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Emerging Perspectives

Evolution
Since its inception, SBSS has taken several attempts to articulate and realize its vision and mission. The vision and mission statements when read with the theme of the decade Towards Building Communities of Resistance and Hope (TBCRH) make a very potent mix of politics and theology (Political Theology). To pursue this political theology, SBSS in 2001 conciously opted out welfare based community development approach. The process of paradigm shift was not easy or smooth. In fact some present day activities are still in the realm of welfare and development. However, one can notice the serious attempt of SBSS to grapple with the elements of political theology so powerfully manifested in the TBCRH theme.

The SBSS is working with twenty-four dioceses of CNI, covering sixteen states and one Union Territory of India. The nature of issues varies from (diocese) region to region so it is essential that a geo-specific and systematic analytical process be undertaken to identify the areas of priorities for SBSS. To do that the SBSS along with its partners went for a collective reality check to analyze the situation at grassroots level people’s interventions with subsequent regional consultations. In these consultations the board members and activists participated keenly where they shared their experience and debated issues to arrive at a perspective. The perspective is classified under three rubrics. They are:

  1. Program Perspectives

  2. Organizational Perspectives and

  3. Institutional Perspectives

Program Perspectives
The perspective on who should be the core group with whom SBSS should work in the future and what should the issues of the program is stated categorically in the evaluation findings. After discussions and deliberations, it was decided that these recommendations should be incorporated in its spirit, in the future program of SBSS and DBSS. These are detailed below.

Programme Initiatives

While intervening with the three issues our focus would be on:

  • Dalits

  • Adivasis

  • Women

  • Children

  • Congregations

These programme initiatives have three common cross cutting themes (CME, Gender & LAN). These issues and themes have been identified after various collective periodic reviews of programmes and interventions at various levels. Since all these three issues are interlinked with each other, the SBSS will address them holistically to build Comprehensive Human Communities (CHC). To deal with these issues, the SBSS has specifically made changes in its structure at zonal level and set up following desks of specialization to deal with the themes more comprehensively. These crosscutting themes are:

  1. Church-Mission Engagement: Participation of Local Congregations in the whole process of development.

  2. Gender: Mainstreaming of Gender and

  3. Public Advocacy: Networking and Lobbying for implementation and policy change

In these initiatives following actors would be involved:

  • Reference communities

  • Congregations

  • DBSS Board and Staff

  • SBSS Board and Staff

  • Civil Society and Government Organisations

  • Resource Sharing Partners

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