THE FELLOWSHIP OF AFRICAN CHRISTIAN ECONOMISTS
January 1, 2005 ? Email: info@FACE-Africa.org
Introduction
The Fellowship of African Christian Economists (FACE) is an association of Christians who are also practising economists and other social scientists with a keen interest in development and public policy issues in Africa. It is an interdenominational association of all those who believe that the Gospel must be expressed in the daily lives of believers, be they scholars, policy analysts, civil servants, bankers, businesspeople, or activists in civil society organisations.
Aims and Objectives
The Fellowship of Christian Economists will promote, through conferences, publications and exchanges, a dialogue about issues of economic development in Africa between Christians on the one hand, and between Christians and the secular world on the other. The Fellowship will maintain an active website together with the publication of an Electronic Journal. The Fellowship will engage in active dialogue with governments, international organisations, NGOs and other intellectuals. The Fellowship does not subscribe to any ideological views, either of the Left or of the Conservative Right. Rather, it is committed to dialoguing with all in the furtherance of the Kingdom of God and of His righteousness. The objectives of FACE are therefore:
- Dialogue between Christians in developing a Kingdom Approach to the key economic policy questions of our day;
- Dialogue with people of other faiths in finding a common ground on economic and public policy issues;
- Seeking means of influencing debates on key economic and policy issues in Africa;
- Developing Kingdom perspectives in economic policy as a vehicle for evangelism, i.e. bringing the Good News of the Gospel to a sinful and fallen world;
- Bearing witness to the God who cares and who loves all people, in particular the poor. As Christians, we are called to make the difference in the world, to be the salt of the earth, and to minister to the hungry and the sick. In the words of the Prophet Micah, “He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).
- The Fellowship of African Christian Economists is committed to exploring Biblical approaches to issues of social justice, gender equity and ecological sustainability.
- Finally, the Fellowship of African Christian Economists will aim to dialogue with other Christians in all parts of the world in seeking to build a world community of Christian economists committed to the building of the Kingdom of God in all spheres of economic and business life.
Statement of Faith
We subscribe to the fullness and completeness of the Bible as the infallible word of God. We also subscribe to the Lordship of Christ and His eternal Gospel as the means of salvation for a fallen world. We subscribe to the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church. We believe in the one holy, catholic and Apostolic Church and in the priesthood of all believers. Through our association as Christian economists, we are called upon to bear witness to the Lordship of Christ and to the expression of a Kingdom Approach in economic and public policy and in the management of the wealth that God has blessed our continent with.
The Kingdom Worldview Approach
By a Kingdom Approach we are referring to the need to integrate our faith and values into our work as economists. We believe that as Christians we are called to be partakers in God’s Kingdom. As joint heirs with Christ, we are witnesses to the Truth, which can be found only in Christ; to the Love with which he has loved us (for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that who so ever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life, John 3:16); to the Liberty unto which we have been called as children of the One Lord; and to the Justice which is part of the character of the One True God.
The Kingdom Approach has long and distinguished antecedents in the history of the Church. In the Bible we are told, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light (Genesis 1: 1-3). And as the Psalmist reminds us, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof”. We believe that God did not call us to be Christians only on Sundays. Rather, He requires of us that we should engage with the world in the fullness and totality of our faith as believers. When faced with the problem of corruption in high places, when faced with the sinfulness of a fallen world as expressed in social injustice, greed and rapacious exploitation, gender and ethnic inequities, we are challenged to present the face of Christ. When confronted with the evils of ecological damage and environmental pollution, we are constrained to declare our call to stewardship in awareness of the fact that the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.
The Fellowship of Christian Economists affirms the Divine Covenant with which God has called us as believers. We have been called to live in Christ and to die to self and the world, trampling under our feet every false teachings and every machinations of the infernal kingdom. God’s eternal kingdom is our ideal and our hope. As covenanted people we are called upon to be guardians of truth, goodness, and justice as expressed in the Old Testament and in the Gospels. We are the salt of the earth and the leaven that leavens the bread with which the hungry shall be fed, the shelter-less provided a roof over their heads, and the poor succoured.
FACE seeks to unleash the spiritual power of the Word of God as a positive and renewing influence on all spheres of economics activity, particularly in the area of policy formulation and finding economic solutions to the multi-faceted problems in Africa today.
Today, Africa still faces enormous odds, from the problem of poverty to the problem of poor governance, massive indebtedness and the unequal power relations with its international development stakeholders. In these circumstances, the Christian economist bears an enormous responsibility to bring Scriptural truths to light to help bring about a transformation of society that reflects God’s goodness and mercy towards all Peoples.
Origins of FACE
The concept of FACE began in June 2004 when two evangelical Christian economists, working for a well-known international development organization located in Africa, believed that the time had come to form a network of African Christian economists. After a period of reflection and prayer, they decided that it was His will to create FACE, which was then officially (but quietly) launched in January 2005.
Membership in FACE
Membership is available to practicing economists who are born-again believers in agreement with the Statement of Faith described above, and who are in good standing with the Lord and their local church or place of worship. Application for membership is possible by accessing the following the instructions at this website: www.FACE.org/membership.htm
An Immediate Call to Action
All newly enrolled members of FACE are requested to access FACE’s website and examine how they can become actively involved in the organization, particularly by:
- Making FACE known to other practicing Christian economists working on African development issues.
- Using FACE’s website and its related links to become informed about “What is a Christian worldview?” and “What is Christian Economics?”
- On the basis of Christian Economics, already begin preparing papers for submission and, if accepted, posted in FACE’s electronic journal.
Schedule of Events 2005-2007
- Continue developing FACE’s website
- Promoting and encouraging membership in FACE throughout Africa
- Continually solicit articles for publication
- Publish FACE’s first e-journal in September 2005, to be published quarterly or biannual basis thereafter, depending on the volume of submissions.
2007 - 1stt Annual Meeting & Election of FACE’s President and Board by members. Venue and date to be determined.
Gratefully yours,
Dr. O. Mailafiya, Ph.D, Oxon
Dr. D. Barnett, Ph.D.
