September 3, 2007

Cries from the heart

An international meeting of representatives from rural churches has called for solidarity between rural producers and urban consumers to ensure the cooperative production of food and the shortening of the supply chain between producer and consumer.

Eighty-one people from 12 nations gathered for the International Rural Church Association's (IRCA) fourth quadrennial conference at Brandon University, Canada, July 3-9.

Participants, from South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland/Romania, Germany, England, Tonga, Indonesia, India, Czech Republic, Iceland and theUSA, were rural church leaders who shared concerns affecting rural communities.

They sought to develop a deeper understanding about how churches might respond to "Cries From and Heart".

The Australian delegates were all from the Uniting Church. They included the Rev. Gary and Therese Hardingham from Queensland, the Rev. Lloyd Vidler, Ross and Margaret Neville, Kevin and Sandra Harper, the Rev. Fillimone Ollivetti and two Tongan young people from New South Wales, the Rev. Denise Nash from Victoria and the Rev. Rob Stoner from South Australia.

Keynote speaker John Ikerd, Economics Professor Emeritus from the University of Missouri and a strong advocate for the future of small sustainable farms, spoke about how "under the guise of economic development, our rural communities are being colonised" by giant multinational corporations that have no commitment to the future of rural people nor their resources.

He pleaded for delegates to name the evil and find alternative ways to carry on.

After speaking about the responsibility Christians have to conserve and sustain the earth's resources, Roman Yuriga described the alternative energy initiatives his Orthodox Academy was making in the Czech Republic.

Some conference delegates shared stories about deteriorating water supplies and discussed possibilities for intervention. Others discussed ways in which rural people were devalued.

Stories of healthy rural communities were said to be generally dismissed as unimportant. Language was manipulated to equate "big" with "good", and "technology" with "resolving all problems".

Shared leadership and cooperative decision-making were said to be essential factors in building vibrant communities.

According to one discussion group, churches had an opportunity to offer support, healing and hope in rural communities that had been made to feel devalued and ignored. But it was work that required long-term commitment.

There was a "cry from the heart" of rural people around the world. But through story-telling, prayer and song it was affirmed that there were many visions of hope in the rural landscape.

Gary Hardingham, incoming IRCA Secretary, is currently the flying Patrol Padre covering an area of around 650,000 square kilometres in outback Queensland and the Northern Territory. He said, "Most of my patch is semi-desert. The rest is desert."

The IRCA website is www.irca.is.

A statement from delegates at the conference expressed what the Church internationally needed to affirm about rural life and the world:

• We are concerned by the degradation of creation and disregard for the Creator. We call on all people to live carefully and respectfully on the earth, reducing waste and pollution. We seek an equitable and sustainable use of the world's resources by all who draw on them.
• We affirm the worth of all people. We agonize over the injustices perpetrated on the people of First Nations, migrants and seasonal workers. We long for an integrated society where all will be treated with fairness. We believe that the voice of the voiceless must be heard and heeded.
• We view with concern the numbers of people who lack adequate food and we demand a fair distribution, without paternalism, of the world's resources. We seek encouragement towards self-sufficiency and a fair price for all producers of goods.
• We affirm the importance to society of people with farming skills. We ask that those skills be valued and enhanced. We ask that everything possible be done to create and sustain vibrant rural communities.
• We are concerned by the way economic colonization is engineering society for the benefit of corporations and impinging on individual choice for the sake of monetary gain.
• We seek solidarity between rural producers and urban consumers to ensure the co-operative production of food and the shortening of the supply chain between producer and consumer.
• We believe in the priesthood of all believers and urge that ordained and lay people be trained to share in this ministry. We continue to urge denominations, theological colleges and institutions to provide training appropriate to rural and small congregations.
• It is a cry from our hearts that all people live in faith, hope and love. We urge Christians to live out these values in a Christ like way, to testify courageously to God's continuing work, and to live with a spirit of expectancy.