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The course was organized in collaboration with the Office Protestant de la Formation, Neuchâtel - DM, Lausanne – Défap, Paris, CEVAA, Montpellier, and Témoigner ensemble à Genève as well as the Protestant Universities of Paris and Montpellier. It represented a joint effort of French and Swiss WCC member churches and various organizations concerned with and involved in issues related to formation in intercultural and contextual theology.
Rev. Dr Benjamin Simon, director of the WCC Commission on Education and Ecumenical Formation and dean of the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, extended congratulations to the graduates.
“You have shared experiences on various theological themes from an intercultural perspective, while also learning from one another,” he said.
Simon shared the news that in the near future the programme will be expanded into an accredited one-year course beginning in October. “This initiative and the recognition of the necessity to offer an intercultural theology course are supported by many,” he said.
Graduate Florence Löliger, from the EERV Aubonne, is a deacon in the Evangelical Reformed Church of the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland, and works in the parish of Aubonne.
“I really liked having two speakers each time, a man and a woman, from the northern or southern hemisphere addressing the theme of interculturality in connection with healing,” she said.
Löliger cited various themes she will continue to pursue, including working in a world where populations intermingle so much interculturally, whether that be from migration, globalisation, or new forms of media. “All that creates a great big intermingling, and we are confronted with this intermingled population,” she said. “And how am I going to integrate that into my ministry within parish life, whether that be welcoming migrants, the fact that we spend time together, different ages, different populations—and an openness to dialoguing, to differences.”
Ultimately, it’s about truly listening to one another, added Löliger.
Another graduate, Nehemiah Ndofula Lumeta, Bienne, explained that interculturality is a current topic that is not really practiced enough. “But we should approach things this way, and the church also should really integrate or see certain things that we don’t take into account,” he said.
This was Lumeta's first time taking a theology class. “Interestingly, we know that culture, or different cultures, or culture shock are present, but we don’t pay attention to that,” he said. “So I think this is a good discovery and it can already help me a little to also integrate some ideas into the church if necessary, with the Lord’s help.”
