On the third day we discussed about our responsibility for the entire creation and about future perspectives on ecumenical partnerships in global contexts.
Human life is part of God´s Creation and we are one with nature. Genesis 1:28 teaches us to cultivate and preserve the earth and this also means to correct the wrongs we did.
As climate change worldwide is the most threatening issue, we agreed in the final statement to ask our churches to respond through the following steps:
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- awareness building within our communities,
- implementing sustainable projects to save the climate,
- seriously changing our habits, for example regarding our use of mobility, our consumption of food and goods,
- developing more and regular ways of digital meetings and communication by social media to avoid flights and other climate harming emissions,
- exchanging knowledge, expertise and technologies, sharing best practice examples,
- saving special resources in our annual budgets for climate friendly actions, campaigns and programs.
- giving witness of the effects of climate change to those who are less affected by it,
- giving hope to, stand in solidarity with and support all parts of Creation that are already visibly affected by climate change.”
In these days of being together we experienced our unity in faith by confessing the Nicene Creed together, by confirming that we are united in the body of Christ and that we all share the commitment to work for justice, peace, reconciliation and the integrity of Creation.
“We agreed:
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- that we are one with Creation and therefore share our efforts for the integrity of Creation,
- to practice solidarity with one another,
- to respect our different cultural backgrounds and theological convictions,
- to create spaces where we can talk openly and respectfully about that which divides us,
- to pray together and for one another,
- to be concerned for one another as partner churches,
- to foster the exchange of church professionals and volunteers,
- to continue mutual visits but also commit to use more environmentally friendly technologies for communication and outreach,
- to reflect upon our shared history of colonialism and to overcome its impacts,
- to strengthen our relations and be open to multilateral partnerships,
- to find ways to include young people in our partnerships by making their voices heard on all levels of our partnership relations, by fostering youth exchange programs, by encouraging the participation of both laypeople and clergy in a mix of generations, and by raising awareness about the international partnerships among youth in all churches.
- to find ways for regular online worshipping as communion of partner churches.”