Christian Conference of Asia
| Home | About CCA | e-Letter | Programs | Resource | Contact Us |


Faith, Mission and Unity

   
About CCA

Program Clusters:
»
Ecumenical Formation, Gender Justice and Youth Empowerment

» Faith Mission and Unity
»
Justice, International Affairs, Development and Service

Special Programs:
» HIV/AIDS Concerns

Congress of Asian
Theologians VII:
» Call to CATS VII
» Application Form CATS VII

 

ctc1.gif (2102 bytes)

sbhcover.jpg (6195 bytes)
Sound the Bamboo
[CCA Hymnal]

 

 

Dalit Liberation Sunday

 
Dalit Liberation Sunday
9th December 2012





Letter from the General Secretary/National Council of Churches India (NCCI)


Break Barriers! Build the World of Equality! 
Dalit Liberation Sunday is celebrated during the Advent season every year. This observance makes us look at the significance of the birth of Jesus Christ afresh. The incarnation of Christ is not some charitable act of condescendence, but a decisive expression of the divine in breaking the divide between God and humanity so that God could identify with humanity, and humanity could experience togetherness with God. Paul says that Christ Jesus, “though he was in the form of God did not equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.” (Phil.2: 6-7) Not only is the divine-human divide obliterated, but even the human-human divide is eradicated as Paul affirms, “For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, which is the hostility between us.”(Eph.2:14) In other words, the incarnation has theological-sociological significance.
A spirituality which operates out of theological justification of the sociological status quo can only think of doing charity as an act of condescension. The divisions and barriers remain. They are transcended only temporarily, similar to acts of giving gifts to orphanages and old people’s homes or war truces at Christmas time. Once the Christmas season is over, we are back to our structures, divisions, and barriers. This is an expression of love without justice. However the celebration of Dalit Liberation Sunday calls for a spirituality which operates out of a theological questioning of the sociological status quo. Jesus declares it powerfully in the Nazareth manifesto: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” (Lk.4:18-19)Here is a spirituality that questions the status quo, that seeks to break all unjust divisions and barriers, and commits itself to bring in a world of love with justice.
May our celebration of Dalit Liberation Sunday lead us to a celebration of love with justice!
Roger Gaikwad
General Secretary, NCCI

 Introduction                                                                   
“Break the barriers: build the world of equality”


Dalit Liberation Sunday
9th December 2012
‘Are you not like the Ethiopians to me, O people of Israel? says the Lord. Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?’ (Amos 9:7)
‘He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’ (Luke 17- 19)
‘So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there for two days.’ (John 4:40) 
The voice said to him again, a second time, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ (Acts 10: 15)
Barriers that unjustly divide
Heinous discrimination based on casteism, the most complicated social system in the world, has erected barriers between humans instead of creating common places. Discriminating and socially ostracising the Dalits, who are also the equal creations of the Creator God, on the basis of birth could be seen as a real challenge to the entire humanity. Those who are from the ‘dominant caste’, benefit out of this system in India. They want to see the continuity of the system. Even though Dalits are transformed into a people who are aware of the gravity of the marginalisation they face and much more able to resist the marginalisation and atrocities, the situation is not changed to the degree it should be. The National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) along with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), want to uphold the Christian spirituality and ethics of equality and equal opportunity for all humankind against the marginalisation and oppression of Dalits.
Liberation from Limitations
Dalit Liberation Sunday, an initiative of the National Council of Churches in India, was later on taken up in a larger form by the National Coordination Committee for Dalit Christian Rights (NCCDC), a joint programme of NCCI and CBCI, aiming at the empowerment of the local congregations for Dalit liberation. Dalit Liberation Sunday is celebrated by the member churches of NCCI and the churches under CBCI in their local congregations across India on the Sunday nearest to the International Human Rights Day (IHRD December 10th) commemorating the importance of it in Indian Dalit struggles. In order to create widespread awareness and muster solidarity campaigns against casteist discrimination, this Sunday is celebrated with a special order of worship, rallies, folk art forms, solidarity fellowship and campaigns.  
                                                                                                                                                                             
