10 October ‘05
It is four months since I last wrote a general letter to friends and supporters of Coventry Cathedral’s international ministry. At that time we had just attended the London launch of Andrew’s new foundation for reconciliation in the Middle East. Since Andrew’s departure the ministry has continued and, following President Obasanjo’s appointment of the ICR to support the Ogoni reconciliation process in the Niger Delta, the work has become more intense. The challenges, particularly in Africa, grow by the day. As ever, we do not have sufficient resources to meet the requests for assistance to facilitate reconciliation between parties or intervene sufficiently in the many conflicts that afflict the poorest and most desperate people. We have therefore chosen, as a short term measure, to focus our efforts where we have an existing infrastructure and support base. For the Centres of Cross of Nails (CCN) this means supporting existing centers and extending the ministry from these locations. For conflict intervention work this means refocusing our work in Africa and limiting new projects on other continents.
In recent weeks conflict has again flared across the Niger Delta and this has been the attention of much prayer. We are closely engaged with the civil society groups, business and government in Nigeria to find a way forward that will avoid further conflict. Other governments and development agencies have been most gracious in receiving our requests to discuss the situation with a view to co-operating in formulating a strategic approach that will bring all parties together in the development of the Niger Delta in such a way as to foster peace and security.
In recent days there have been some major changes at the International Centre for Reconciliation. As some of you already know Canon Justin Welby has been appointed Sub-dean and has moved to a desk in Liturgical Department. As of 01 October I am now the sole Director of the International Centre for Reconciliation, having previously shared the directorship with Canon Justin and Canon Andrew White. This comes at a time when the ICR finds itself in severe financial difficulty, a situation that has accumulated over many years. Supporters have been generous in meeting the immediate needs of the ICR and often responded at short notice to the call to cover a shortfall in funds. It seems the situation has finally caught up with us and we can only cover our operating costs until December. We therefore have been obliged under law to give all ICR staff notice of redundancy whereby, if sufficient funds are not forthcoming the last day of operation will be 3rd January 2006. As terrible as this may seem, when I look back at the history of Coventry Cathedral’s international ministry of reconciliation it appears that we have faced these circumstances several times!
However, we do not believe that continuing in this boom-bust fashion is responsible or appropriate. Put simply, we need to be better stewards of the resources set before us. This means we need to look very closely at how we operate day-to-day in order to find where we can cut costs, be more efficient and introduce better business practices. We have also decided that we should review the international ministry.
Staring redundancy in the face is sobering. This is not just a lean period when the trees are bare as in the onset of winter and maybe the gardener does a little pruning. It would seem that this time the gardener may wish to take to the trees in a much more severe fashion and trim back many of the branches.
For Coventry Cathedral this means some very serious and prayerful consideration of the international ministry. Our interventions tend to happen to us and so our spread of intervention projects can quickly outstrip our ability to offer infrastructure support. Our ministry needs to be the result of a carefully planned strategy that in itself is the outcome of our waiting upon God to lay before us His direction. If we were to receive sufficient funding to continue the work of the ICR then it should not be business as usual. This is a cross roads and a time for a long, hard, prayerful look at our ministry and how we conduct it.
As the situation stands at the moment, the conflict intervention projects in Africa will be most severely hit. The CCN centers will live on in their own right and we are sure that we can continue to support the worldwide CCN network, even if the intervention ministry has to be severely curtailed. We will continue in our current work while we seek God’s direction for this ministry. The ICR staff is buoyant and remains committed to our projects. The Dean and Chapter have been overwhelmingly supportive. We are all concerned that the international ministry should continue in some shape or form. Never-the-less, I ask you to uphold each of them in your prayer through this difficult situation. I also ask you to pray for the people with whom we work in the field in order that we may find a way for the work to continue, even if that is not through ICR.
Finally, on a more positive note, our work co-ordinating the Niger Delta Peace and Security Blueprint has been enormously successful with stakeholders coming together for the initial workshop in Port Harcourt last month. We are hopeful of receiving some funding to implement the Blueprint in conjunction with other local Nigerian partners. The work in Plateau State in the central belt is also moving ahead and continues to be a significant factor in containing conflict and building bridges to reconciliation.
If you would like a copy of my letter of June or a copy of our recent paper summarizing the conflict situation in the Niger Delta, please contact Gill Gould by email gill.gould@coventrycathedral.org.uk.
As ever, we are ever grateful for your support.
Canon Dr Stephen Davis, Director
International Centre for Reconciliation
Coventry
Cathedral
1
Hill Top, Coventry, CV1 5AB
Tel:
+44 (0)24 7652 1201
Fax: +44(0)24 7652 1260
Email: stephen.davis@coventrycathedral.org.uk