Code of Ethics for Mission

Preamble

We the Churches of the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka affirm that all mission is the work of God and recognize that we are called to co-operate with God to share the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ, His Life, Death and Resurrection for the whole human being with all people through the whole life and work of our Communities.

We declare our commitment to the following code of ethics, and also assure one another of our willingness in continuing, individual and collective self evaluation in order that we may honour Christ in this our task.

(1)We shall enhance and strengthen our common witness, worship and mission nationally, and locally, through regular consultation and co-operation, and this way seek to encourage and challenge one another.

(2)We will refrain from directly or indirectly influencing or persuading Christians of one denominations to join our Denominations. However, in circumstances where it is clearly prudent and/or pragmatic that Christians of one of our Denomination should join another, such changes will only take place after mutual consultation and agreement between the persons and the respective local leaders of the Denominations concerned.

(3)At times of pastoral need such as sickness, death and marriage we shall co-operate with each other to service human need, ease unnecessary tensions and strengthen our common witness. We shall also address any traditions or practices within our respective Denominations that are a hindrance to ecumenical witness at such times.

(4)We shall endeavour to build united congregations under rotating Pastoral care, where more than one Denomination exists. We shall not set up new Churches or work in areas in which other Churches are already located. In some exceptional circumstances, where it is necessary to set up new Denominational work we shall do so only after proper and adequate consultation with the Denomination already located in the area.

(5)We categorically denounce the use of direct or indirect methods that seek to persuade persons to become Christians for wrong reasons and will ourselves desist from the use of such methods.

(6)We shall treat and serve the poor of all communities with equal dignity and seek to reduce poverty. We shall not exploit poverty to make them Christians.

(7)We shall do our utmost to defend all victims of violence and injustice and articulate their cause in collaboration with other Interest Groups.

(8)We shall uphold the rights of children and conduct our affairs in such a way that will respect and safeguard the dignity, trust and innocence of children.

(9)We shall practice Christian stewardship and ensure transparency and strict accountability in all our financial dealings. We shall endeavour to generate our financial needs locally and ensure that whenever foreign funding is necessary we shall retain our autonomy in framing our own mission policy.

(10)We shall ensure that our methods of mission are relevant to the local context and that such methods and our public worship are sensitive to the immediate cultural and human environment and that we do not disturb the neighbourhood or unnecessarily provoke the religious susceptibilities of other religious communities.

(11)We shall respect the doctrines, traditions, symbols and practices of the other major religions and refrain from ridiculing or exploiting any weakness of a given religious community or leader for our own gain.

(12)We shall seek to build relationships of trust with all religious communities and to co-operate in community service wherever possible. We shall encourage our local leaders and communities to sustain cordial relationships with the leaders and communities of other religions.

(13)We shall encourage other Christian communities outside the NCC to consider and abide by this code of ethics, and shall similarly be prepared to learn from them. We shall co-operate with those who do and agree to disagree with those who do not.