{"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><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/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\" style=\"font-size:clamp(18.959px, 1.185rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 1.255), 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\" style=\"font-size:clamp(18.959px, 1.185rem + ((1vw - 3.2px) * 1.255), 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) * 2.405), 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 has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-4383d167 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-8beb0c07 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-b007231c5772bacc0988783f9858f623\" 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\" 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\" 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\" 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-8759e866d8d9e003df389c28cab29b49\" 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-6983822fc68bc7ab559fa5436513dfae\" 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"],"_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}]}}