACC assembly this year, what are your hopes and expectations from the upcoming assembly? Dr  Mwombeki: The preparations are going really well. We have started the nominations. The churches have nominated  their delegates, and we know that the local organizing committee in Nigeria has formed and is working very hard, particularly working hard to raise finds to cover most of the costs of the assembly in Nigeria. We believe that it will be joyful. We believe that it will focus on the theme which is “The love of Christ compels us to do so many other things,” about reconciliation and peace, to work for gender justice, to work for economic liberation. We think of our work as compelled by the love of Christ to intervene and to actually work for justice, peace, and development and also for the growth and harmony in the churches and the countries. To watch the video interview All Africa Conference of Churches  See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa.  Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland