Together on the Way

Official Report of the Eighth Assembly of the World Council of Churches

Edited by

Diane Kessler

Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from World Council of Churches

https ://arch i ve . o rg/detai Is/wcca25

Together on the Way

“You shall count off seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the period of seven weeks of years gives forty-nine years. Then you shall have the trumpet sounded loud; on the tenth day of the seventh month - on the day of atonement - you shall have the trumpet sounded throughout all your land. And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee year for you: you shall return, every one of you, to your property and every one of you to your family” (Lev. 25:8-10)

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:1-2)

Together on the Way

Official Report of the Eighth Assembly of the World Council of Churches

Edited by

Diane Kessler

WCC Publications, Geneva

A report of the WCC’s eighth assembly is also available in French, German and Spanish.

Cover design : Marie Amaud Snakkers Photographs: WCC/Chris Black and Peter Williams

ISBN 2-8254-1309-7

© 1999 WCC Publications, World Council of Churches,

150 route de Femey, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland

Printed in Switzerland

For fifty years

WE HAVE GATHERED IN THE ASSEMBLIES OF THE WORLD COUNCIL OF

Churches, in response to the prayer of Jesus, that we may be one.

In Amsterdam we recognized the disorder of humankind in the face of your design for the world.

Your design is the glory of a world reconciled to you and signed by the harmonies in all creation.

We wait in hope for it still.

Evanston lifted up the one who is forever our living way:

“ Christ - the hope of the world. ”

We claim this hope again,

a costly hope, crucified and risen in power before us.

Hail to the Christ, the name beyond all names !

In New Delhi we celebrated the flame of your life among us:

“Jesus Christ - the light of the world. ”

The light is now flickering, now flaming bright,

challenging the shadows,

forever warming the cold souls of our despair.

In Uppsala we lifted up our hearts and proclaimed your promise:

“ Behold , I make all things new. ”

The vision of a new heaven and a new earth,

arising in grace before us,

called forth before the starkness of our life.

“Jesus Christ frees and unites”

we sang in the midst of Nairobi’s life:

people from around the earth,

standing before God in our captivities and disunities

and naming a divine possibility.

In Vancouver we gathered in faith before you,

“ Jesus Christ - the life of the world. ”

We stood in wonder before the defeat of death, determined as now to reveal your victory, made real before the eyes of all people.

“Come, Holy Spirit - renew the whole creation ” was the longing prayer in Canberra.

You, and you only, O God, are the source of our renewal.

We bowed in humble faith before you, offering ourselves to work with you, in the power and truth of your Spirit.

We give thanks and praise to God for the journeying of our past.

Great is your faithfulness, O God!

A celebration of gathering from the opening worship of the eighth assembly of the World Council of Churches, 3 December 1998.

Table of Contents

xi Preface

1 Being Together under the Cross in Africa: The Assembly Message

5 1. HARARE 1998: AN INTRODUCTION AND PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE Diane Kessler

28 2. THE THEME: “TURN TO GOD - REJOICE IN HOPE”

28 2.1 Introduction

28 2.2 Anamnesis Anastasios, Archbishop of Tirana, Durres

and All Albania

34 2.3 Metanoia Wanda Deifelt

38 2.4 Rejoice in Hope Kosuke Koyama

42 3.

42

42

81

102

103

113

116

126

THE WORK OF THE WCC: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Report of the Moderator Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia

3.3 Report of the General Secretary Konrad Raiser

3.4 Discussion of the Reports of the Moderator and General Secretary

3.5 A Common Understanding and Vision: Plenary Discussion

3.6 Our Ecumenical Vision

3.7 The Work of the Finance Committee

3.8 The Work of the Programme Guidelines Committee

1514. WCC MEMBERSHIP AND RELATIONSHIPS

151	4.1	The Work of Policy Reference Committee I
151	4.2	New Members
152	4.3	Relationships with Orthodox Churches
152	4.4	Other Relationships
153	4.5	Proposal for a Forum of Christian Churches and Ecumenical Organizations
154	4.6	Other Recommended Actions
154	4.7	Report of Policy Reference Committee I
177 5.	ACTIONS ON ISSUES OF CURRENT GLOBAL CONCERN
177	5.1	The Work of Policy Reference Committee II
177	5.2	The Debt Issue (from Policy Reference Committee II Report)
183	5.3	Globalization (from Policy Reference Committee II Report)
185	5.4	The Work of the Public Issues Committee
185	5.5	Statement on Child Soldiers
187	5.6	Statement on the Status of Jerusalem
191	5.7	The Universal Declaration on Human Rights
195	5.8	A Statement on Human Rights
207 6.	THE	AFRICAN CONTEXT
207	6.1	Introduction
207	6.2	Africa: The Footprint of God N. Barney Pityana
213	6.3	From Cover to Core: A Letter to My Ancestors Mercy Amba Oduyoye
222	6.4	Response to the Africa Plenary
227	6.5	Address by President Nelson Mandela

232 7. GREETINGS FROM RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL LEADERS

232 7.1 Pope John Paul II

233 7.2 Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople and

Ecumenical Patriarch

237	7.3	Karekin I, Catholicos of All Armenians
239	7.4	World Evangelical Fellowship
240	7.5	Kim Dae-jung, President of the Republic of Korea
242 8.	ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS
242	8.1	Letter from the Decade Festival - Churches in Solidarity with Women
249	8.2	Response to the Plenary on the Ecumenical Decade - Churches in Solidarity with Women
252	8.3	Policy Reference Committee II Report. Appendix I: Sudan
254	8.4	Policy Reference Committee II Report: Appendix II: Globalization
261	8.5	Youth Participation in the WCC
264	8.6	Indigenous Peoples
265	8.7	Responses from Evangelical Participants
271	8.8	A Letter from Children
273	8.9	Visions for the Future Philip Potter
	APPENDICES
278	1.	Assembly Schedule for Delegates
282	2.	List of Participants
340	3.	Assembly Committees, Chairpersons and Rapporteurs
347	4.	Presidents, Officers and Members of the Central Committee Elected at Harare
352	5.	Member Churches, Associate Member Churches and Associate Councils
363	6.	Constitution and Rules of the WCC as Amended by the Assembly
397	ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
399	INDEX

This is our commitment:

We intend to stay together and are restless to grow together in unity. We respond to the prayer of Jesus Christ

that all may be one in order that the world may believe (John 17:21). We are sustained by the assurance

that in God’s purpose all things shall be united in Christ - things in heaven and things on earth (Eph. 1:10).

We affirm that what unites us is stronger than what separates us. Neither failures nor uncertainties neither fears nor threats

will weaken our intention to continue to walk together on the way to unity,

welcoming those who would join us on this journey, widening our common vision,

discovering new ways of witnessing and acting together in faith.

We recommit ourselves in this 50th anniversary year to strengthen the World Council of Churches as a truly ecumenical fellowship, fulfilling the purposes for which it was founded - to the glory of the triune God.

Prayer:

God of unity, God of love,

what we say with our lips, make strong in our hearts, what we affirm with our minds, make vivid in our lives.

Send us your Spirit

to pray in us what we dare not pray,

to claim us beyond our own claims,

to bind us when we are tempted to go our own ways.

Lead us forward.

Lead us together.

Lead us to do your will,

the will of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

From “Our Ecumenical Vision”, used during a service of recommitment by the eighth assembly of the World Council of Churches, 13 December 1998.

Preface

How will the eighth assembly of the World Council of Churches in Harare be remembered? This official report begins with the words of a litany used at the opening worship in which the central messages of the seven preceding assemblies were recalled. What has been and what will be received as the main message of this jubilee assembly at Harare?

“Being Together under the Cross in Africa” is the title of the message adopted by the delegates on the final day of the Harare assembly. Dur¬ ing the plenary discussion of the draft message, some delegates sug¬ gested that a more dynamic formulation than “being together” should be found - perhaps “moving together” or “building together”. Both of these phrases, which are found in the report of the assembly’s Programme Guidelines Committee, raise the question: Has there been “movement” at this assembly and has it engaged in an act of “building”? The follow¬ ing report will help the readers, particularly those who have not partici¬ pated personally in the assembly, to find out for themselves.

Each of the WCC’s eight assemblies has had its particular profile which is reflected in the official report. The Harare assembly was marked by its setting on the African continent, by its theme “Turn to God - Rejoice in Hope”, echoing the biblical jubilee motif, and by the cele¬ bration of the 50th anniversary of the WCC.

Despite the broad-based and constructive participation of member churches and ecumenical partners in the nine-year process of reflection about a “common understanding and vision of the World Council of Churches”, fears had been expressed prior to the assembly about the future of the World Council. Eastern Orthodox churches in particular had expressed critical concern. The following introduction and the reports adopted by the Harare assembly show that the meeting took seriously these challenges and - in the spirit of the assembly theme - responded

xii Preface

with a message of hope, not only for the WCC and the ecumenical move¬ ment but for Africa and the world at large.

Two features of this assembly, which had a special significance for the participants, could not be reflected adequately in any printed report. The first is the worship life of the assembly: the daily services in the worship tent, the special liturgical celebrations and the encounters in small groups for Bible study and reflection about the presentations in plenary session. For many in Harare, these were the moments of the strongest ecumenical experience. The worship book of the assembly will remain a resource for years to come in relation to all efforts to nurture what the Programme Guidelines Committee calls an “ecumenism of the heart”.

The second special feature was the Padare, the open space for shar¬ ing, encounter and dialogue in the middle of the assembly programme, with its hundreds of presentations on a wide variety of issues and ex¬ periences of local ecumenical endeavour. The Padare was linked with the official agenda of the assembly through two series of hearing sessions under the guidance of the Programme Guidelines Committee. While the experience of this innovation in the programming of a WCC assembly not surprisingly pointed to many areas in which its organization could be improved, it was on the whole most encouraging, demonstrating that the ecumenical movement is alive and full of vitality - in spite of all the seeming evidence to the contrary.

The rich diversity of the Padare, which defied the communication efforts of report-writers and journalists, also posed difficulties of choice for the participants. Indeed, the multifaceted character of the assembly programme as a whole - while it reflects ecumenical reality - poses even more sharply the question of the coherence and oneness of the ecumeni¬ cal movement. In a way, each participant in Harare has experienced a different assembly; and sometimes their impressions and evaluations dif¬ fer so widely that one wonders whether the people concerned were attending the same conference.

This official report and the extensive introduction written by Diane Kessler provide a comprehensive perspective on the Harare assembly, both as an event and in terms of its results. We are indebted to her for putting the different and sometimes contradictory facets together and placing them into a coherent whole. This is an indispensable condition for the process of the reception of the assembly to begin. With the Harare assembly the WCC has opened a new chapter in its life. This report reflects a spirit of hopeful expectation which does not deny the difficul-

Preface xiii

ties and critical challenges ahead but is prepared to face them in the con¬ fidence that “the one who calls us is faithful and will carry it out” (1 Thess. 5:24).

Konrad Raiser General Secretary

• ' xVU u . , . '

.

‘

■

Being Together under the Cross

in Africa

The Assembly Message

“Blessed is our God always, now and forever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. ”

Called by the drums of Africa we gathered in Harare, Zimbabwe, as representatives of over three hundred churches at the eighth assembly of the World Council of Churches. We greet our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ throughout the world who share and rejoice with us in the life and fellowship of the Holy Trinity.

Fifty years ago the World Council of Churches began its journey of faith with the assembly in Amsterdam and clearly affirmed, “We intend to stay together”. Our pilgrimage through Evanston, New Delhi, Upp¬ sala, Nairobi, Vancouver and Canberra has led us to rejoice in the hope, mission, vision, freedom, life and renewal that God gives.

The theme of this assembly, “Turn to God - Rejoice in Hope”, is an invitation to look again to the very foundation of our faith and life as churches, finding there the hope that will draw us on. In this our jubilee year we proclaim good news to the poor, release to the captives, recov¬ ery of sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed, and the year of the Lord’s favour.

Meeting in joyful assembly, we invite one another and the whole church to journey towards visible unity, which is God’s gift and call to us. We have found that Christ is both the centre of our unity and our liv¬ ing water of life. We confess that we have often turned away from God’s purposes and from serving God’s reign. For this we grieve and repent.

The life of the assembly has revolved around worship, prayer and Bible study. At the centre of the place of worship has stood a great carved cross with the continent of Africa at its heart. It is indeed part of the joy of this assembly that we are in Africa. Here we experienced the life, growth and vitality of faith in local congregations. We rejoiced in the beauty and wonder of God’s creation. We remembered that it was to Africa that the holy family with the infant Jesus came as refugees, and

2 Being Together under the Cross in Africa

today Africa like every other continent is a place where many people are displaced, homeless and refugees.

Drawn by the power of the cross, we have been reminded that the cross is the most holy ground before which the very sandals of God are removed. We have seen all around us the suffering and pain of humankind. We encountered the alarming problems of poverty, unem¬ ployment and homelessness which are here as they are everywhere. We have heard of the devastating effects of globalization and structural adjustments as those who are weak and powerless find themselves becoming increasingly “invisible”. We have listened as our sisters and brothers have shared with us the grim reality of the debt crisis in the developing world. We call for the cancellation of debt in a manner which benefits the poor and marginalized and respects their human rights.

We have longed to touch those suffering from HIV/AIDS. We have stood alongside our brothers and sisters with disabilities, who bring a gift to those who are handicapped in relating to them. We have heard the voice of the Indigenous Peoples among us, claiming the place that is theirs by right. We have heard from women, children, refugees and dis¬ placed persons whose lives have been ravaged by violence. We have been challenged to express our solidarity with them, and to commit our¬ selves to overcome violence and to promote the full human dignity of all. By going to those at the periphery God causes commotion, making this periphery the centre. As churches, we are called to make these sons and daughters of God truly visible.

With the symbol of life-giving water, we marked the completion of the Ecumenical Decade of the Churches in Solidarity with Women, lis¬ tening to the all-too-often painful reality revealed in the Living Letters and hearing the call that solidarity be followed by accountability. As it flows on parched ground, water is essential to life. Jesus offered to the woman at the well the living water, the healing and new life she so des¬ perately needed. The call of God was presented again and again in the use of water. We were invited to drink the water of salvation, and to affirm our unity with all those incorporated into Christ. We were called to help and comfort the lonely, the bereaved, orphans and the destitute, and to keep thirsting until the wounds of the world are healed.

We have wrestled with how we might foster greater participation at every level of the ecumenical movement, and the way in which decision¬ making can reflect the needs and expectations of those coming from many and varied traditions and cultures. We celebrated the leadership shown by young people which has been so apparent in the life of this

The Assembly Message 3

assembly. We urge the churches to ensure space for the involvement of young people in every aspect of the life and ministries of the church.

Drawn together by God’s love, we have sought to understand more what it is to be together. We have explored how we understand the World Council of Churches and the ways in which God has called us to look forward together. We have rejoiced in the developing koinonia (commu¬ nion) between Christians in many parts of the world, and we affirm once again that God has called us to continue to grow in that communion together, that it may be truly visible. We rejoice in signs of this growth such as the hope for a common date of Easter.

We have also experienced the pain brought by our remaining divi¬ sions, as revealed in our inability to share one eucharist. But we were constantly reminded that what unites us is stronger than what divides us. Christian remembering is not centred on our divided memory but rather on the saving events of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For this reason, to remember together as Christians is an essen¬ tial part of turning to God, so that we may rejoice in hope. It is as we turn to God and see in the other the face of God that we know and see who we are. This is the heart of a truly ecumenical spirituality.

We sought to allow open space for one another, and to create space for those who are failing to connect with each other in a divided world. In the assembly, a wide range of concerns and commitments came together, providing an opportunity to realize how the Spirit leads the community of faith far beyond any individual horizon. We experienced the richness of God, and of the various ways we can respond to a world which encompasses peoples of many living faiths. We claim religious freedom as a fundamental human right.

The World Council of Churches began its journey in faith with the determination to stay together. We experienced this same determination in Harare, even when we were aware of the difficulties that we faced. As churches long committed to staying together, we now commit ourselves to being together in a continuing growth towards visible unity - not only in assemblies and ecumenical gatherings but each in every place. It is this being together that all ecumenical work at every level must serve. The mission to which God calls the church in the service of God’s reign cannot be separated from the call to be one. In Harare we saw once again the immensity of the mission in which God invites us to share. In this mission we who are reconciled to God through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross are challenged to work for reconciliation and peace with justice among those torn apart by violence and war.

4 Being Together under the Cross in Africa

From this eighth assembly of the World Council of Churches we share with you, our brothers and sisters, a message of hope. The God who has called us together will bring us to the fulfilment of all things in Christ. The jubilee which has begun among us is sent to you, to celebrate the liberation of the entire creation. As we have turned once again to God, we have been able to rejoice in hope. We invite you to share with us the vision which we have been able to express together and which, we pray, will become part of a common life and witness:

We long for the visible oneness of the body of Christ, affirming the gifts of all,

young and old, women and men, lay and ordained.

We expect the healing of human community, the wholeness of God’s entire creation.

We trust in the liberating power of forgiveness, transforming enmity into friendship and breaking the spiral of violence.

We are challenged by the vision of a church that will reach out to everyone,

sharing, caring, proclaiming the good news of God’s redemption, a sign of the kingdom and a servant of the world.

We are challenged by the vision of a church,

the people of God on the way together,

confronting all divisions of race, gender, age or culture,

striving to realize justice and peace,

upholding the integrity of creation.

We journey together as a people with resurrection faith.

In the midst of exclusion and despair,

we embrace, in joy and hope, the promise of life in all its fullness.

We journey together as a people of prayer.

In the midst of confusion and loss of identity, we discern signs of God’s purpose being fulfdled and expect the coming of God’s reign.

1. Harare 1998: An Introduction and Personal Perspective

Diane Kessler

1.1. Introduction

“Harare 1998”. When delegates from the member churches of the World Council of Churches (WCC) gather in assembly, the event becomes identified by the place where the meeting is held. From 3 to 14 December 1998, the 50th anniversary jubilee assembly of the WCC was held on the continent of Africa, in Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe, on the sprawling campus of the University of Zimbabwe. It was the eighth since the WCC was founded in 1948. For almost two weeks, nearly five thousand people from every continent worked and wor¬ shipped, talked and listened, in formal sessions and informal encounters. In some way or other, this whole process related to the Council’s aim “to fulfil together their common calling to the glory of the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit” - specifically, “to call one another to visible unity in one faith and in one eucharistic fellowship, expressed in worship and common life in Christ, through witness and service to the world, and to advance towards that unity in order that the world may believe” (WCC constitution, I: Basis, and III: Purpose and Functions). This is a daunting responsibility. It also is a grand enough vision to be worthy of all the time, energy and expense entailed in its quest.

Anniversaries are occasions to pause and reflect. In many ways that is what this assembly was doing for the ecumenical movement. The del¬ egates took a look at where the member churches have been together in the past fifty years, assessed where they are now, and made some deci¬ sions that will affect their life together into the 21st century.

