"How can people take their economic lives into their own hands?" "What are the strategic entry points for alternatives to the present forms of globalization and the role of faith communities?" These were among the questions discussed in June 2000 during Colloquium 2000.

The gathering, at the Evangelische Akademie in Hofgeismar, Germany, brought together more than one hundred and fifty theologians, economists and social activists from about forty countries. It was organized by a group of church, ecumenical and mission organizations in Germany, in cooperation with Pax Christi International, the World Council of Churches and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.

The Alliance's call for a church-based process of recognition, education and confession in relation to global economic injustice and ecological destruction was a reference point throughout the meeting.

Preparations for the colloquium included an internet debate and various exposure programmes in Germany, Switzerland and the UK. On June 9, participants began with a symbolic action in front of the Deutsche Bank/Bankers trust in Frankfurt, where they also received greetings from representatives of the Protestant and Catholic churches in Frankfurt. They then moved to Hofgeismar for the meeting proper.

Dr Philip Potter gave the opening speech, which was followed by many inputs from Christian groups and other living faith communities (Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim). Most days started with group Bible study. Several presentations were devoted to analysis of the global situation, but there was also time to tell stories of hope, which became a source of encouragement.

The major discussions took place in issue groups:

The ideological dimension of economics and money
Finance and land speculation,
Production, work and unemployment,
Poverty and exclusion caused by wealth accumulation,
Ecology, science and technology,
Counterculture and the media,
Interreligious aspects of economics,
Churches and social movements,
The local economy,
International solidarity against imperialism and alternative international regulations.

Since most of the participants were very knowledgeable about these issues, it did not take long to get into debate. The first major interest of participants was how to link faith community movements and civil society movements in the struggle against the current trend of neoliberal economic globalization. Their second major interest was to strengthen grassroots democratic participation in the regulation of the economy. The third interest was to unmask the ideological aspects of neoliberal globalization and to identify workable alternatives.

At the end of the meeting a declaration was made, which shows the basic position of the colloquium vis-à-vis globalization. It was decided to follow up the colloquium by organizing this kind of meeting at a regional level and it was agreed that churches needed to be challenged more vigorously in their role as economic actors.

Park Seong-won

The papers from the consultation, together with the declaration, have been published by the Alliance. Ulrich Duchrow, ed, Faith communities and social movements facing globalization: International and interfaith colloquium 2000 on faith-theology-economy, Studies from the World Alliance of Reformed Churches 45 (Geneva: Warc, 2002).