1 - 1998

Partnership from church to church

Great Opportunities - Ineffectively Used

Partnerships between African and German Parishies

by Dr. Lothar Bauerochse

Direct partnerships between parishes or church districts in Germany and churches overseas can do it all: boost ecumenical and intercultural learning, reinvigorate parishes and effectively help projects without transfer losses. Illusion or reality? Lothar Bauerochse takes a essential look at partnerships between African and German parishes. - Dr. Lothar Bauerochse has a PhD in theology and he is an editor with Hessischer Rundfunk (Hessian Radio). He has published a very interisting book on the same topic, called »Miteinander leben lernen« (Learning to Live together).

Money makes the world go round - and feelings run high. So let’s start right there: People claim that direct financial aid through parish and church district partnerships is more effective because it directly benefits those in need. In addition, such direct project aid between the partners boosts development learning processes.

Money is virtually all-important

These claims do not hold true. On the whole, such project aid is hardly relevant for development. Aid mainly goes to finance church building projects and service vehicles. Education and church staff wages are further focal aid targets. Projects to fight poverty and improve the living conditions of the partners are of secondary importance.

The emphasis on direct aid in such partnerships serves donor interests for one part. Donors are reassured that their aid really reaches the people it is intended for. On the African side, hopes are raised and encouraged that parishes and districts will receive direct aid outside general church schemes. Projects to promote development often fail in such partnerships, for many different reasons. Such projects normally start at short notice and without detailed planning and sufficient support from professionals and development organisations. They often start with a certain amount of money the German partners want to invest in a project. Contrary to widespread claims, most projects are not based on independent project plans of the African partners.

Many projects remain alien to them. In addition, the unilateral aid relationship corrupts the partnership. The inference must be that direct financial and project aid leads to the exact opposite of its intentions: Financial relations determine and predominate encounters. Partnerships cannot overcome the predominant economic factor, unless they consciously encourage and implement development learning processes.

Impulses not a big issue

And what about much-vaunted »ecumenical learning«? Ecumenical learning is targeted at the transforming renewal of the church and the congregation. It aims to open the parishes both for ecumenical communication on issues of personal faith and for ecumenical communication on a responsible handling. Its point is to discover and celebrate the world community of the body of Christ and to promote and fight for worldwide justice.

Over the last ten years, the concept of "ecumenical learning" has become a trendy buzzword in ecumenical circles, even in the partnership movement. Intra-church partnerships are deemed ideal vehicles for the ecumenical learning process. And they offer excellent opportunities for ecumenical learning in intercultural encounters. Still ecumenical learning is hardly as prevalent as is often assumed.

This is confirmed by various observations. First of all, learning processes in partnerships are not systematically designed. Secondly, hardly any informant could report any learning processes. Thirdly, on a parish level, people cited or observed no or only very few changes in attitude, behaviour or efforts. In fact, only a few individuals actively involved in partnership work have experienced learning processes in the course of some years.

Often these individual learning experiences cannot be implemented in the parishes. Many partnership workers have the impression that the parishes are not interested in their experiences. The informants confirm the thesis that partnerships hardly generate impulses for an ecumenical renewal of parishes and the church. German parishes normally see partnership work as one field of church work among others. Therefore partnership work meets virtually all the structural criteria of other fields of church work (e.g. number and structure of persons involved).

Partnerships are unable to meet the basic goal of ecumenical learning, which is to make ecumenism an integral part of church and parish life.

Reprint from »Eine Welt Magazin«, no 1, February 1998, slightly abridged and translated for publication in this magazine.