This book contains the official texts approved by the delegates at the Harare assembly, with a record of central issues raised in plenary debate. It also includes key presentations, reports, messages and greet¬ ings, statistics, names, and the WCC constitution and rules. These pro¬ ceedings become part of the WCC’s ecumenical tradition. In this intro¬ duction, I have been asked to offer a personal perspective on the event.

Diane Kessler is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ (USA) and executive secretary of the Massachusetts Council of Churches.

6 Harare 1998

This custom puts the texts in a context and helps give a flavour to the whole.

1.2. The participants

As people from many nations and churches descended on the uni¬ versity campus, they made their way first to the registration tables at Beit Hall. Every participant was given an identification badge with a photo which was hung around the neck and became a permanent part of his or her garb for the duration. Those standing in lines were a colourful micro¬ cosm of the church in the world - black, blue and pink cassocks, cleri¬ cal collars, daishikis, saris and sarongs, and all manner of Western street clothes from T-shirts to ties; a dizzying array of languages; and people from every continent.

The Harare assembly was the largest in WCC history. It included 966 voting delegates chosen by the 336 member churches to represent them: 367 women, 599 men, 525 of whom were ordained, 438 who were lay. Included in these numbers were 134 youth. They came from the regions of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, North America and the Pacific. The largest number of delegates was from Africa and Europe, followed in number by Asia and North Amer¬ ica. Twenty-nine associate member churches (those churches otherwise eligible for membership but with fewer than the required 25,000 mem¬ bers) sent 31 representatives who had the right to speak but not to vote. It was announced during the assembly that “to our great regret, the Orthodox Church of Georgia has withdrawn”; furthermore, a letter was received formally stating that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church also had withdrawn its membership.

The three central committee officers took turns presiding at plenary sessions: the moderator, Aram I (Armenian Apostolic Church [Cilicia]); and vice-moderators Soritua Nababan (Batak Protestant Christian Church [Indonesia]) and Nelida Ritchie (Evangelical Methodist Church of Argentina). The general secretary Konrad Raiser (Evangelical Church in Germany, elected by the central committee in August 1992) was on the podium for all plenary sessions.

Forty-six guests attended the assembly. Among them was a four- member delegation from North Korean churches - the first time churches from that country had attended a WCC assembly; and eight people from other faiths: Sikh, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu. Also participating were 289 observers, delegated observers (from non¬ member churches, including 23 delegated observers from the Roman

Introduction and Personal Perspective 7

Catholic Church), and delegated representatives (from organizations with which the World Council maintains a relationship, such as the Christian world communions and national and regional councils of churches). One hundred and twenty-one advisers were present. These are persons who can make special contributions to programmatic pre¬ sentations during the assembly. Among the advisers were ten people with disabilities, who often gathered in a white tent near the Great Hall where all plenaries were held, ready to engage in conversation about the churches’ ministries with people with disabilities.

Assembly staff support was given by 139 WCC staff; 182 stewards - youth who work diligently to provide support services for the assembly; 247 coopted staff, pressed into service for the occasion; and young peo¬ ple from Zimbabwean churches, wearing red T-shirts, who provided additional volunteer support.

Many media representatives covered the event. The assembly sched¬ ule was interspersed with daily news conferences, during which repre¬ sentatives of the media had an opportunity to question key figures about major events of the previous day.

In addition, a record-breaking number of accredited visitors and day visitors attended some or all of the meeting, gathering daily in a tent beside the Great Hall to participate in a visitors programme. Many visitors came from all over Africa, thereby enriching the experiences of all attendees.

1.3. The task

Assembly delegates were mandated to assess the work of the churches together since the Canberra assembly in February 1991; to chart the course for the seven years until the next assembly; to elect the 150 members of the new central committee, who are responsible for implementing the programme guidelines adopted by the assembly; and to choose the eight new WCC presidents who will represent and inter¬ pret the work of the Council in their regions. As former WCC deputy general secretary S. Wesley Ariarajah (Methodist Church of Sri Lanka) said during the opening plenary orientation session, “The assembly is in your hands. What it will become depends on what you do.”

Because this was the WCC’s 50th anniversary, however, the assem¬ bly also was invited to take a broader look. This assembly wrestled with some key questions: What have the churches learned from our ecumeni¬ cal history together in the WCC? What are the implications for us now of what we have learned? How should our churches respond as we look to the future?

8 Harare 1998

Delegates were helped to do this reflection by a policy statement, “Towards a Common Understanding and Vision of the World Council of Churches” (CUV), adopted in September 1997 by the central committee and commended to member churches. Two deliberative plenaries were scheduled at Harare in order to digest the material and reflect on its con¬ crete constitutional implications. Delegates attended hearings at which the issues were presented and discussed in detail. They then engaged in floor debates about specific recommendations.

All these acts were crystallized on a warm Sunday afternoon, the day before the assembly concluded, when participants were invited on a “Journey to Jubilee”. Former BBC commentator Pauline Webb told sto¬ ries about the fifty years of churches together through the WCC. These were interspersed with large-screen video presentations from former assemblies, starting with the founding assembly at Amsterdam in 1948. South African president Nelson Mandela and former WCC general sec¬ retary Philip Potter gave testimonies about the churches’ life together, and the positive impact this common witness has made on society. Man¬ dela said, “Your support exemplified in the most concrete way the con¬ tribution that religion has made to our liberation, from the days when religious bodies took responsibility for the education of the oppressed because it was denied us by our rulers, to support for our liberation strug¬ gle.” Potter said, “I fervently hope that young participants in this assem¬ bly will be present at the next jubilee in the year 2048 to testify to what God has done through their generation to carry out the purpose of good for all.”

One memorable moment that afternoon vividly brought to mind the 1983 Vancouver assembly, when at the end of a procession of people bringing forward offerings from their countries, the then general secre¬ tary Philip Potter was handed a baby by her African mother. It was one of those spontaneous moments, captured on film, which stayed with peo¬ ple long after the assembly ended. At Harare, when Philip Potter walked on stage to address the assembly, he was surprised by that now-fifteen- year old girl saying “Remember me?” The crowd was jubilant.

After the jubilee celebration, everyone walked to the worship tent for the service of recommitment. While religious leaders exchanged crosses made in their home countries, each worshipper was given a simple wire cross made by a Zimbabwean, Simon Muganiwa. The crosses symbol¬ ized our own recommitment to the ecumenical movement. Worshippers were invited to focus on the meaning of the cross while saying the fol¬ lowing prayer:

Introduction and Personal Perspective 9

God of unity, God of love,

what we say with our lips make strong in our hearts, what we affirm with our minds, make vivid in our lives.

