Sharing circle focuses on Indonesia and people with disabilities

The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC)’s “COVID & Beyond” discernment process continues with a sharing session on Wednesday, 14 April, at 15:30 (CEST).

The idea of the sharing session is to express areas of particular urgency in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the injustices it exposes and to generate ideas how the WCRC on all levels should respond to the crisis.

This latest circle will focus on presentations from member churches in Indonesia and people with disabilities.

People with disabilities have been more severely impacted by the pandemic. Apart from simply exposing and exacerbating existing conditions, the pandemic has thrown open a whole new level of issues. People with disabilities are being disproportionately affected by the virus, yet they are not being taken into account when it comes to the roll out and accessibility of the vaccine. The situation is unjust, and the church is called upon to reflect on and correct its own theologies and practices as well as advocate for just and full participation of people with disabilities.

Member churches from Indonesia will focus on local challenges with a special presentation on eco-theology vs. anthropocentric theology – a perspective from West Papua. There will be presentations from the following experts: Fransina Yoteni (Indonesian Christian Church in Tanah Papua), Elifas Maspaitela (Maluku Protestant Church), Rosmalia Barus (Batak Karo Protestant Church), and John Simon (Protestant Church in Western Indonesia).

The sharing circle will be livestreamed through Vimeo in Indonesian and on WCRC Facebook pages in English, French, and Spanish. The session will also be posted to the WCRC YouTube Channel. All are invited to watch and participate either through the comments functions or by sending an email message to require@wcrc.eu.

“What does God Require of Us? Discerning, Confessing, and Witnessing in the Time of COVID-19 and Beyond,” the year-long Communion-wide discernment process is building toward a face-to-face meeting in late 2021 and will culminate in the WCRC collectively confessing a God of Life at its 2024 General Council.

Additional information on the process can be found at wcrc.ch/require.