News

Ban Dok Daeng Update

HeRB 3 contains an article on the interfaith journey of the Suanduangritr Church, Ban Dok Daeng (District One, CCT), over the last seven years. Readers will recall that beginning in March 1996 this congregation has reversed the normal course of village Buddhist-Christian relations by developing closer, less judgmental ties to its Buddhist neighbors. It has done so at the behest of those neighobrs and through a series of concrete actions and decisions made by both Christians and Buddhists. What we have learned over the last nearly seven years is that our neighbors yearn for better community relations and are willing to act on that longing. The process taking place in Ban Dok Daeng is not a theoretical, academic exercise in dialogue but, rather, a ldialogue of life L aimed at creating a more peaceful community.

Yet another episode in the story took place this last September when a Buddhist lrevival L event was held in the temple (wat) in Ban Dok Daeng. The event was sponsored by the local tambon (sub-district) council in conjunction with the Buddhist hierarchy of Amphur (District) Doi Saket, which meant that a number of dignitaries from the district attended as well as a strong contingent of monks. The local temple was responsible for arrangements, but not for the program, which included a preacher from the city and a raffle. Well over 200 people attended from Ban Dok Daeng and surrounding communities.

That Saturday morning one of the members of the organizing committee called me to invite me to attend, and then she went on to ask me to speak as well. That was a surprise! She specifically wanted me to "inform the amphur" that the
relationship between the church & temple in Ban Dok Daeng has improved and there is now good unity in the village. Given the century-long history of distrust between Buddhists and Christians in this community, her request was amazing-and quite unexpected. Operating on the principle that usually farangs, like children, should be seen and not heard, I tried to deflect the request to the moderator of the church. The committee had already agreed, however, that the moderator Js religious standing (somanasuk) was not high enough for this ocassion. As both an ordained clergy and an educated Westerner, I was the only person of sufficient standing in the village to be appropriate to the occasion. The fact that I Jm also a Christian seemed to be a bonus.

The evening started with various monks talking at the crowd, after which the head monk of the amphur officially opened the event. An hour-long sermon by a well-known monk from the city followed. After the sermon, they invited various dignitaries to speak, and my turn came up more quickly than I had anticipated. The emcee for the evening is a monk who isn't from Ban Dok Daeng, and he stumbled a bit over my name and didn't really know quite what to say or how to describe who I am-but he got me up on the stage.

I spoke for about 15 minutes, beginning with a description of the prior unhappy state of interfaith relations in the village and the process by which those relations have improved. I explained why we Christians have changed our attitudes and behavior, and I then preached a brief Christian sermon about loving God & loving neighbor, observing that we Christians in the community had been better at loving

43

This is a significant moment in the life of our village. Not in living memory has a Christian, as a Christian, been invited to speak at a purely religious temple event. The trust level between the two sides has risen to such a degree that the local temple folks are willing to have a Christian speak to an audience that included several district and sub-district religious and political VIPs. Our neighbors actually take pride in their relationship with Christians, a rare, rare situation indeed.

The local committee Js decision to ask the village Js only Christian cleric to speak at a patently Buddhist event symbolized the temple Js commitment to the peace-making process, which it initiated in 1996. That process has come to mean some concrete things to the people of this community-that commuity relations are based on trust rather than mistrust, fairness rather than injustice, truth rather than rumor, and respect for the sectarian Other rather than fear. Actions taken by both temple and church since 1996 have made this a more peaceful community, made life better in intangible but very important ways.

International Conference on Religion & Globalization

The Institute for the Study of Religion & Culture, Payap University is holding a seven-day conference on the theme of religion and globalization from 27 July through 2 August 2003 at Payap University. The conference includes seven major speakers, at least five panels, plus a large number of individual papers grouped into five themes, including: [1] "Religious Diversity and Interfaith Relations in a Global Age," [2] "Religion and Global Society," [3] "Religious Reform and Reformulation for a Global Age," [4] "Historical Perspectives in Interreligious Interaction," and [5] "Methodological and Philosophical Issues in Intercultural and Interreligious Communication and Exchanges." The conference looks to be a major event in international religious studies.

Those wishing further information may visit the conference website located at http://www.religionandculture.org or contact the Rev. John Butt at isrc@cm.ksc.co.th.

Karen Church & Culture Camp

On 21 to 25 October 2002, the Ban Nong Ched Nuey Church (or, in Karen, the Temakala Church) of the CCT's District Nineteen sponsored its second annual Church & Culture Camp under the direction of Thra'mu (Teacher) Esther Danpongpi, staff researcher with the Office of History. Last year's camp numbered some 80 participants ages 4 to 25. This year roughly 120 children and young people in the same age span took part, including some from nearby churches. The camp had two central purposes: first, to reinforce a sense of appreciation for Karen tribal culture and customs among Karen Christian children and young people; and, second, to preserve traditional local Karen culture in the Ban Nong Ched Nuey community. The camps are based on the premise that Karen culture is a part of God's creation for the Karen, and as such deserves to be conserved and respected.

