KAIRÓS 30th
ANNIVERSARY
DANGEROUS MEMORY
AND HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
Kairos 30th Anniversary: Dangerous Memory and Hope for the
Future.
“May your movement --
our movement -- continue to grow in strength and spirit.” These words were
written by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, welcoming participants of the 30 year
anniversary conference of the South African Kairos document to Johannesburg in
August 2015. The conference commemorated and celebrated the 30th Anniversary of
the 1985 Kairos document, a document that had a significant influence on the
Christian community’s theology and response to Apartheid, as well as
involvement in social justice issues worldwide.
The conference also sought to lift up the struggles for
justice that still persist in South Africa and around the world.
We gathered in Johannesburg (near Cottesloe) from 17 to 20
August 2015, to celebrate how the 1985 South African Kairos document,
“Challenge to the Church,” responded to a moment of truth in the most painful
days of Apartheid.
That Kairos document inspired three decades of Kairos
movements in many different contexts. This celebration has now re-inspired us
toward a common humanity and a concern for human dignity and our environment.
The pain of Marikana and the reasons behind it (multinational
profit before people and corporate greed) hovered over our conference.
The 2009 Kairos Palestine document, “A Moment of Truth,” a
cry from the Palestinian Christian community, carries a disturbing echo of the
dangerous memory of the South African story of Apartheid. Kairos Palestine has
evoked a powerful global response from Kairos contexts around the world. The
catalyzing power of Kairos Palestine was deeply felt in our gathering. We were
inspired by this renewed energy. Palestine is the space where our sacred texts
are contested.
There was much to celebrate in this gathering. Our Kairos
conversations were intentionally multi-generational and broadly international.
We were grateful to engage deeply with Muslim and Jewish perspectives. We found
much joy in our solidarity and shared struggles. We were particularly
encouraged by the inter-generational nature of this gathering and how that can
be nurtured and encouraged. We are particularly inspired by the birth Zinzi
Kairos Mbenenge during the conference.
“… for unto us a child is given”!
A NEW KAIROS
