The Conservation and Theology Consultation project (Phase One) was implemented from October 15th to 19th, 2007, at the Pacific Theological College - Jovili Meo Mission Centre - and brought together theologians and conservation scientists from the University of the South Pacific, about 10 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) concerned with conservation, theological educators and students from SPATS member schools of the region. - The Meeting was marked as the first interface between Theology and Science especially on the issue of Conservation and Climate Change. The most interesting part was the idea of a curriculum that is to be formulated and taught in SPAT's member Theological Colleges, and the proposed Handbook to be used by Preachers, Sunday School teachers, and other Church training programmes.
The theological papers gave an idea on how to approach conservation from the Church or religious side of creation. The first paper by Rev. Dr.Ilaita Sevati Tuwere took the theme of "The household of Life" and it took Creation Theology as its foundation. - Paper Two was presented by Rev. Dr. Clive Pearson who was asked to prepare a paper that would bring up some ethical questions now facing the church and the world as it confronts abuse of creation, and he was also asked to offer some guidelines for the proposed curriculum that would become the basis of the curriculum SPATS is trying to produce for its member schools. - Paper Three by Rev. Dr. Mohenoa Puloka was to bring something practical to either produce a contextual theology or a traditional Pacific dance.
The Papers were followed by two science presentations by the Pacific Regional Herbarium and by the Wildlife Conservation Society. Altogether there were six case studies.
Phase II of the project will deal with the actual making of a "Conservation Theology Curriculum", and Phase III will be a "Training of Trainers" (TOT) on how to deliver and implement the curriculum.
The objectives of this three-phased project are:
to create a curriculum on conservation and theology to be used in SPAT's member schools
to help students pursuing theological education to be aware of the need to proclaim proper stewardship of God's creation
to provide a platform where conservationists and theologians in the Pacific would be able to share information and needs that they can address together
to educate churches of the region of the importance of marine resources since there is more water than landmass in the Pacific region. Conservation of marine resources is of specific importance to pasifika people, especially when it is life and death issue for most of them.
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The South Pacific Association of Theological Schools is an ecumenical partnership serving theological education in the Pacific region. SPATS seeks to strengthen its member schools and their churches by facilitating networking and information-sharing.
SPATS’ challenge is to bring together a multi-lingual, multi-cultural and geographically scattered membership. The twenty-five member schools are spread across the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean, from Tahiti in the east to Vanuatu in the west, from the Marshall Islands in the north to the Aotearoa in the south. The area encompasses the three major Pacific regions: Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia.
The Association was established by Pacific churches in 1969. It is governed by the SPATS Council, the Executive Committee and the General Secretary, who has overseen the day-to-day operation of the Secretariat in Suva, Fiji, on a full time basis since 1998. The Secretariat staff gives administrative support to each of our programmes preparing our publications and newsletters in the Secretariat using desktop publishing computer software.
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SPATS ist eine ökumenische Vereinigung, die von den 28 theologischen Hochschulen der Region getragen wird und seit langem Partner von missio und dem MWI ist. - Ausgehend von den zunehmenden klimatischen Veränderungen wird der Umgang mit der Umwelt bzw. Schöpfung zu einer relevanten Dimension der theologischen Ausbildung. In einer ersten Phase sind Experten zusammengekommen, um die verschiedenen Facetten des Themas zu erläutern und einen Aktionsplan auszuarbeiten. Das Projekt "Conservation and Theology Curriculum" ist auf drei Phasen und auf insgesamt 3 Jahre angelegt.
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