As was the case in last year's camp, each of the five days included Karen literacy classes in the mornings, instruction in Karen crafts and local knowledge during the afternoons, and special activities in the evenings. While such a major undertaking will always have some problems, reports have it that the children and young people

44

Northern Thai Hymn Sing & Seminar

On 29 to 30 November 2003, the Office of History sponsored a hymn sing and seminar focused on the old-time northern Thai hymnology, which has all but died out in the northern Thai church. Nearly 60 individuals from across northern Thailand took part in the event, which was held at First Church, Lampang. Northern Thai hymnology was the invention, for the most part, of the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Wilson, a Presbyterian missionary who served in northern Thailand (Siam) from 1868 until his death in 1911. While the hymn tunes are almost entirely Western, the lyrics are the northern Thai of a hundred years ago. Wilson published his first northern Thai hymnal in 1895 and eventually translated or wrote lyrics for over 500 hymns. The third and last edition of his hymnal was published in 1914. Northern Thai hymnology experienced a relatively brief ascendancy, however, as the use of central Thai began to spread among the northern churches. Today, only elderly Christians in their 70s and older remember a time when the old northern Thai hymns were sung in the churches, and even then they were sung mostly as special numbers rather than as a regular part of worship.

The Office of History has undertaken a modest project aimed at preserving knowledge of these older hymns and encouraging churches to make occasional use of them. To this end, it held this two-day hymn sing and seminar under the leadership of Acharn Janram Chaisri, staff researcher. This event was the eighth time in four years that the Office of History has held hymn sings promoting northern Thai hymnology. It differed from past events in two ways. First, it did not focus on one church or cluster of churches, but drew from churches across the North. Second, two northern Thai ensembles accompanied all of the hymns, adding a distinctively northern Thai flavor to the Western tunes. The vitality of the singing as well as the results of the final evaluation indicated that a good time was had by all. In particular, the participants urged the Office of History to continue this project and to expand it to more districts and clusters of churches.

Karen Research Projects Old & New

Through the good offices of the Baptist Union of Sweden (BUS), the Office of History has for the last six years run two Karen tribal research projects, the first (1996-1999) aimed at collecting local church histories and the second (1999-2002) directed at using traditional Karen cultural resources for the life of the Karen church. Thra'mu Esther Danpongpi has directed both projects. We should note that both projects were supported by grants from the Swedish Government obtained by the BUS through the Swedish Mission Council (SMC). The government paid 80% of the overseas contribution to each project and the BUS paid the other 20%.

Taken together, these projects have made a significant contribution to the work of the Office of History. They have broadened the scope and base of our work to include the Karen. They have provided new models for approaching our work with local churches, notably the hot season student research projects model and the church and culture camps featured above. We have found, however, that it is difficult to continue Thra'mu Esther's efforts in three-year stints as projects. Over the last six years, her work has taken unexpected turns and failed to achieve some (unrealistic) goals while achieving other ends that did not appear in the original project proposals.

45

Both the Office of History and the BUS recognize the importance of our Karen efforts and agree that it is not enough simply to continue the work begun. That work needs to be expanded, and to that end the BUS has kindly obtained a grant for yet another three-year project which will begin in May 2003. The project takes as its basic aim the strengthening of local Karen church life by teaching local churches how to conduct their own research, evaluation, and planning programs. Thra'mu Chitlada Kunkao, presently employed by the Office of History in a temporary position, will staff the project. Future HeRBs will surely contain news and articles about these ongoing efforts.

Dr. Herb

Earlier this month, I received the following email from Dr. Paul Beirne of the Melbourne College of Divinity regarding the progress of MCD Js examination of my doctoral dissertation,which I submitted last February. Readers of HeRB may find it of interest.

From: "Paul Beirne"
To: "Herbert R. Swanson"
Subject: RE: Thesis Examination Progress
Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 13:47:33 +1100

Dear Herbert

You will no doubt be delighted to hear that the Chair of the Board of Postgraduate Studies recommended to the College at the final College meeting of the year on November 27th that you be awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and the College agreed that this degree be awarded to you. A letter to you has been sent to this effect on December 3, so it should reach you in the immediate future. Congratulations!! The Conferral Ceremony will be held at Wilson Hall, the University of Melbourne, at 8pm on Friday April 11th 2003. There is a form enclosed in the letter in relation to this Ceremony.

Regards
Paul Beirne

46