Thirty scholars and theologians from Asia and the United States gathered last October 23-25 at Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP), Berkeley, California for the historic first Asia America Theological Exchange Forum.

The AATE Forum, jointly organized by the Episcopal Asiamerica Ministry (EAM); Anglican Global Relations (AGR) Asia-Pacific; Center for Anglican Learning and Leadership (CALL-CDSP), in collaboration with Province VIII Asia Commission and the China Friendship Society of the Diocese of California revolved around the theme “The Church as Agent of Reconciliation?”

The sessions began with a Welcome Address from The Rev. Dr. David Gortner, Director of CALL and Mr. Peter Ng, AGR’s Partnership Officer for Asia-Pacific. A written message from the Presiding Bishop, The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori was read by The Rev. Dr. Winfred Vergara, EAM Missioner and Director of Ethnic Congregational Development of The Episcopal Church Center.
 
In her message, Bishop Jefferts Schori said that the theme of reconciliation “strikes a deep chord among us because God has entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation and the catechism contained in our Book of Common Prayer, clearly states that the mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.”

“We pursue the mission of reconciliation through prayer and worship, proclaiming the Good News in Christ, promoting justice, peace and love. In the Episcopal Church, we hold evangelism and social action as two wings of our missionary enterprise. The proclamation of God’s saving act in Christ characterizes our liturgical life and the pursuit of the local and global actions on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) has become our first priority as a Church,” Jefferts Schori wrote.

Welcoming the Asian theologians, Jefferts Schori added, “We, from North America are awed by the depth and excellence of your Christian witness in Asia and I look forward to learning from your insights.”

Asian Theological Perspectives
The first presenter, The Rev. Shintaro Ichihara, was a former engineer who became an Anglican priest in Japan, lecturer and chaplain at Nagoya Ryujo College. He viewed the Church in Japan “as a minority community living in aimai, a Japanese word for vagueness or ambiguity.”

Shintaro asserted that the Japanese Christians live in a country that has totally absorbed western civilization while maintaining traditional Japanese cultures. As a result, the Church in Japan also took on an ambiguous character. While maintaining its identity as a Christian community, the Church in Japan also embraces both Christians and non-Christians in its institutions of learning and celebrations of liturgy. This unique sense of “ambiguity” gives rise to the possibility of the Japanese Church becoming an “agent of reconciliation.” 

Shintaro, whose parents were among the victims of the atomic bombs dropped in Hiroshima, said that the task of the present Church is not necessarily to solve the problems of the world but to be enabling agent in providing space where both victims and victimizers can sit down in dialogue and work out true reconciliation.”

The second presenter was The Rev. Chun Wai-Lam from Hong Kong who sees the Church as an “ark” of inclusivity, providing space for both the clean and unclean. The Church in Hong Kong, particularly the Anglican/Episcopal Church has maintained its influence in the life of the people of Hong Kong especially through Anglican schools and social services.

“Geographically, the Province of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui is the smallest, as well as the one of the youngest among the Anglican Communion. Demographically, the membership is relatively small. Of the total 500, 000 Christians, 8% or 40,000 are Anglicans. And yet for the past 160 years, the Anglican Church of Hong Kong has been deeply involved in the various aspects of social, political and religious life of Hong Kong in great proportions especially as an agent of reconciliation to the diverse peoples. For that reason, the Church in Hong Kong is small but not insignificant, “

The third presenter, Dr. Young Sil Choi, is professor of New Testament Theology and Director and Head Researcher of the Institute for the Study of Theology at Sung Kong Hoe University in Korea. Dressed in traditional Korean attire, Dr. Young, spoke from a feminist theological point of view, about creating a culture of reconciliation through traditional Korean Mask Dance, Miyalhalmi.

“In a world where history has been dominated by the Anglo-Saxon male from the Western industrialized countries, the disenfranchised minjung (oppressed class) and women have suffered inexplicable agony, sexual exploitation and death. Within Korean cultural tradition, Han has been used to refer to the particular experience of traumatic victimization that an individual is enabled to adequately express and forced to bear within themselves, an act of violence committed against them without a distinctive perpetrator who can be called to account. The Miyalhalmi dance depicts the tragic suffering of an abused wife, who after her death came back as a ghost not in order to avenge her murder but to trouble the living in an unjust society so that they would struggle together and work for justice.”

The fourth presenter, The Rev. Deng FuCun from Mainland China is Chief Director of the Research Department of the China Christian Council (CCC) and the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM). Deng spoke about the Church in China experiencing a series of reconciliations: first in terms of unity and solidarity of the various Christian denominations in China; second, in the development of self-governing, self-supporting and self-propagating churches; and third in their coexistence with China’s socialist government in promoting a harmonious society.

Rev. Deng noted that the main approach of the Chinese Christians is not proclaiming the Gospel through rallies or street corner evangelism but in “being involved in providing social and health services,” such as the ministry of the Amity Foundation. In the witness of serving the neighbor, non-Christians are drawn to the generosity and selfless services provided by Christians. By simply living the authentic Christian life, the Christian community becomes a leaven in Chinese society and as a result churches spontaneously grow. “

During the Western missionary era in China, Christians were not many because Christianity was considered “foreign” and anti-native. There was a saying in China that after baptism, there would be “one more Christian, one less Chinese.” The success of the three self movement was the indigenization of Chinese Christianity or its incarnation in the Chinese culture. Because of that, the Church in China has gained favor in the sight of the Chinese government and the Chinese people.