Send us your Spirit

to pray in us what we dare not pray,

to claim us beyond our own claims,

to bind us when we are tempted to go our own ways.

Lead us forward.

Lead us together.

Lead us to do your will,

the will of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Participants then stood for a litany of commitment, interspersed with a Zimbabwean “Hallelujah” that rolled through the big blue tent in vig¬ orous harmony.

1.4. The setting

We came at the invitation of the Christian churches in Zimbabwe. Some people arrived early or stayed late so they could explore the region. My own first glimpse of assembly participants beyond the Harare airport was before the meeting in Victoria Falls and Hwange National Park, in the northwest comer of the country. During the hour flight from Harare, passengers looking out of the window saw lush green landscape and rolling, tree-covered hills, red soil heavy with iron deposits, some dry river beds not yet touched by the short rainy season, and scattered villages with round thatched huts occupied by the Ndebele people who live in that region.

A large number of Zimbabweans still live on small farms, cultivating the rocky land. On the ground, visitors were awed by the majestic, mist- throwing falls; bungee jumpers adventurous (or crazy!) enough to fly off the bridge into the gorge; and animals - majestic, magnificent animals - elephants, lions, jackals, wild dogs, bat-eared foxes, buffalo, hip¬ popotami, zebras, kudu, bushpigs, and birds of every imaginable colour, shape and size. Others visited Great Zimbabwe, the largest complex of ruins in Africa, seven centuries old, holding tales of the Shona-speaking ancestors of many of today’s Zimbabweans. Or they went on safaris around Lake Kariba and into Matusadona National Park.

It is risky to draw conclusions from first impressions. A systematic and comprehensive analysis of Zimbabwe and the African continent was

10 Harare 1998

provided during the Africa plenary on Tuesday, 8 December. In addition, President Robert Mugabe addressed the delegates for 50 minutes during his visit to the assembly. His speech offered a detailed and documented overview of the role - both positive and negative - played by Christian missionaries and Christian churches in Zimbabwe since the time of Cecil Rhodes. In this connection he thanked the WCC for its solidarity during the struggle that had led to the country’s independence in 1980, particu¬ larly expressed through its Programme to Combat Racism. Responding to Mugabe’s address (which had not touched on the current and growing political turmoil within his country), WCC president Bishop Vinton Anderson underscored the imperative of complementing declarations of independence and democratic constitutions with a continuing struggle for the freedom and equality of all members of the human family, cre¬ ated as they are in the image of God.

Images are more appropriate here, to give a flavour of the place. It is a country and a continent filled with contrasts. Saturday afternoon, 5 December, delegates and visitors piled into a seemingly endless supply of buses for the half-hour ride through the city to the Rufaro Stadium, where the Zimbabwean churches hosted worship. This was the same sta¬ dium where, eighteen years previously on 18 April 1980, crowds had gathered to celebrate the birth of the new nation of Zimbabwe. As soon as we arrived, we were given water to drink as a sign of hospitality. Cam¬ eras were clicking and videos were whirring as colourfully garbed rep¬ resentatives from Zimbabwean churches whirled around the grassy grounds. There was a steady drumbeat in the background. It was impos¬ sible to sit still with the rhythms.

This was contrasted with the sobering sermon of Roman Catholic Bishop Paride Taban of Torit, Sudan, a country plagued by civil war. Bishop Paride pleaded, “Stop the wars and killings. Give us peace.” He reminded us that slavery still is practised in some parts of the Sudan. The following week 14 bombs exploded in the square in Narus, South Sudan, damaging both the bishop’s cathedral and primary school, killing six people and injuring 14. That incident prompted the WCC general secre¬ tary and moderator to send a strongly worded letter of concern to the Sudanese government.

We were made aware of other African countries ravaged by civil wars, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, where troops from Zimbabwe and other neighbouring countries had been dispatched to the concern of other governments on the continent - and of a growing num¬ ber of Zimbabweans.

Introduction and Personal Perspective 1 1

We heard other sobering stories as well, during the 8 December Africa plenary. These were told vividly by a Zimbabwean group (ZACT) in moving political theatre called “A Journey of Hope”. The drama described a history in which “thus I happened to be another man’s slave. And so it happened our neighbours Kenyatta, Nkrumah, Ben Bella and Nelson Mandela also became slaves of strangers in their own land. The strangers carried a gun in one hand and a Bible in the other... One to shoot and the other to tame our heart when it defied the commandments set out by the stranger. I and the rest of my community became drawers of water and hewers of wood.” Following the drama, Barney Pityana and Mercy Oduyoye gave an analysis and interpretation.

They told of a present in which 700 people a week are dying of AIDS in Zimbabwe. Almost 10 percent of the population are infected with the virus. Unemployment is around 50 percent. The Zimbabwean dollar is weakening. Inflation is rampant. As in many other African countries, people are flocking to the cities to find work. Precious natural resources have been used to service the burgeoning national debt. Land reform is hotly debated. The gap between rich and poor is ever widening. People are suspicious of government leaders, and tales of corruption are fre¬ quent. This information became a backdrop for assembly actions con¬ cerning child soldiers, third-world debt, human rights and globalization (see the official texts). One afternoon as delegates returned to the Great Hall following an afternoon tea break, others stood shoulder to shoulder around the hall and passed a red paper chain through the huge circle while chanting “Cancel the debt!”

The same day of the Africa plenary, participants enjoyed an evening of music and dance. With African drums pulsating through the night air, it was a welcome change from steady sitting in the assembly Great Hall.

Many morning worship services in the big tent concluded with the lively South African sung response, “Ameni” - kicked off with strong bass voices in the energetic choir singing “Ba-ba-ba-ba-bam...” One del¬ egate remarked that he could stand in any room of ecumenists, sing “ba- ba-ba-ba-bam”, and draw immediate recognition from the Harare assem¬ bly attendees. Participants were invited to an array of Sunday worship services on 6 December, fanning out to surrounding neighbourhoods and towns to participate in local worship. On 13 December, they attended local eucharistic services hosted by Roman Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Coptic and Greek Orthodox churches. Many returned with stories of incredibly gracious hospitality, friendships made, new experi¬ ences of worship with traditional African drums and hosho, rattles made

12 Harare 1998

from small dried pumpkins. Christian churches are growing faster on the African continent than any other location, and indigenous African Insti¬ tuted Churches are burgeoning.

