Christian Worldview Symposium with African Enterprise
22 – 24 July 2022
Over the weekend of 22 to 24 July 2022, Wilberforce Academy South Africa partnered with African Enterprise (AE) to present a Christian Worldview Symposium, held at the AE conference facility in Pietermaritzburg.
THE NEED
Our generation is faced with very real social, cultural, and political struggles, which are intensifying and escalating. Many of these stems from a growing lack of consensus about the nature of reality, human identity, and societal flourishing (the common good).
In this climate of polarisation, there is a serious need for followers of Christ to be equipped in how to engage with our fellow man, and with the secular philosophies and ideologies that predominate in the minds and hearts of individuals, and over prevailing cultures in institutions, communities, and nations. As we observe the moral decline around us and its destructive impacts on society, we cannot but acknowledge that ideas have consequences – and bad ideas are unlikely to produce good consequences.
Our current cultural reality brings into sharp focus the question of how to be salt and light in a world becoming increasingly hostile to objective truth, morality, and goodness.
COMING TOGETHER – SEEKING TRUTH, UNDERSTANDING THE TIMES, AND RESPONDING IN WISDOM
In light of this need, a group of 46 delegates (35 attendees, 6 speakers and 5 hosts/organisers) came together over the weekend of 22 to 24 July 2022 to consider what the Word of God teaches and how we are to love our neighbours and advocate for Biblical truth in a fallen world.
The aim of the Christian Worldview Symposium, sub-titled – ‘Training in the application of a Biblical worldview’ – was to equip and encourage believers who face the practical outworking of worldly ideologies on a daily basis, in schools, professional practice, academia, churches, ministries or in their homes. Delegates included pastors, Christian ministry leaders, teachers, principals, chaplains, psychologists, medical doctors, legal practitioners, media professionals, NGO managers, academics, and students.
Programme framework and content
The programme was first introduced in a Biblical worldview training pilot event held in January 2022. It is loosely modelled on similar types of international programmes, such as the Areté Academy presented on three continents (Asia, Europe and South America) and the Wilberforce Academy in the UK. The book, ‘In His Image’ by author Stephen McQuoid, formed the basic framework of the programme content.
SYMPOSIUM REVIEW
Orientation and Biblical Foundations
- After the ‘Welcome and Orientation’, the first two substantive sessions (Friday evening and Saturday morning) dealt with ‘Understanding Biblical Foundations’, focusing on the reason for living Christianly, namely God himself – loving, acknowledging, submitting to, and honouring God, obeying the Word and Spirit’s leading, and bringing glory to Jesus, in all areas of life.
Prevailing philosophies opposed to Biblical foundations
- Over the remainder of Saturday morning, the discussion moved to understanding the prevailing philosophies of post-modernism and critical social justice theory. The focus was on exploring developments from the Reformation to secular humanistic societies, to postmodernism and most recently, the reification (attempted forced acceptance by all in society) of these theoretical frameworks by way of government policy and legislation.
- This was followed by a session on gender and identity, looking at developmental sexual disorders, gender ideology and a Biblical understanding of human identity. The discussion focused on Biblical truth vs gender identity theory, biological sex vs gender, intersex vs gender dysphoria, and temporary childhood gender dysphoria vs persistent gender dysphoria.
Government, politics, race, and culture in South Africa
- Saturday afternoon was dedicated to the topic of government and the role of the state in a Biblical framework. Government starts off in the private sphere with individual self-government, government through the family, community, and institutions, and only in the final instance involves the public sphere, by way of limited functions of the civil government (state) to the extent that government in the private sphere fails. The discussion considered Biblical truth vs totalitarianism and the impact of totalitarianism on free and open democracies.
- The afternoon concluded with a screening of the documentary film, “The Threatened Miracle of South Africa’s Democracy”, detailing how God used Michael Cassidy, African Enterprise and others in the church to bring about a peaceful transition to the new democratic South Africa in the lead-up to the 1994 General Elections, and the new miracle South Africa is yearning for in 2022.
- Saturday evening’s discussion was on the impact of various man-made cultures on social cohesion in South Africa, including looking at African traditional (more communal) cultures and religious practices, Westernised (more individualistic) cultures in the light of Biblical truth.
Abortion and valuing the lives of unborn human beings
- Sunday morning started off with the moral issue of the value of human life, and asking: When will the church stand up against the slaughter of innocent life through abortion? The discussion focussed on the reality of the life in the womb, what abortion entails and its consequences, including how devaluing the lives of babies before birth leads to devaluing all human life.
The Christian Voice in a secular world: Saying yes to the call of God
- In the final substantive session, two speakers shared their personal stories of answering the Lord’s call to be used by Him to achieve the Lord’s kingdom purposes in our nation.
- The symposium concluded on Sunday afternoon with an application session – ‘Where to from here?’ – in which delegates were given an opportunity to share how the Lord is leading them to respond practically to what they were confronted with over the course of the weekend.
WHAT IS NEXT? WHERE TO FROM HERE?
Over the course of the first semester of 2022, since the pilot event in January up until the symposium with AE at the end of July, the Wilberforce Academy South Africa (WASA) team has been inundated with speaking requests from churches, men’s, women’s, family ministries etc.
WILBERFORCE ACADEMY, SOUTH AFRICA – 2023
One specific outflow of developments over the past nine months is that the first fully fledged Wilberforce Academy on the practice/application of a Biblical worldview will be held in 2023. The Academy will commence with an intensive, structured residential programme running for five days in January 2023, which will be further developed by way of community-building, including three specific quarterly re-focus days/weekends, over the remainder of the year.
If you are interested in getting involved, you are welcome to contact us via e-mail at: Wilberforce.SA@gmail.com.
COMMUNITY-BASED EVENTS 2023
The WASA team will also continue outreach and support to individuals and communities through relationships established with delegates from our pilot event and AE symposium in 2022. We trust the Lord to be able to, like this year, present two further worldview weekends over the course of 2023.
If you would like to partner with us to take this initiative forward to a wider audience, including your own church, ministry, peer group, community, or network, please make contact with us. We are enthusiastic about exploring ways to serve, support and equip others with what we have been given.
In all of this, we trust the Lord to continually lead us into His ways by the Holy Spirit working in and through us all for His glory.
TESTIMONIALS – AFRICAN ENTERPRISE CHRISTIAN WOLRDVIEW SYMPOSIUM
I think it was a solid weekend with real depth, especially from most of those who attended. They embraced the content and grappled with it. Also a good mix of people, including age-wise.
Thank you for an impactful time, we were really blessed to have been part of this training.
A significant season of the church waking up has just started in our nation. Thank you so much for your commitment to the course.
Thank you again for an incredible weekend and for myself, I believe a significant life-changing time which I will look back on for years to come!!!
Thank you so much to each one of you for an amazing weekend – the presentations were excellent and the discussions which followed enriched us. It was wonderful to catch up with old friends and make new ones! I want to encourage everyone to engage with God to discover why you had to be there this weekend. We pray for each of you that you will have the courage to respond to God’s calling.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the invite to the conference which was such an eye opener. As a young person I grasp a lot and learnt many things. Such as how ignorant we have become as Christians to matters like abortion and sexuality being imposed to learners at a very young age. This conference made me think a lot of myself being a silent Christian and expect things to change, but I guess it is high time I did “my bit.”