“As disciples of Christ, we should help the poor and care for the marginalized. If we fail to recognize this priority of God’s love for the poor and the needy, we are losing the focus of Christianity. As the Body of Christ, the church is the continuation of the Incarnation.”
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The firth presenter, The Rev. Dr. Guen Seok Yang, vice president of SongkongHoe University, Korea focused his thesis on “the meaning of reconciliation developed in Korea’s experience of divisions and conflicts.” Dr. Yang narrated the history of conflicts and war in the Korean Peninsula, dating back from colonial times until the Cold War. As a result of the World War II and the subsequent division of Korea into North and South, there arose successive dictatorships on both sides. The divided Korean people suffered not only physical violence and death but also created deep culture of mistrust which would make reconciliation very difficult. “I may find it easier to communicate with non Koreans than with fellow Koreans who belong to the North. I feel a deep-seated fear that when someday there will be a reunification, I may not know how to act or react,” Dr. Yang confessed.

Expressing concern about the ideology of the Bush administration, Dr. Yang expressed fear that Korea is once again becoming a new frontline for the “hegemony struggle” among global superpowers, particularly America, Japan and China. The intervention of these superpowers with the goal of only protecting their interest would jeopardize the progress of Korea’s reunification. “The issue of reconciliation is not a demolition of relationships but the recovery of true relationships. We need to discover the new relationships which can replace or reject the superpowers' assertion of their relationship to the Korean peninsula. We need to tell and retell our stories and the stories of other  people who truly love peace and life, not the stories distorted and manipulated by the powers that be of those countries. Koreans themselves must be allowed to make their own decisions and not coerced by superpowers. ”
The sixth presenter, The Rt. Rev. David Lai is bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Taiwan, gave a historical background of Taiwan as a small island with four major ethnic groups. The first three groups belong to the Han Chinese who trace their ancestry to Mainland China and the fourth ethnic group belong to the Taiwan aborigines, the original inhabitants of Taiwan. Taiwan is formerly known as “Formosa” (beautiful island), the name given by Portuguese seafarers.

Like many Asian countries, Taiwan also suffered from outside intervention in history such as the colonization from Japan and the martial law of the nationalist China. Today the conflict is with regards to Taiwan’s relationship with Mainland China which tends to divide Taiwanese into pro-unification and pro-independence. Despite its own victimization, Taiwanese as a whole are trying to live in harmony and the Church has been at the forefront in the quest for reconciliation.

The seventh presenter, the Rev. Ajuko Ueda, chaplain at Rikkyo University in Japan shared her story as a minister among non-Christian students in a Christian university. Expressing frustration in the apparent lack of connectedness between the local churches and the Anglican university, she hopes that the ministry she shares among the students who are otherwise not interested in spiritual matters, may one day become a seed which will germinate a desire to develop their own spirituality.

The eighth presenter, The Rev. Dr. Amos Kisuk Kim, assistant professor of SongkongHoe University in Korea, shared the themes of the 2009 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. He sees divisions and fragmentations among Christians as they respond differently to the issues in society such as globalization, the war on terror, ecological crisis, racial and cultural discrimination, religious pluralism, war and violence. He believes praying together would erase distrust and achieve harmony and solidarity.

Finally, the ninth presenter, Dr. Joanne Doi, a Maryknoll sister of St. Dominic, gave a reflection from the perspective of an Asian American. She has been leading an annual   “Theological Pilgrimage to Manzanar,” one of the sites of internment camps of Japanese Americans in World War II. She encouraged Asian Americans to make a similar pilgrimage that will bring open their memoria passionis (memory of suffering) so they can move on to their memoria resurrectionis (memory of the resurrection).

Dr. Doi believes that the internment experience of Japanese Americans is considered by many victims and their families as a shame and something they buried in their memory. They do not want to talk about it and they continually suffer in silence. As young Japanese Americans engage in pilgrimage to discover the past that brought their parents shame, a “sacred encounter” occurs and a new healing and reconciliation take place. Their experience of confronting the past and understanding the contemporary situation help them become more compassionate with people who are suffering injustice.

“Anamnesis in relation to the pilgrimage to Manzanar is a remembrance of Eucharistic vulnerability that births an interfaith communion as we gather at the place of our suffering and hope, that opens the doors of an eudemonistic imagination of a future that might be different…What is at stake is our very humanity, our capacity to connect with one another and empower each other’s compassion and commitment to make present the tenaciousness of love in our world, “Dr. Doi concluded.

Discussion and Reflections
The discussions and reflections following each presentation were profound and far reaching. Particularly exciting were the exchanges between theologians from China and Taiwan; Koreans and Japanese and between Asians in Asia and Asian Americans in the United States. The Forum provided the theologians and scholars the space to ask thought- provoking questions and to respond to each one in the spirit of collegiality, sobriety and rationality. It was the consensus of all present that the Asia America Theological Exchange Forum should continue in the form of internet discussion through “AATE Forum Online,”where all the theologian-presenters serve as instructors and the rest are part of the virtual classroom.

The Episcopal Asiamerica Ministry and Anglican Global Relations (Asia Pacific) of The Episcopal Church will prepare for the next Asia America Theological Exchange Forum that would involve theologians from Philippines, India, Pakistan and Southeast Asia at a date to be announced.