1.5. The theme

The theme of the Harare assembly, “Turn to God - Rejoice in Hope”, echoed the closing words of the message from the Evanston assembly in 1954: “... therefore we say to you: rejoice in hope”. The theme was explored in a morning deliberative plenary on 4 December, moderated by WCC president Priyanka Mendis from Sri Lanka. Through slides, the assembly saw the design of artist Chaz Maviyane-Davies taking shape through the hands of sculptor Wilbert Samapundo in the strong black Shona stone spirit sculpture interpreting the theme. The sculpture was presented to the assembly by the president of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, Enos Chomutiri, on 3 December during the opening session. Rev. Chomutiri said, “May it be a reminder. It comes from our hearts.” Indeed, it was a reminder. That sculpture became the unofficial logo of the assembly.

Three presentations on the assembly theme were given by Anasta- sios, Orthodox archbishop of Tirana and All Albania, Brazilian Lutheran theologian Wanda Deifelt, and Kosuke Koyama, a Japanese theologian who has taught for many years in the USA. For many, this theme plenary was one of the electric moments of the assembly. These three Christian men and women, from different continents, traditions and perspectives, together provided a holistic sense of the theme that informed the entire event. Their presentations were interspersed with time for reflection and woven through with Bible readings calling attention to the year of jubilee.

The challenge to the presenters and the delegates, considered during morning discussion groups of ten or so people who shared a common language, was posed by Koyama: “The ‘whole inhabited world’ (oik- oumene) is full of the desperately poor, starving children, people uprooted from their homes, and innocent victims of war and ethnic con¬ flict. The threat of nuclear extinction still hangs like a cloud on our hori¬ zon, and our planet is in the grip of an ecological crisis. How can we rejoice in hope?” Anastasios reminded the assembly that “a community without memory or with intermittent memory is problematic and frag¬ ile”. He suggested that “it is from that [anamnesis, remembrance] that all other things begin and draw their meaning”. Deifelt talked about the need for repentance in this process of turning, “as prodigal children”.

Introduction and Personal Perspective 1 3

She challenged the assembly with a question: “What message do we give to the world when Christians cannot speak in one voice against the injus¬ tices of our times?”

In one way or another, throughout the whole assembly, delegates struggled to answer this question. They turned and returned, through worship and biblical reflection, to God who, in the words of Deifelt, “breaks into history to be crucified”. It was no accident that worshippers in the round tent were drawn to a giant, 4.5 metre teak cross carved by Zimbabwean artist David Mutasa. And they mulled over Koyama’s response: “Is hope related to the future? Yes. But even more it is related to love. Hope is not a time-story. It is a love-story” (for the full text of these meditations on the theme, see section 2).

Through all the debates on public policy issues in hearings and on the plenary floor, delegates tried to make that hope concrete through their statements commending the member churches to address the pressing issues of our time: on human rights, globalization, third-world debt. These and other issues are related to the second aspect of this theme: the jubilee year.

In his preparatory meditations called The Drumbeat of Life: Jubilee in an African Context , Sebastian Bakare, chaplain at the University of Zimbabwe, recalled the connection between the 50th anniversary of the WCC and the biblical tradition of jubilee. He said, “According to this tradition, every 50th year was to be a year of jubilee. Celebrations were to be held for the whole year. Land and animals were to rest, debts were to be cancelled, land was to be returned to its original owners.” Dele¬ gates made concrete connections between the biblical year of jubilee and the contemporary social, political and economic situation.

1.6. The process

Delegates had been given written materials prior to the meeting. (Despite counsel to the contrary, plane-loads of participants destined for Harare could be seen poring over the texts as they flew towards their destination.) From Canberra to Harare: An Illustrated Account of the Life of the World Council of Churches, 1991-1998, gave a summary report of the overwhelming breadth of work accomplished under WCC auspices by staff and representatives from the member churches. They did this work in response to mandates given in Canberra, as well as to an established tradition of policies. The 17-member Joint Working Group of the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches also issued a report, its seventh, on the “forms of collaboration between the

14 Harare 1998

WCC and the RCC, especially between the various organs and pro¬ grammes of the WCC and the RCC”. The July 1998 issue of The Ecu¬ menical Review was devoted to “Continuing the Discussion” about the CUV text. A book prepared by WCC Orthodox staff members offered Orthodox Reflections on the Way to Harare and was essential reading in the context of ominous rumblings and outright withdrawals of the Geor¬ gian and Bulgarian Orthodox churches, which provided an anxious backdrop to assembly proceedings.

The assembly did its work in three phases. The first task was to reflect on the journey from Canberra to Harare in the context of a dis¬ cussion about the purpose and goals of the WCC. This process occurred primarily from 3 to 7 December, and included plenary reports from the moderator and general secretary; a discussion of the CUV text with an introduction to proposed changes in the constitution that could flow from this “Common Understanding”; and the summing up of the “Ecumenical Decade - Churches in Solidarity with Women”. Greetings from religious and public officials (see sections 6 and 7) were read during these days, including from Kim Dae-jung, the president of the Republic of Korea. The general secretary noted that sharing such a greeting from a public official was a departure from custom, but that “a particular and close relationship of mutual interest and support had developed over the years” between the WCC and the Korean president (and former political prisoner), warranting the exception.

All this information was digested in a series of three open hearings, ninety minutes each, on Monday, 7 December, during which delegates and other participants were encouraged to explore and assess the work of the churches together through the WCC. The whole hearing process was a departure from previous assembly practice, when sections had considered previously prepared reports. The intention of assembly plan¬ ners was to create an open, free environment, “owned” as fully as possi¬ ble by delegates from the member churches.

Phase I of the hearings was divided into the four programme units in which the WCC had worked between the Canberra and Harare assem¬ blies: Unity and Renewal; Churches in Mission - Health, Education, Witness; Justice, Peace and Creation; Sharing and Service; plus a hear¬ ing on the work of the General Secretariat. The latter included Church and Ecumenical Relations; Inter-religious Relations; Communication; the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey; and Finance. It was a challenge to reflect constructively on strengths, weaknesses and directions with so much material to cover in relatively little time. Nevertheless, delegates

Introduction and Personal Perspective 1 5

and staff made a valiant effort, and some came prepared with particular questions they later brought back into the work of the assembly com¬ mittees.

