Christian Unity — A lay social perspective

Jan 26, 2025

Making Sense - Emmanuel Joseph
The weeks of January are inundated by post- Christmas celebrations for Catholics — the solemnity of Mary, the Epiphany, the Baptism of the Lord, and various feast days of popular saints.

All for Ecumenism
One event that usually keeps parish interfaith councils busy for January, usually the first calendar event for interfaith dialogue — Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Recalling my own experience some 15 years back, while it was still something quite novel for our parish, a little like tiptoeing a landmine full of dos and don’ts.

I remember repeatedly running through the ecumenical worship text that I had downloaded with our then parish priest and liturgical team to make sure we didn’t breach any sensitive words — both for us and the participating churches.

As we were hosting it that year, it was held in the church hall instead of the church itself — and we used a simple folding table with plain white linen cover, a sole crucifix — facing the celebrant-leader (with crosses everywhere else) and an open Bible, even our parish priest came in with a blue shirt with a roman collar rather than a cassock. I remember thinking how our church managed to pull off an almost “evangelical” church gathering! While we worried that it may have been only our parishioners who attended, a healthy number of nearby church members, as well as three pastors, joined in.

Beyond Church
No doubt we have come a long way since, but ecumenism and related activities still seem to be largely confined to hosted services in January and participating in one another’s events. These are often an extension of the relationships the parish priest has with nearby pastors and church leaders, or even PPC members, through charitable work, social outreach programmes, or similar initiatives. Some churches now co-organise events such as blood donation drives or food distribution for the poor.

As a relatively minority faith community in the country, particularly in Peninsular Malaysia, these interfaith relations are not only beneficial for ecumenism but also contribute to our growth, both as individual faith communities and as Christians in Malaysia.

These parallels can exist beyond official church-to-church basis.

While BECs and similar groups exist along similar geographical boundaries (tamans and residential zones), can coordinate between each other to form a larger, unitary “Christian” group for both social and even religious purposes. This stretches the “unity” beyond January throughout the year, and on a social level, enhances the relationship between neighbours with the common thread of Christ.

Combating Misinformation
In the era of abuse, especially politicking on the 3Rs (race, religion and royalty), Christianity, has often (rather unfairly) been made the bogeyman along with Communism and Zionism as being the mother of all problems in the country, especially by unethical politicians.

Often, these accusations are untrue altogether, or purposely exaggerated to make a situation far worse than it is. Christianity being played up for politics isn’t new – in the 90s, we saw Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s wearing of a headgear with an alleged cross costing him his election victory, while in the 2000s, the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes in Silibin, Ipoh, was faced with protestors at a First Holy Communion Mass, when some people accused it of being a mass conversion event.

Of late, these accusations have intensified alongside rising political tensions, and the Government is allocating resources to address this systemic issue, which is undermining our inter-communal trust and relationships.

While publications like this one aim to raise awareness at the church level, fostering a strong bond within the Christian community — particularly in areas with diverse populations — can help disseminate accurate information locally. At the very least, it would provide local leaders from other faiths with a point of reference and a basis for dialogue when confronted with such rumours.

A social force
While we have organisations like the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBHST), the Council of Churches Malaysia (CCM), and the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF) to represent non-Muslims, mainstream churches, and evangelical communities respectively, community-driven projects play a vital role in fostering unity. These initiatives, such as adopting local charities, mutually supporting each other’s projects, and pooling resources to assist one another at the grassroots level, can be incredibly impactful.

Such activities can address common concerns, like the fear of proselytizing to our children, or involve cooperative efforts like mall carolling during Christmas. They can also provide a platform for tackling localised social issues of shared interest, such as advocating for a new highway, opposing new taxes, or helping a local family get back on their feet.

Unified sense of belonging
It can even take on a historical dimension — such as documenting the Christian history of the area, including schools, orphanages, and other institutions built over the years by various denominations, as well as recognising local community heroes from the churches in the area. A simple focal point for these efforts could be a WhatsApp group or Facebook page.

These stories, often intertwined with war history and business guilds, are at risk of being lost, particularly amid the competition for influence by politically vested individuals who seek to define what should or shouldn’t be considered part of the Malaysian identity.

Such initiatives foster a localised sense of belonging to a shared geographical area, with activities that, while sometimes competing, are ultimately complementary — carried out for the greater glory of God.

While this does not diminish our pride and sense of belonging to our individual churches, it helps to build a broader narrative of the local Christian community, encompassing both its past and present.

Emmanuel Joseph oversees IT as his 9-5 job and from 5-9, he serves a few NGOs, think tanks and volunteer groups. He serves as an advisor for Projek Dialog and is a Fellow with the Institute of Research and Development of Policy. 

(The views expressed are entirely the writer’s own.)