The Middle East Council of Churches at “Impactful cooperation” in Geneva
A new experience discovering the financial and investment strategies of Churches and their institutions
At the invitation of the World Council of Churches, Agape and Churchinvest foundations to the international conference entitled “Impactful cooperation” which took place in Geneva/ Switzerland on 17-18 January 2020 in the premises of WCC, the Middle East Council of Churches participated in the event and was represented by Mr. Samer Laham, director of the Diakonia Department and Ecumenical Relief Services.
The conference gathered more than eighty participants from different sectors such as Church representatives, Church funding partners, economic experts, bankers, private investment companies, church related banks, entrepreneurs and investors in various fields mainly in water, clean power, technology, education, agriculture and environmental safeguarding.
This conference was organized as a follow-up to previous events that had been initiated by Agape foundation in the past. It aimed at liaising and networking church institutions working in the field of investment with different financial institutions and companies’ financial consultants that offer help and consultancy to churches involved in investment programs in various fields such as improving the economic situation of vulnerable societies through the adoption of appropriate environmental methods.
Thirty-four speakers from different countries participated in the panels including a representative of the World Bank and the Evangelical and Catholic banks from Germany.
The Council’s participation in this conference is considered to be a qualitative experience to discover churches’ financial and investments strategies in other parts of the world such as the churches in Africa. The experiences of those churches are considered today as significant success stories that could benefit the churches in the Middle East and open new horizons towards potential investment initiatives through the help of and training by international consultancy companies in this field.
The added value of this conference lied in the fact that it highlighted the importance of ethics in investment strategies and how they can contribute to the fulfilment of human dignity. In fact, there is today a special organization called “Globetichs” whose mandate is to provide training and counseling to churches and church related organizations on issues related to ethics and values that should be taken into consideration in churches’ investment programs and strategic plans.
In addition, the conference shed light on the importance of investing in environmental protection and setting adequate regulations and indicators in all investment projects in order to achieve the preservation of creation which is a spiritual and ethical duty. Moreover, the importance of the role of all faith-based organizations in launching similar pilot initiatives have motivated many UN agencies to cooperate with those entities in order to offer significant added value to their programs.
At the final session, the floor was opened for participants to comment on the given presentation or to suggest new ideas. Therefore, the Council took part in the discussion by insisting on the importance of ecclesial ethical values in any program instead of only focusing on the technicalities of each investment to make sure it fulfills its financial or social objectives. The word “ethics” can be understood in different ways and not necessarily according to the theological concept adopted by the Church. Therefore, it is crucial to guarantee true ethical values in all Church investments.
Finally, the Council expressed its willingness to participate in upcoming conferences to benefit from the lessons learned and experiences of other churches involved in the investment field; especially that the Middle Eastern churches are in dire need to better invest endowments in order to become financially self-reliant and pursue their diaconal mission.