Unlike the phase I hearings, which mirrored the WCC structure prior to Harare, phase II was grouped around themes and issues:

- unity - relating to worship, spirituality, the visible unity of the church, and ecclesiology and ethics;

- justice and peace - concerning a world marked by conflict, violence and globalization, and in need of reconciliation;

- moving together — dealing with communication among member churches and with the whole ecumenical movement;

- learning - addressing inter-religious relations and Christian and ecu¬ menical formation which recognizes the cultural and religious plu¬ rality of the world;

- witness - concerning communicating the gospel through witness and evangelism, and problems of proselytism;

- solidarity - dealing with the churches’ concern for the environment, and the development of just and sustainable communities, including practical actions of empowerment.

The Programme Guidelines Committee, chaired by Agnes Abuom with Barry Rogerson as rapporteur, was charged with assessing the work of the WCC in the first part of its report, as well as with giving recom¬ mendations for the future in the second part (see section 3.8 for a report of their work). Other committees meeting during the proceedings included (see appendix 3 for names of members):

- the Nominations Committee , responsible for presenting new central committee nominees and WCC presidents to the assembly for con¬ sideration and election;

- the Message Committee, mandated to prepare a text encompassing the experience and hopes of the assembly as a message to the churches;

- the Finance Committee, charged with general oversight of WCC finances and preparation of general guidelines for central committee and staff implementation;

- the Public Issues Committee, instructed to prepare draft statements on selected public issues;

- two Policy Reference Committees: I - responsible for presenting rec¬ ommendations for assembly action on reports of the moderator and general secretary; on relations with member churches, the Roman Catholic Church, and other ecumenical bodies; on potential amend-

16 Harare 1998

merits to the WCC constitution and rules; and on the CUV text; II - responsible for presenting recommendations for assembly action on future WCC policy, particularly in areas of globalization, interna¬ tional debt, and other matters that emerged from the Africa and Ecu¬ menical Decade plenaries;

- the Business Committee , asked to coordinate the daily work of the assembly and oversee any adjustments in the agenda.

Over the course of the two weeks, the assembly met in plenary ses¬ sions twenty times to conduct its business.

1.7. Padare

A totally new feature of this assembly, designed to permeate the offi¬ cial deliberations but separate from the decision-making aspects of the assembly, was the Padare. In the Shona tradition of Zimbabwe, “Padare” means meeting place. It is a space for free exchange, common listening, sharing and deliberation. The WCC borrowed this concept for the assem¬ bly. The Padare was described as “a new process, designed to help all participants” so that everyone’s voice could be heard. Acknowledging both the logistical difficulties and creative possibilities, one WCC leader said, “Padare is mission impossible, but we’re going to take it on.”

Over four hundred offerings were available during the span of five days, 7 to 1 1 December, in locations scattered around the campus. Some people came to Harare expressly for the purpose of leading or partici¬ pating in a Padare, travelling thousands of miles for the occasion. Some Padare offerings were given the special status of a “forum” because they addressed a key dimension of WCC work - for example, forums on the fifth world conference on Faith and Order (Santiago de Compostela, 1993), the Programme to Overcome Violence, violence against women, migration, globalization and racism. Some groups used the performing arts to convey their message, including several drama, dance and musi¬ cal presentations by primary and secondary school children and church youth choirs from Zimbabwe. Some people told their stories. Some offerings addressed issues of faith and order. A few were designed to air tough topics for the churches, such as issues of human sexuality including homosexuality. The offerings varied widely in structure and style.

The results of the effort were uneven. Some events were cancelled because too few participants had registered. Others attracted 50, 60, 70 or more people, and generated enthusiastic responses. To the great relief of everyone, Padare offerings on controversial topics were conducted in

Introduction and Personal Perspective 17

a spirit of respectful listening. All in all, they were designed to give voice to the churches’ concerns and priorities. They were free-wheeling, energy-generating, mind-expanding, grassroots-driven leavening agents pervading the deliberations in imperceptible but tangible ways.

1.8. The nominating process

An essential aspect of the assembly’s work was the election of new WCC presidents and central committee members. As in prior assem¬ blies, the Nominations Committee struggled mightily with efforts to be inclusive and provide balance - by regions, churches, gender, lay/clergy, youth, and Indigenous Peoples. The Committee also considered the per¬ centage of potentially re-elected delegates, to ensure continuity. That percentage from Nairobi to Vancouver was 27 percent, from Vancouver to Canberra, 26 percent, from Canberra to Harare, 18 percent. The Nom¬ inations Committee sought to make selections from recommendations that had been proposed by national or regional groupings whenever pos¬ sible, as well as from commendations by member churches.

The Nominations Committee made three reports, on 5, 8, and 11 December. The final slate included 39.4 percent women, 14.7 percent youth, 24.6 percent Orthodox (Eastern and Oriental), and 43.3 percent laity. By families of churches, balances were as follows: 10 percent Anglican; 4.7 percent Baptist; 6.7 percent Free, Pentecostal and African Instituted; 8.6 percent Lutheran; 10 percent Methodist; 24.6 percent Orthodox; 6.7 percent others; 22 percent Reformed; and 6.7 percent united and uniting.

At one point in the process the committee chair, Bishop Melvin Tal¬ bert (United Methodist, USA), said, “It is incumbent on us as the assem¬ bly to decide now whether we mean what we say or not when it comes to representation, particularly for women and youth.” In his third pre¬ sentation, he acknowledged that the Nominations Committee had not reached its goals - partly because of the increased number of WCC member churches. He said they had made their best efforts in light of constraints coming from some member churches. After general discus¬ sion in which five specific proposed substitutions were turned down, the delegates affirmed the recommendations of the Nominations Committee and approved the slate presented to them.

They also sent some general recommendations to the new central committee, based on their experiences, about ways the process could be improved in future assemblies. These included: (1) provide a process for alternation among churches in regions; (2) reconsider the maximum

18 Harare 1998

number of seats available to any one church; (3) limit the number of terms that can be served by a particular person; and (4) clarify proce¬ dures for eliciting names of nominees for presidents, with clear guide¬ lines for balance. A difficult and awkward moment occurred when one of the newly elected members of the central committee, an Armenian Orthodox lay woman, withdrew her name so that an ordained represen¬ tative of her church could have a seat on the central committee. But the assembly decided not to take action on her request and to refer the dis¬ cussion to the central committee itself.

1.9. Worship

A big oval blue tent in a grassy field on the university campus was the central worship space for the Harare assembly. The centre of the tent was dominated by a large teak cross with an outline of the African con¬ tinent in its centre. Seats were available for 3400 people, and every morning the tent was packed. People came streaming towards the tent, drawn by the irresistible rhythms of the energetic 100- voice choir and, at times, the full, rich sounds of African drums. Even the most culturally restrained worshippers found themselves moving to the music.

