On 27th September 2022 in Wuppertal, the leaders of the two Churches; the Shyogwe Diocese of the Anglican Church of Rwanda represented by the Rt. Dr. Jered Kalimba and the Gereja Batak Karo Protestan (GBKP) represented by Rev Krismas Imanta Barus signed the partnership agreement between the two Churches.
The Rt Rev Dr. KALIMBA Jered, Bishop of Shyogwe Diocese, signing the partnership agreement.
The General Chairperson and Legal Representative, Rev Krismas Imanta Barus of Gereja Batak Karo Protestan (GBKP) signing the partnership agreement.
The Partnership Agreement is made of the following 7 Articles:
Article 1: Purpose of the Partnership
The present partnership between Shyogwe Diocese of the Anglican Church of Rwanda and Gereja Batak Karo Protestan (GBKP) is continuation of a partnership between RDIS (Rural Development Inter-Diocesan Service) and Yayasan Ate Keleng (Ate Keleng Foundation) of GBKP that it has been established since November 23, 2019. The partnership aims is strengthening the partnerships between the United Evangelical Mission Member Churches particularly the South-South partnerships.
Such a partnership will encourage the fellowship and friendship and the mutual support for the evangelism, spiritual formation, social and cultural sharing, education in the field of vocational training, exchange of personnel in different fields, micro finance, crops processing, economic and community empowerment as well as ecological development of both churches. It is agreed that this partnership endeavors will be built upon the spirit of love, unity, dignity, diversity, responsibility and solidarity of believers in Jesus Christ as highlighted in the 1 Corinthians 12:4-27.
Article 2: Goals of the partnership
- Worshipping together and praying for one another;
- Getting to know the church partner and building up a strong relationship and friendship between members of partnering churches;
- Opportunity of learning from one another for mutual holistic growth so as to encourage one another for more effective church mission undertakings;
- Exploration of another society to learn from its challenges and successes;
- Discovery of another culture and its insights in the Christian life and witness.
Article 3: Duties of each church
- Convenient attendance to the partnership virtual and physical meetings and good communication to provide the needed information at the right time;
- Planning exchange visits, facilitating the acquirement of travelling documents, arranging the schedule of activities of specific visits and the hosting and safety of guests;
- Hospitality to the partner church members reflecting the mutual love, acceptance and respect.
- Sharing gifts, knowledge and skills to serve one another, providing clear information about the programs and projects and allow the exposures in this regard;
- Inclusive involvement of partnership groups such as Men and Women, Elders, Children and Youth;
- Organize an annual partnership meeting and Sunday celebration;
- Give conveniently the financial contributions for planned activities as it has been agreed.
- Facilitating the communication with language translation whenever necessary;
Article 4: Timeline
Initial talks for this Partnership started on May 20, 2020, the partnership officially starts on the date this agreement is signed and the partnership agreement must be renewed and signed every five-year period. The partnership agreement can be dissolved whenever one or both of partner churches decide to do so. However, before the termination of the partnership agreement, the resolution terms of needed settlements must be clarified and accomplished.
Article 5: Confidentiality clause
The relations and interactions of both partner churches must be built on the mutual acceptance, trust and frank dialogue, integrity, transparence, humility, comprehensiveness and tolerance. The partnership committee and the church leaders must ensure that any misunderstanding is frankly spoken and cordially dealt with.
Article 6: UEM Facilitation
UEM is a Facilitator of this agreement as wished by the two Churches
Article 7: Process for resolving disputes
Cases of disputes between partnership groups must be reported to the partnership committee and church leaders for the sake of appropriate management and resolutions as soon as possible. Comprehensiveness must be encouraged in matters related to differences of cultures, church doctrines and procedures.
