by Kato Makoto, executive secretary for Ecumenical Ministries

Sponsored by the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT), the International Forum on the Mission of the Church in Taiwan Today was held Feb. 14 -17 at the Presbyterian Bible College in Hsinchu. In addition to the 42 participants from overseas, there were about 150 other participants from around Taiwan. The Kyodan was represented by Moderator Ishibashi Hideo and myself. Aminaka Shoko, general secretary of the National Christian Council in Japan was also in attendance.

The opening worship service was led by Rev. Suda Tada, moderator of the PCT, who is from the indigenous Sediq tribe. He preached on the theme "Dining Together," taken from Luke 15:11-32. In the following session on "Today's PCT Context," Dr. I-Chung Lai, assistant professor at Mackay College for Medicine and Management and executive director of Taichung City's International Affairs Committee, gave a presentation on the current political situation. This was followed by a presentation by Prof. Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao, professor of sociology at National Taiwan University, entitled "The Paradigm Shift and the Current Social Issues in Taiwan." The final morning presentation was by Rev. Dr. Cheng Yang-En, professor of Church History on the faculty of Taiwan Theological College and Seminary, who spoke on the topic "Missional Response to Today’s Taiwanese Context: A Historical Perspective." The afternoon session featured the keynote address by Rev. Dr. Collin Cowan, general secretary of the Council for World Mission, entitled "Discerning the Role of the PCT in the Unfolding of Taiwan."

The focus of Day 2 was "simultaneous panels" in which participants were divided into panel discussion groups. During the morning session, panel discussions were held in two separate rooms at the same time: one on Gender Justice and the other on the Role of Youth in the Church. During the afternoon and continuing into the morning of the third day, participants were divided into three groups in separate locations to discuss the topics of Economic Justice, Climate Environment, and Inclusive and Life Affirming Community. I served as the moderator for the discussion on Inclusive and Life Affirming Community, and I learned of the situation in the PCT concerning sexual minorities. The youth spoke openly of the seriousness of the issue and how no consensus could be reached. We all came back together for the afternoon session for two more panel discussions: one on the Meaning of Partnership and the other on the Role of the Ecumenical Movement in Supporting the PCT.

On the fourth and final day, following the adoption of the Listening Group Report, Kyodan Moderator Ishibashi Hideo led the closing worship. Overall, I would say that this was the largest in size and most serious in content of all of the PCT’s international conferences in my memory. (Tr. TB)

報告　加藤　誠

２０１７年２月１４日（火）から１７日（金）まで台湾、新竹（Hsinchu）にあるPCT Presbyterian Bible Collegeを会場にしてInternational Forum on the Mission of the Church in Taiwan Todayが開催された。参加者は海外から４２名、台湾国内から１５０名。教団からは石橋秀雄教団総会議長、加藤誠世界 宣教幹事が参加した。尚、NCCからは網中彰子総幹事が参加した。開会礼拝は台湾基督長老教会総会議長のRev. Suda Tada。彼は原住民のSediq族出身である。Luke 15:11-32からDining Togetherと題して説教が行われた。

その後はToday’s PCT ContextのセッションにおいてPoliticalな面についてMackay College for Medicine and ManagementのAssistant Professorであり, the Taichung City GovernmentのExecutive Director of International Affairs CommitteeであるI-Chung Lai博士が発題し、次にThe Paradigm Shift and the Current Social Issues in Taiwanと題してProfessor of Sociology in National Taiwan UniversityのProf, Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiaoが発題した。最後にMissional Response to Today’s Taiwanese Context: A Historical Perspectiveと題してProfessor of Church History, on the faculty of the Taiwan Theological College and Seminary のRev. Dr. Cheng Yang-Enが発題した。午後のKeynoteではCouncil for World MissionのGeneral Secretary であるRev. Dr. Collin CowanによりDiscerning role of PCT in the unfolding Taiwanと題した基調講演が行われた。

二日目のメインはSimultaneous Panelsであった。参加者名簿には予め参加するパネルディスカッションが割り振られていた。午前は二つの会場を使いGender JusticeとRole of Youth in the Churchのパネルディスカッションが同時に行われた。午後は３つの会場を使いEconomic Justice, Climate Environment, Inclusive and Life Affirming Communityの3つのディスカッションが三日目の午前のセッションまで行われた。筆者はInclusive and Life Affirming Community のModeratorをさせていただいたが、PCTの青年が積極的に発言をしていた事と現在PCTでは性的マイノリティーの問題が深刻で収集がつかない状況であることが複数の発言により教 えられた。午後は一同に集まりPanel on Meaning of PartnershipとPanel on Role of Ecumenical Movement in supporting PCTのディスカッションが行われた。

４日目の最終日はAdoption of Listening Group Reportの後石橋秀雄教団議長による閉会礼拝が行われた。

私が記憶する限りではPCT主催の国際会議としては、規模においても内容においても大きく重い国際会議であった。