Some Ideas for Worship
1. Invocation
Use drum beating for the invocation. The traditional Dalit percussion instruments can be used for this invocation. In front of the church a pot and a broom could be kept eighteen feet away from the front door to denote the heinous untouchability suffered by Dalits. A red carpet or red cloth can be kept between this pot and the front door. Worshippers can start the procession from around fifty or more feet away from the front door and step over the boom and pot and tread over the carpet to enter the church as an act of protest against casteism.
In the forefront of the procession a Dalit girl may carry an open bible. Worshippers can feel free to dance according to the drum beats. A cross, surrounded by a broken chain, which symbolises our God’s solidarity with the struggling people, could be carried by a Dalit boy.

2. Lighting of the lamp
After entering the worship, place the elders of the church may join in lighting an earthen lamp as a symbol of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Call to Worship
Their inhuman atrocities have carved caves
In the rock of my heart,
I must tread this forest with wary steps
Eyes fixed on the changing times
The tables have turned now
Protests spark
Now here
Now there
I have been silent all these days
Listening to the voice of right and wrong
But now I will fan the flames
For human rights.[3]

Come let us praise the God who appoints us over nations to pluck and pull down evil and oppressive structures.
Come let us worship the God who empowers us to destroy and overthrow dehumanizing and subjugating systems.
Come let us rejoice in glorifying the God who builds and plants a society of equal and Just[4], Amen.

Opening Prayer

God of justice and dignity, who broke the yoke of oppression and slavery in the midnight for Israelites, help us to turn our dreams of equality into reality. God of grace who stood with Ruth and Naomi who roamed with empty bellies, grievous and anxious hearts strengthen us in our helplessness to work for those who are pushed to the margins. God of Love, who engaged the Samaritan woman in your ministry, liberates us from oppressive structures and dominant forces that enslave us. In Jesus name we pray Amen.

Opening Hymn: Jesu Jesu fill us with your love

Praise and Thanks giving (responsive reading)

L: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.

All: for God has looked with favour on the lowliness of God’s people
                                                                                                                                              
L: for the mighty One has done great things for me and holy is God’s name

All: for the mercy of God is on all who are oppressed, marginalized and in various forms of bondage.

L: God’s mighty arm has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts

All: God has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly

L: God has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty

All: God the merciful always remembers the misery of God’s people and rescues and saves Amen. (Song of Mary modified Luke 2:46-54)

SCRIPTURE READING

SERMON

Confession
Compassionate God you have created us in your image and likeness. You made us all equal but we have distorted the principle of equality on the basis of caste, gender, colour, region and creed. You made sun, moon, earth, water, trees and sky for everyone’s need. But we exploited and abused your creation for our greed and selfish gains. Like Peter we have believed in holy and profane creatures and segregated people and sinned against your creation. We have believed in baseless and illogical myths of Purusa of Rig Veda and practiced Caste system. We are not worthy to be called your children. Oh Lord, you are full of mercy and compassion; forgive us our foolish and unjust ways. You have called us to be partners of transformation, but we have failed to hear the cries of our brothers and sister in bondage of poverty and oppression. God of love and mercy forgive our short comings and transform us by renewing our minds to do your will and what is good and acceptable Amen.         (Roman 12: 2)

Absolution
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything that is oppressive and hard hearted has passed away. May God our creator who turns darkness into light, who brings us from ignorance to knowledge and from death to life forgive us and make us new creation Amen. (2 Cor. 5: 17).

