Solomon Islands Christian Association
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The Solomon Islands Christian Association (SICA) is an
ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...
in the
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...
. The association comprises the five largest Christian churches in the country, the Anglican
Church of Melanesia The Anglican Church of Melanesia (ACoM), also known as the Church of the Province of Melanesia and the Church of Melanesia (COM), is a church of the Anglican Communion and includes nine dioceses in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledoni ...
, the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, the
South Seas Evangelical Church The South Sea Evangelical Church (SSEC) is an evangelical, Pentecostal church in Solomon Islands. In total, 17% of the population of Solomon Islands adheres to the church, making it the third most common religious affiliation in the country behind ...
, the
Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...
, and the
United Church A united church, also called a uniting church, is a church formed from the merger or other form of church union of two or more different Protestant Christian denominations. Historically, unions of Protestant churches were enforced by the state ...
. SICA organises joint religious activities and religious representation at national events, and is a national partner of
UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
. They also work with the Christian Reformed Church of Australia to support the missionary outreach o
SWIM Solomon Islands
ISSUES OF SICA. SICA suffers issues such as: --lacking of financial support from member churches -people tend to lose confident in its vision/world. SICA is a prophetic voice to day in the Church with peoples issues such as; - Malaita and DCCG(riot and looting,2021) -M4D and the Solomon government, -China issues -The parliament debate of extension to 5years -Reemergence of ecumenical movement/groups -Youth arising issues Its functions are; -translations -radio programs, awareness, issuing of pamphlets. STRUCTURE. SICA - CHURCHES - INSTITUTIONAL (ACOM,UCSI,MEETINGS) - GRASSROOT LEVEL. SICA, Churches create avenues for ecumenism in the. Local level and church leaders,agents of Gods MIssio Dei(Gk) (edited by Fr Stanbul Kuru,BPTC. 03/08/2022.)


History

In 1967 a meeting was convened of representatives from the various churches in the Solomon Islands, including Philip Solodia, Dominic Otuana, Goldie Vengo, Isaac Goloni, Baddeley Devesi (later the country's first
Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
),
Peter Kenilorea Sir Peter Kenilorea KBE (23 May 1943 – 24 February 2016) was a Solomon Islander politician, officially styled The Rt Hon. Sir Peter Kenilorea as a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. He was the first Prime Minister of an indepe ...
(later the country's first
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
), Bobi Kwanairara, Leslie Piva, and Leslie Fugui, in which a decision to form an association to encourage Christian love and fellowship.Leslie Fugui (with Simeon Butu). "Religion." In ''Ples Blong Iumi: Solomon Islands, The Past Four Thousand Years''. Institute of Pacific Studies of the University of the South Pacific, 1989. Page 74-75. A combined church service was held at St. Barnabas Cathedral in
Honiara Honiara () is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. , it had a population of 92,344 people. The city is served by Honiara International Airport and the seaport of Point Cruz, and lie ...
to mark the agreement. The agreement, the result of native Solomon Islanders, was also supported by churchmen of foreign origin, such as Geoff Tucker, Eddie Nash, Brian Macdonald-Milne, and Louis Morosini. The organisation quickly spread beyond Honiara. In 1978 SICA organised the Pijin Literacy Project, as an attempt to use
Pijin language Pijin (Solomons Pidgin or Neo-Solomonic) is a language spoken in Solomon Islands. It is closely related to Tok Pisin of Papua New Guinea and Bislama of Vanuatu; these might be considered dialects of a single language. It is also related to To ...
as a medium for teaching literacy. The project produced a number of primers and translation work. In August 2000, SICA organised a National Peace Conference as a reaction to the coup by the
Malaita Eagle Force The Malaita Eagle Force was a militant organisation, originating in the island of Malaita, in the Solomon Islands. It was formed in the early 2000s and soon crossed over to Honiara, the capital of Solomon Islands. It was set up during 'The Ten ...
in June. They called for a respect of human rights and opposed blanket amnesty for armed groups involved in the conflict. The leader of the MEF expressed upset to the chairman of SICA, and according to
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
was behind attacks or threats to participants in the conference. More recently, in 2005, SICA has urged a
truth and reconciliation commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state act ...
be organised before a human rights commission be set up.


Notes

{{reflist Christianity in the Solomon Islands Organisations based in the Solomon Islands Christian organizations established in 1967 1967 establishments in the United Kingdom Religious organisations based in the Solomon Islands Christian denominations established in the 20th century National councils of churches