Annual meeting with good conversations

Despite the pressured situation that Swedish international development is in right now, the SMC’s annual meeting was a day with a focus on faith and hope for the future.

On May 21, 56 representatives from 22 member organisations met for the SMC’s annual meeting in Strängnäs. The day began with a joint morning with the Christian Council of Sweden (CCS), which also held its annual meeting that same day.

In the in-depth session Difficult Conversations in God’s Mission: The Example of human sexuality, the participants listened to Jan Eckerdal, CCS’s director of theology, who presented the publication Conversations on the Pilgrimage – Questions about human sexuality. The material was first published by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and has been newly translated into Swedish.

Anders Wejryd, Archbishop Emeritus, led the working group within WCC and gave, among other things, a historical description of how questions about human sexuality have previously been handled. This was followed by reflections from a panel and discussions in groups. Before the WCC left to continue its annual meeting in the Cathedral premises, all participants received their copy of Conversations on the Pilgrimage.

The SMC network is to submit a declaration of interest to Sida for continued dissemination; therefore, it was crucial to discuss future issues regarding the network. Staff at SMC held a session with group discussions where the participants shared their thoughts. These group discussions will form part of the basis that the SMC board will continue to work with during the year in their ambition to clarify the network’s function and identity.

Three new members were elected to the SMC board. These were Andreas Henriksson, PMU, Josefin Fållsten, Interact, and Allan Ekstedt, The Leprosy Mission Sweden. Allan Ekstedt has previously been one of the board’s substitutes but is now a regular member. Elin Hammarberg, Salvation Army, was elected as the new substitute.