Intercessory Prayers

Let us pray for the victims of Lakshmipeta village in Srikakulam of Andhra Pradesh where 4 dalits were hanged to death and 30 men and women were severely injured. May God heal their seen and unseen wounds …… Silence

Let us pray for the Ministers, President, Governors, and Judiciary and for all the government officials who are involved in the public administration. May God grant them human heart and wisdom to do the right and just acts ….. Silence

Let us pray for the Church to be a channel to demonstrate God’s love in this world. To achieve equality, justice and dignity to all its members irrespective of their caste, colour, and gender, linguistic back grounds and regional background….. Silence


Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayers

Closing Hymn: Help us to accept each other….

Lord’s Prayer in our Mother Tongue

Closing Prayer:
God of Gibeonites, who stood for the helpless, be with us and strengthen us. God of lowly Galileans and Samaritans who empowered the weak and marginalized for your ministry be with us and empower us. God of Dalits/ancestors we thank you for your son Jesus Christ who experienced pain, sufferings, betrayal, neglected and slaughtered like us and shared our pains and became a hope for us to resist violence and break barriers. Help us to be your channels of liberation in this world. In Jesus name we pray Amen.

Benediction:
May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships,
So that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
So that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war,
So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain to joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world,
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done,
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.[5]




[1] http://infochangeindia.org/human-rights/analysis/dronacharyas-all-caste-discrimination-in-higher-education.html
[2] http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-11-09/india/35015844_1_dalit-houses-dalit-youth-dalit-boy
[3] (“caves” by Jyoti Lanjewar) Sathianathan Clark, Dalits and Christianity, (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1998), 179.
[4] Jer 1: 10 modified

[5] Franciscan Benediction 

posted by communications on Wednesday, November 28, 2012  



 

Basic Ecumenical Course

 
22 November 2012

Participating in God’s Holistic Mission of Reconciling the Whole World

“Ecumenism is not a subject to be studied but is a matter of life” says Rt. Rev. Dr. Zacharias Mar Theophilus, Suffragan Metropolitan of Mar Thoma Church and former member of WCC Central Committee. Delivering the key note address at the inauguration of the Basic Ecumenical Course in the Ecumenical Christian Centre (ECC), Bangalore, he said that Ecumenism is the affirmation of life and in the midst of the escalating realities of the destruction of life, like exploitation of children and nature, churches are urgently called to promote peace and justice for all – as reflected in the theme of the coming WCC Assembly in Busan in 2013 “God, lead us to Peace and Justice.”  In the midst of brokenness of our world today, he emphasized a critical need for a paradigm shift from being man-centered to a life-centered praxis. 
The two-week ecumenical course jointly organized by the CCA Program Unit on Faith Mission and Unity (FMU), National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) and Indian School of Ecumenical Theology (ISET) of the Ecumenical Christian Centre (ECC) was inaugurated on November 20, 2012. After, an eco-friendly worship service that was held in the garden of ECC, Rev. Dr. Cherian Thomas, Director of ECC and Rev. Dr. Reji Samuel, the Dean of ISET warmly welcomed the participants and the resource persons. Prayers and greetings were brought by Rt. Rev. Duleep de Chickera, retired Bishop of the Church of Ceylon, and Bible Study leader of the course. Rev. Dr. Henriette Hutabarat Lebang conveyed greetings from the CCA members and appreciated NCC India and ECC for their wonderful collaboration in organizing this program. 

