Rome: Day 3, 2nd morning session . . .

Charles kicked off our second session of the morning where we look at Participation. Charles is a policy adviser on foreign affairs to the Church of England’s Archbishops’ Council. They look, in particular, at the theological rationale behind our decisions, structures, implementation, and the like. The inertia they are fighting is the person in the pew who has an attitude that they have no way in which to participate. once we get engagement, how do we continue the momentum? (overcome the attitudes of the #hashtag generation). They are playing a bit of catchup to our RC brothers and sisters in England, as well as organizations like the Salvation Army and Caritas. The difficulty, though, is getting the Church to engage at all its levels.




Kirsten from ERD. They generally work over long term with Anglican partners. Her interest in HT derives from Gender Violence (female minors represent the majority of those trafficked). Johari window. The boundaries around trafficking seem very porous. More than any issue with which they work, there is grey areas. We all despise brothels, but she has heard examples of prostitution from all over the world — not all of which are considered trafficking by everyone. Like many who supports free trade, the stories of the Seafarers just blew her away. What platforms are we building that allow us to examine how we are part of the problem ad how we are part of the solution? What are some of the behavior barriers to participation? Many of us are very specialized very focused on our local contexts, suspicious of those who seek to join the fight. Wants to add Process, Platform, and Professionalize (and Passion) to the P’s of this fight.






Fulata spent time teaching us about Contextual Bible Study as a creative resource in the healing of survivors (I wonder why no one ever thinks to apply to slavers and those who use them). The purpose is to get those reading to put their context in dialogue with the context of the biblical narrative. She thinks it is needed in communities that ignore 2 Samuel 13 or Judges 19, for example (again, we are called to preach and teach the whole text, so that is a valid criticism of lectionary editors and lazy clergy). We are because we participate. Until survivors are leading this effort, they will not be truly free . . .