Member Login

World Map

513 members currently registered
in 82 countries.

AIC Naivasha Technical Training Institute is a member of the Micah Network

micahnetwork

 
Wycliffe Centre

Review of Micah Declaration on Integral Mission

« Go back

Status: Consultation - Report and Discussion

50%  
Review of Micah Declaration on Integral Mission

Background

In September 2001, 140 leaders of Christian organisations involved with the poor from 50 countries met in Oxford to listen to God and each other for mutual learning, encouragement and strengthening as they served the cause of the kingdom of God amongst the poor.

This group drew up a declaration entitled the Micah Declaration on Integral Mission, which was to act as a guide and rallying call to motivate and mobilise Christians to engage in an integrated and holistic response. The wording of the Declaration were chosen with care and deliberation to endeavour to not only capture the distinct activities of proclamation and social involvement, but to demonstrate how important it is to see that they are integrated and necessary components of mission.

10 years on and we have seen how important this Declaration has been to challenging and mobilising Christians to integral mission. During these 10 years we have learnt much and understood that clarification and inclusion of core topics may be required.

2011 marks the 10th anniversary of the publication of the Micah Declaration on Integral Mission and we thus felt it was timely to launch a review, consulting with members and a wider theological / practitioners group to discern whether we need to draft a new document or add an expansion or….?

The review commenced in February 2011 and involved the following groups:

1.      Open Invitation given out in our newsletter and member journal for people to send in their thoughts via e-mail to be shared.

2.      Monthly Discussions: included theologian-practitioners who engaged in the discussions rigorously from February through to June, via e-mail and skype. Not all these participants will be able to make the June meeting but wanted to engage fully in the discussions leading up to.

3.      Face to face Meeting in June – by Invitation: 30 theologian-practitioners attended the meeting in June and presented papers and engaged in discussions to review of Micah Declaration and consider the way forward.

Review Meeting: 23rd to 24th June 2011

This was held at the Wycliffe Centre, Horsleys Green, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP14 3XL, United Kingdom

Outcome

The two days of meeting were immensely  rewarding for all who attended. A number of points were raised:

  1. Clarity was needed for who the intended audience was for the Micah Declaration. In principle it was felt that it had made a big impact over the last 10 years but mainly amongst academics and leaders. The expressed desire was to see impact at grass root level in and through communities.
  2. Bearing in mind audience concerns, it was generally felt that a new document was perhaps not the way forward. What could be considered is an expansion of the current Declaration to have a more practical application of how our commitment is outworked in our daily activities.
  3. Concerns were raised about definitions and the need for further consultation to be had on our understanding of proclamation. A request was made to have further opportunities to discuss the issues around proselytism.
  4. The inter connectedness of the Micah Declaration and the identity and work of Micah Network was raised. The challenge of the ownership and commitment of members was discussed and seen as essential, with a primary focus being directed at grass root level. Living out integral mission!

Report - a work in progress

Rob Kilpatrick has captured the review discussion by using the Micah Declaration on Intgeral Mission as a framework to inter link presentations and discussion notes with the document under review.

The actual Micah Declaration on Integral Mission written in 2001 is an historical document and will be kept as such. However, to help facilitate the on going discussions and deliberations we have used the Declaration as a lens to help us to consider how bets to develop this work together.