As part of introduction to the ecumenical movement in Asia, Dr. Henriette Hutabarat Lebang shared the CCA life and ministry and Dr. Kambodji, CCA consultant for HIV and AIDS, presented the Challenges of HIV/AIDS to the Ministry of Asian Churches today. In the sessions on Ecumenical Journey of Churches in India, Dr. D. Arthur Jeyakumar, a church historian presently teaching at the Gurukul Theological Seminary, presented a paper on the ‘Indian contribution to the Ecumenical Movement,’ and  Fr. Dr. Sebastian Payyappilly, CMI, lecturer at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram a prestigious Catholic Institution in Bangalore presented the   Roman Catholic Church perspective.  Prof. Dr. Ninan Koshy, former Director of WCC Churches’ Commission on International Affairs presented the Ecumenical Movement in Asia.  In concluding this first phase of the course, the participants will discuss the emerging and challenging issues in churches’ mission today and identify the sign of hope for the reconciling mission of the churches in Asia today. 
Several lectures addressing some of the critical issues are scheduled as part of this course,  such as, ‘Understanding People of Other Faiths’ by Prof. Dr. P.S. Jacob, former Principal of Ahmednagar College; ‘Religion and Politics’ by Dr. Ninan Koshy; ‘Displaced People’ by Prof. Dr. Rini Ralte from United Theological College (UTC) ; ‘Ecological Problems: the Importance of Conservation’ by Rev. Dr. Allan Palanna from UTC; ‘Subaltern Issues: On Fragmentation of Society (Dalits/Tribals)’ by Rev. Bharath Patta, General Secretary of India SCM; ‘Children At Risk – on Child Trafficking’ by the Director of Don Bosco, ‘Gender Justice and Transgender Issues’ by Prof. Dr. Sr. Puspha Joseph from Madras University, ‘Vision of Unity in Plural and Diverse Context’ by Rev. Dr. K. C. Abraham, former Director of SATHRI the research wing of the Senate of Serampore University. 

As part of the efforts to familiarize participants with the life of communities in India, exposure programs to selected religious centers, worship with local congregations in Bangalore and a visit to Mysore city, a historic and important place in Karnataka, have been included as part of the course. The five Bible Studies during the course are led by Rt. Rev. Duleep de Chickera and Prof. Dr. Evangeline Rajkumar (Rev.) from UTC Bangalore. 
By the end of the second phase , the participants will have an idea of the Ecumenical movement in India through lectures on the following topics by eminent theologians and ecumenists:  ‘Ecumenical Journey of NCC India – Towards a Wider Perspective’ by Rev. Dr. Roger Gaikwad, General Secretary of NCC India; ‘Witness of Reconciling Mission in India’ by Rev. Dr. David Selvaraj, Director of Vishtar and Rev. Dr. Mohan Lalbeer, (Secretary of the Board of Theological Studies of Senate of Serampore College), Rev. Lee Hee Woon, a missionary of Presbyterian Church of Korea stationed in Bangalore, and Rev. Vincent Rajkumar, Director of Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society, CISRS.  Pastors, theological educators, missionaries, NGO activists in India are invited to attend this one day seminar that has its focus on a new vision as theological educators and pastors in overcoming division, adopting servant-ship as an agent of change and being channel of God’s grace.  This is considered as a critical role and responsibility of the churches today.     
 The Ecumenical course also known as the Institute on Ecumenism, is being held at ECC Bangalore from November 19 to December 1, 2012, and is attended by 31 participants representing member churches of CCA in India, NCC India and beyond, and networks of ECC.  In order to give a regional perspective to this national course, one participant from Korea and one from Bangladesh attend this course. As an integral part of the course, the participants are requested to write their reflection titled “My Ecumenical Response – Journey to the Future”and connect it with their personal experience, and commitment, which will reflect as their plan of action.



posted by communications on Friday, November 23, 2012  



Archives:
May 2003 / September 2003 / December 2003 / February 2004 / April 2004 / May 2004 / August 2004 / September 2004 / October 2004 / December 2004 / February 2005 / June 2005 / July 2005 / August 2005 / October 2005 / November 2005 / January 2006 / February 2006 / March 2006 / April 2006 / June 2006 / August 2006 / September 2006 / October 2006 / February 2008 / March 2008 / April 2008 / March 2009 / April 2010 / July 2010 / October 2010 / November 2010 / December 2010 / April 2011 / May 2011 / August 2011 / October 2011 / December 2011 / February 2012 / March 2012 / June 2012 / July 2012 / October 2012 / November 2012 / December 2012 /

This page is powered by Blogger. Why isn't yours?