E.
237 E Ecumenical Movement angloPhone cariBBean The Caribbean Conference of Churches (ccc) originated and developed in the matrix of noticeable social ferment and corresponding contextual theological reflection in the Caribbean in the 1960s (see Caribbean Theology). This was an era in which Third World theological reflection profoundly influenced the ecumenical movement. The peculiarity of this theology was the concern to deal with unjust social structures that deprived and dominated certain classes, nations, races, and women. The conclusion was that there was a confluence and even a coincidence of God’s concern for the poor, oppressed , and powerless and their revolutionary aspirations and struggles in the face of injustice and inequality. More specifically, Third World theologians and ethicists focused on the ecumenical responsibility to go beyond mere balancing of power and work for the transference of power to the nations and classes that were dominated by more powerful contemporary forces. Theological reflection in the Third World was committed to contextuality, a positive valuation of ideological understanding and the need for collaboration between praxis and reflection in creative interchange. The words theoria and praxis informed and influenced theological reflection in the ccc from its inception. Preparatory Steps The association of theology with social analysis, reflection, and action in a historical context was influenced by a socioeconomic survey in 1967 by James Hackshaw. Hackshaw was commissioned by the Church World Service of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the UsA (ncccUsA) to study the development needs of the people of the eastern Caribbean islands. Hackshaw insisted on the inseparable association of economic development with human development . He recognized the need for rapid economic development in the region, but at the same time he emphasized the need for steps to ensure that the benefits were available to all the people: “Today the economic system is expected to provide , in increasing measure, freedom from want and insecurity , not to a few, but to all” (Hackshaw 1967, 6). Hackshaw affirmed that the social and economic problems experienced by the people of the region were directly related to the plantation system, which continued to alienate the poor masses. The plantation-style production of sugar and bananas resulted in small farmers having to produce much-needed local food crops using primitive agricultural techniques. Export-oriented monocrop agriculture left the masses alienated and poor. Other signs of the poverty in the region included a high rate of infant mortality due to malnutrition and gastroenteritis, overcrowding in homes, and an irrelevant system of education (see Education—Anglophone Caribbean) (Hackshaw 1967, 20). By the late 1960s, joint Christian action in the Caribbean was moving beyond the task of dealing solely with curriculum development and leadership training for Christian education (see Christianity). Those involved agreed to assume the challenges presented by an understanding of the total needs of the people of the region. The Caribbean Committee on Joint Christian Action (ccJcA), which had been involved in meaningful ecumenical endeavors, used its position to sponsor the Consultation on Social and Economic Development in the Eastern Caribbean (csedec) in Saint Vincent in November 1968.This act was seen as a sign that the churches in the Caribbean had taken the initiative to “minister to the total needs” of Caribbean people through united action (csedec 1968, 1). The consultation was an attempt by the churches to break down “territorial and denominational barriers in an effort to give birth to common goals for a regional approach to social and economic development of the scattered Englishspeaking islands of the eastern Caribbean” (csedec 1968, 1). The undertaking had inevitable theological and ecclesiological implications. Pietistic and “tradition-bound” churches were being asked to consider participating in the social and economic development of the Caribbean as a theological imperative . The responsibility of the churches to change social circumstances and the ecumenical requirement to express and address the common concern for the well-being of Caribbean people presented unavoidable challenges. The Hackshaw report and the subsequent consultation on social and economic planning in the eastern Caribbean resulted in the formation of Christian Action for Development in the Eastern Caribbean (cAdec) in 1969. The acceptance of the call to be involved in social and economic development by the churches in the eastern Caribbean and the formation of cAdec paved the way for the theological praxis of the ccc. (Within the structure of the ccc, cAdec would become the agency for Christian Action for Development in the entire Caribbean.) The call to the churches for involvement in the total life...
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