World religions summit in Winnipeg will deliver message to G8
Karen Hamilton is general secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches and a key organizer for the World Religions Summit 2010, a major gathering of global religious leaders June 21 to 23 at the University of Winnipeg. Since 2005, world religious leaders have been getting together to call on leaders of the G8 and G20 nations to address poverty, care for the earth and invest in peace. She recently spoke with ChristianWeek editor Doug Koop.
Who is coming to this summit?
Senior faith leaders from all of the world's major faith traditions will be coming to Winnipeg in June. This includes representatives of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Shintoism, Buddhism, the Baha'i community and, of course, our aboriginal sisters and brothers. They are coming from most of the G8 countries and also from areas of the world that do not have G8 countries. This is about caring for the poor and the vulnerable, and it is those regions that do not have G8 countries where much of the suffering (not all by any means) happens.
It must be a pretty big job to try and organize something like this and pull together such a diverse group from so far to, of all places, Winnipeg.
It's mostly about the paperwork. That's the answer that often surprises people. There have not been very many complicated protocol or diplomacy issues because people are so committed. They know that every three seconds a child dies unnecessarily of poverty related causes; that every 30 seconds a child dies unnecessarily of malaria. This is common knowledge, but faith traditions are all committed to do what can be done to change that.
Why bother? Why put so much Christian energy into multi-faith work? Why is this important for Canadian Christians?
It's important because of our calling. Matthew 25 makes it so clear, as does our entire biblical tradition, that our calling is to follow Jesus the Healer—to touch the world with our hands; to live in compassion and justice; to call for justice. This is our model of Jesus the Healer, so as Christians this is an imperative.
It is also an imperative in the understanding of beliefs of our sisters and brothers of other faith traditions. And, if we can all work together, the voice is strong.
We also live in a country where there are multiple faith traditions and a long list of partners (46) who are involved in this endeavour. This includes 22 member denominations of the Canadian Council of Churches and 24 other faith based organizations such as the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Canadian Council of Imams, the National Bahai Community, the Hindu Federation and our Aboriginal sisters and brothers. And there are more, including the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and World Vision. They are deeply Christian organizations and we are all coming together and working together with a strong voice for the sake of vulnerable, for God's children.
Christianity and other religions may generally agree on the need to work on behalf of the poor and oppressed and now you're getting all these groups together. But how effective is this voice? Isn't a gathering like this just spitting into the wind?
It is very effective. It's important to note that this is the sixth annual summit. The organizers and leaders of he G8/G20 know it is coming. Each year we produce a statement, so this will be the sixth statement that the G8 has seen. This time we got the statement out very early, and I have been surprised at how open the G8 Canada office has been to us. They are listening because we represent all the faith traditions of the country and most of the faith based organizations. That's millions of people in a democracy, and votes count.
How truly representative are the people who are coming here? Do they reflect real constituencies or is this more or less a gathering of idealists?
They reflect constituencies. They come by virtue of their position and that's been a very deliberate strategy. So, the Archbishop of Canterbury is invited (we don't know yet if he'll come). Jim Wallis from Sojourners is coming. Romeo Dallaire is coming to speak. The general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches will be one of the plenary speakers. His position means that he represents—institutionally, structurally, organizationally, however you want to put it—the Christians of Africa, which is half of the population of Africa.
Will the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) be there? Many of their members would be leery of multi-faith activity.
Not only will the EFC be here, but they'll be a partner in the initiative, a full partner. In fact, they could be said to have been the first partner in. When we first discussed this initiative I raised that question and the answer was: "Interfaith is absolutely a place where the EFC could work when we're talking about social justice."
There may be some for whom this is new, like the Salvation Army and Mennonite Church Canada. But again, we try to go with biblical tradition. Jesus had all kinds of encounters with people from other traditions. And there is a very clear message of relationship.
Two quick examples: first, Isaiah 45:1 talks about King Cyrus of Persia and calls him the "anointed one." In Hebrew, it's the Messiah. Cyrus, who does not know God, is an instrument of God. God is in relationship with others. Second, Matthew 1:1- 17 names the ancestors of Jesus, and at least four of them are not of the people of Israel. They are those who we would call in our time and place "of other faith traditions," yet the biblical text itself calls them "the ancestors of Jesus." So, the biblical mandate is clear. It's not for us to stand in God's place and say what God's relationship with other faiths is. That's God's business. And we're called to follow our mandate, which is social justice, care, and compassion, and to do it as Christians in the Name of Jesus the Healer.
Under what circumstances would you encourage a person to embrace Christian faith as his or her own, regardless of their current religious affiliations?
Proselytizing is not practiced in most of the denominations of the Canadian Council of Churches. It is the practice, always, to witness to our faith in Jesus Christ. So, we speak from our faith. We speak in the Name of our faith. We proclaim what we believe. And then we put that in the hands of God.
Can people with such varied religious conviction ever agree on anything more than apple pie issues?
There are two ways to answer that. One is that we will see, and the other is it's in the hands of God. (I wouldn't use the term "apple pie" for issues of life and death.) So, can we agree on the imperative for us all to save lives in the world, in the knowledge that it can be done? And, that the G8 and we ourselves, as people of faith, have not done all that we should do? And, that people are dying, adults are dying, children are dying at the rate of one every three seconds? Is that an apple pie issue? No.
Can we agree on the imperative to save lives? And to proclaim what we, as Christians, and our Jewish sisters and brothers also proclaim, the vision of Isaiah 65? 'And everyone shall find victory and no one shall be afraid. And a child shall not die untimely. And all people shall live to a good old age.' Can we all proclaim that? Yes, we can.
Can we go beyond that? I believe we can, and we will see when the summit is over. Is this a question of trying to formulate some world religion? Absolutely not! God loves diversity more that we do. And this is about people being in their faith traditions and the integrity and belief of their faith traditions, and it will unfold in God's good care.
SIDEBAR: A role for everyone
When facing huge problems like global poverty, human conflict and creation care, it is hard for people to know exactly what to do. But it's important to be involved, says Karen Hamilton, as she lists three opportunities associated with the World Religions Summit.
1) Sign the online petition. It reflects the Interfaith Leaders Statement, which highlights the need for governments to address extreme poverty, to be deeply concerned about climate change, and to invest in peace and security.
2) Host or attend an interfaith dinner. Use the resource kit for complete details.
3) Visit your MP with a copy of the Millennium Development Goals in hand. Encourage the MP to provide a link to the goals on his or her own website, and ask them what they are doing to see that the goals are reached.
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