{"id":69,"date":"2025-01-29T17:48:18","date_gmt":"2025-01-29T15:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dewcom.org\/?page_id=69"},"modified":"2025-02-07T08:35:38","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T06:35:38","slug":"conversations","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dewcom.org\/index.php\/conversations\/","title":{"rendered":"Conversations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"height:7px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover alignwide\" style=\"min-height:401px;aspect-ratio:unset;\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim-10 has-background-dim\"><\/span><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"606\" height=\"400\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-93\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/dewcom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/f45e1b12-70c0-43e7-bd3b-cc329d0ba243.png\" style=\"object-position:27% 49%\" data-object-fit=\"cover\" data-object-position=\"27% 49%\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dewcom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/f45e1b12-70c0-43e7-bd3b-cc329d0ba243.png 606w, https:\/\/dewcom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/f45e1b12-70c0-43e7-bd3b-cc329d0ba243-300x198.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 606px) 100vw, 606px\" \/><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-cover-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:90px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:clamp(18.959px, 1.185rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.863), 30px);\">\u201cWe must be ready to learn from one another, not claiming that we alone possess all truth and that somehow we have a corner on God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:clamp(18.959px, 1.185rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 0.863), 30px);\">Desmond Tutu<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:51px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide has-text-align-center has-text-color\" style=\"color:#07277c;margin-top:0.5rem;margin-bottom:1.01rem;font-size:clamp(28.836px, 1.802rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 1.653), 50px);font-style:normal;font-weight:500;letter-spacing:0px;line-height:1;text-transform:none\">Conversations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-3c46c3d4 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-horizontal is-content-justification-left is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-b260a2f7 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-b007231c5772bacc0988783f9858f623 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"color:#0b0a0a\">From time to time, bigger theological issues arise in the life of the church that require sustained engagement over a longer period in order for the diverse perspectives on the matter at hand to be heard. Typically, these issues can be controversial in nature, requiring theological maturity in listening carefully and respectfully to positions that may differ from one&#8217;s own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-83c9a8f02a78adebb2b2775d9f810ec2 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"color:#0b0a0a\">DEWCOM likes to refer to these engagements as &#8220;conversations&#8221;, emphasizing the idea that there are many diverse voices that can be heard, that no single perspective should dominate the others, and that in the course of deep listening and respectful dialogue, one&#8217;s theological understanding can deepen and even firmly held positions can shift and change over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-eae21dd8c07c888369380b13c87dcab8 wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"color:#0b0a0a\">Two such conversations stand out within the MCSA at present. The LGBTIAQ+ Conversation, which has been ongoing since 2001, and the <em>Ukuthwasa<\/em> Conversation which has arisen over the past few years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-e7bcd6859135c5aadbbefbe01f6c6aae wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"color:#0b0a0a\">For those who would like to engage these conversations, the resources in the links below should provide helpful points of entry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:47px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-text-color has-link-color has-large-font-size wp-elements-11afd036260207ecb71be8daf33b427b wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dewcom.org\/index.php\/conversations\/lgbtiaq+\/\">The LGBTIAQ+ Conversation<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized is-style-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dewcom.org\/index.php\/conversations\/lgbtiaq+\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"843\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/dewcom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/same-sex-gender-symbols-graphic-843x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-196\" style=\"width:600px\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-text-color has-link-color has-large-font-size wp-elements-1eeb392c4b72107ae8ebe275ff638b4c wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dewcom.org\/index.php\/ukuthwasa\/\">The Ukuthwasa Conversation<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized is-style-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dewcom.org\/index.php\/ukuthwasa\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dewcom.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Ukuthwasa-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-198\" style=\"width:600px\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h2>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Conversations From time to time, bigger theological issues arise in the life of the church that require sustained engagement over a longer period in order for the diverse perspectives on the matter at hand to be heard. Typically, these issues can be controversial in nature, requiring theological maturity in listening carefully and respectfully to positions [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-69","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dewcom.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/69","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dewcom.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dewcom.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dewcom.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dewcom.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69"}],"version-history":[{"count":56,"href":"https:\/\/dewcom.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/69\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":690,"href":"https:\/\/dewcom.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/69\/revisions\/690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dewcom.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}