Choose Life, Act in Hope: published

WARC has published a guide to the Accra Confession that points to the declaration's importance to Christian ethics in the contemporary world.

Choose Life, Act in Hope authored by Puleng LenkaBula, a South African academic from the University of South Africa (UNISA), was launched in Johannesburg, South Africa in September as part of the programme of the Global Dialogue consultation on the Accra Confession.

Clifton Kirkpatrick, WARC's president, calls the book "a wake-up call to Christians not only in Africa, but also around the world, to the fundamental ethical calling of the Christian faith in our time."

Describing it as "part history, part theological vision, and part a call for action," Kirkpatrick says, "Puleng LenkaBula articulately expresses why this covenant for justice in the economy and the earth is the central commitment of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches."

The study resource offers questions for discussion at the end of each chapter and encourages WARC members to popularize the Accra Confession and find ways to apply it in daily life.

WARC's General Secretary, Setri Nyomi urges churches to use the book to plan urgent action in response to the needs of those most affected by the economic crisis: "Silence and inaction on the part of the church is a betrayal of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who came that all may have life in fullness. The integrity of our faith is at stake unless we act now."

Saying that action on the part of churches in Africa will be a source of hope for many, Nyomi praises LenkaBula's book as an important resource for churches.

LenkaBula, who teaches courses on social, political, feminist and economic topics in the Department of Systematic Theology and Ethics at UNISA, focuses her research on economy, ecology and ethics, particularly the areas of land, property, and intellectual property rights.

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