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The Eighth General Assembly:
Yaoundé, Cameroon
Theme: Come, Let Us Rebuild
Nehemiah
2:17-18
22-27 November 2003
Opening
Ceremonies
Offering the official opening address was
President Joachim Chissano of Mozambique. Also the African
Union (AU) chair, President Chissano welcomed the AACC and
their discussions Canon Clement Janda 30 of rebuilding the
continent. He invited the churches to work as a united front
in these efforts, making development a goal the church
achieves together.
This topical welcome was followed
by the report of the AACC President, the Most Rev. Prof. Kwesi
Dickson. Discussing the issues troubling the AACC, Rev.
Dickson called for better communication between the General
Committee and member churches; since lack of communication
leads to lack of church support. In a time when AK-47s are
traded for chickens and HIV has taken the lives of 17 million
Africans, President Dickson called the Church to deepen its
spirituality. He also discussed the difficulty of democracy to
thrive in conflict-ridden pluralistic societies. Furthermore,
Prof. Dickson talked about how globalization is a force that
increases inequality. That inequality can be seen in the field
of education, where illiteracy rates are as high as 50% in
some nations, and university enrollment is at 2.5% for those
who finish secondary school. The Church cannot afford to fall
behind at this time. It must work with the state and
appropriate new technology in order to be a relevant actor in
development.
Next in the opening ceremonies, Rev. Dr.
Mvume Dandala addressed the Assembly as its new General
Secretary. Rev. Dandala acknowledged that some were asking
whether or not the AACC should even be kept alive considering
its struggles. Looking back, he saw the frustration that the
AACC’s vision “was never seriously aligned to the resources
and capacities of the African Church” (The 8th AACC General
Assembly Report, 2006, p.81). Given these concerns, the AACC
needs to restate its mission and re-evaluate how it serves the
continent.
Dr. Dandala discussed The New Partnership
for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) as a way of uniting academia,
church and civil society to work for progress. He urged the
Assembly to develop a charter to define the AACC’s
relationship to NEPAD. Throughout his speech, General
Secretary Dandala encouraged questions and criticisms of the
status quo as the AACC moves forward with a new
mission.
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