Tangible symbols were woven through the liturgies: crosses which religious leaders from around the world had brought to the assembly to exchange during the service of recommitment; healing, refreshing, wel¬ coming water; blessed bread and fruit; leaves offered and eaten, along with prayers for healing, following a Sri Lankan custom; simple African crosses fashioned of wire. One special offering was taken to support vic¬ tims of Hurricane Mitch in Central America and people afflicted with HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe.

The whole assembly was encompassed by worship. It began and ended the day. On four days, people could attend a mid-day preaching service in the university chapel. At the close of day they had a choice between chapel-centred compline and a freer pattern of prayer and song in the tent. Every day worshippers moved from the big tent to small- group Bible study and reflection during which themes in the service of the day were explored in an intimate setting.

In addition to this regular rhythm, the assembly attended special ser¬ vices — in Rularo Stadium, hosted by the churches of Zimbabwe (see ‘ The Setting”) and Sunday 6 December worship with local congrega¬ tions; a Sunday night vigil acknowledging our brokenness at the Lord’s table, with candles flickering on the ground, during which worshippers followed the stations of the cross using the passion narrative from the

Central committee officers : (top) vice-moderators from Canberra to Harare, Soritua lababan ( Indonesia ) and Nelida Ritchie (Argentina); (middle) general secretary lonrad Raiser ( Germany) and moderator ( re-elected in Harare) Aram 1 (Lebanon); bottom) new vice-moderators elected in Harare, Marion Best ( Canada ) and Sophia vdinyira (Ghana).

BNn

The assembly's worship life: (top) the tent where daily services were held, which seated 3400 people;

( middle ) the interior of the tent during the vigil on Sunday 6 December; ( bottom ) members of local congregations at the service in Rufaro Stadium on Saturday 5 December.

The assembly’s worship life : (above) members of the energetic 100-voice choir which animated the morning services and helped worshippers to learn new songs from around the world; (below) WCC central committee moderator Aram 1 and general secretary Konrad Raiser enter Rufaro Stadium, followed by the preacher for the service, Bishop Paride Taban ofTorit, Sudan.

Among those who addressed the assembly in its plenary sessions were (left) Archbishop Anastasios of Albania, Kosuke Koyama

(Japan/USA) and Wanda Deifelt (Brazil), who spoke on the assembly theme; (below) Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, who spoke on Tuesday 8 December; and two of the persons who spoke about the Common Understanding and Vision process : Father Tom Stransky and Janice Love.

Introduction and Personal Perspective 19

gospel of Mark; Monday morning resurrection matins in which many Orthodox traditions were represented; and the service of recommitment on Sunday afternoon, 13 December.

Since at the present time many churches are not able to celebrate the eucharist together, the central committee had had a thoughtful and wrenching discussion about whether or not it would be appropriate to have an official eucharistic service at the assembly. A decision was made to provide for morning eucharist in five local settings: Roman Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Coptic Orthodox and Greek Orthodox. This had been preceded by the evening vigil, described as a time of “confession and repentance for our brokenness”. It was followed by the Sunday afternoon service of recommitment. Some were gratified by the decision. Others felt it was a loss.

A 1 9-member Worship Committee, appointed by the central commit¬ tee, assisted by WCC staff, and moderated by Dorothy McRae- McMahon (Uniting Church of Australia), interwove a consistent liturgi¬ cal structure with changing languages, leadership and hymnody. The structure involved musical preparation, silence, a greeting based on Psalm 51, a hymn, prayer, entrance of the word, biblical reading, response to the word, prayers of intercession, the Lord’s prayer, a bene¬ diction and a hymn. At the same time, worshippers experienced a dizzy¬ ing diversity of leaders, languages, songs, prayers and practices from all over the world - a tangible reminder of the church catholic. But when the leader said: “Let us stand and say in our own languages the prayer of Christ which unites us”, unity was experienced concretely as many mother-tongues from around the world joined in common prayer to our common God.

1.10. Other events and programmes

Three days before the assembly, four hundred people came together for a Pre-Assembly Youth Event on the university campus. Attendees included youth delegates, stewards and visitors, all under the age of thirty. The gathering is one means of fostering new generations of ecu¬ menical leaders. One concrete outcome of the meeting was the recom¬ mendation that one of eight WCC presidents again be a young person. Kathryn K. Bannister, a Methodist minister from the United States, was elected to the post. Youth delegates were a vital, visible, vocal presence in assembly plenaries. Stewards brought a message to the assembly on 5 December. They also offered soil “to symbolize our diversity and our unique talents”.

20 Harare 1998

Some think assembly visitors have the best of both worlds. Through a specially designed Visitors Programme, they are able to participate in the worship life of the assembly, hear featured presenters, and reflect together about the significance of assembly happenings, without being obligated dutifully to attend to the details required of delegates. Visitors to Harare gathered in a big white tent next to the Great Hall, where they could see assembly plenaries on closed-circuit television monitors. They also participated in their own “home groups”, engaged in Bible study, attended special workshops, and went to as many Padare offerings as they wanted.

Some of the assembly participants attended a two-week “theological school”, providing a valuable opportunity for ecumenical formation. The programme brought together a mix of younger clergy and theological students. It was described as “an opportunity to encounter the interna¬ tional ecumenical movement firsthand, including meetings with contem¬ porary church and ecumenical leaders...” In addition to hearing seven lectures and engaging in discussion, participants also were able to enter into the life of the assembly through the visitors programme.

1.11. The Ecumenical Decade - Churches in Solidarity with Women

Over a thousand women and about thirty men danced, sang, wept, worshipped, celebrated, analyzed and strategized for four days prior to the assembly in a Decade Festival. They came together to assess the achievements of the Ecumenical Decade - Churches in Solidarity with Women (1988-98) and to chart a course for the future, now that the Decade was concluding. They met at Belvedere Technical Teachers Training College in Harare. The Festival’s hearing on violence against women in the church began with nine women bringing vessels of water symbolizing women’s tears to a large central bowl. The hearing elicited chilling stories of rape, domestic beatings, sexual trafficking and abusive employment practices. When Metropolitan Ambrosius of Oulu, Finland, later reported on the Decade to assembly delegates, he said, “During the team visits and afterwards, many men, myself included, were shocked to realize — tor the first time — how much violence and economic injustice against women, whether it is culturally conditioned or not, exist inside and outside churches all over the world.” These testimonies had a cat¬ alytic etteet on the assembly delegates, who vowed to redouble efforts to counter violence against women in church and society.

On 7 December in deliberative plenary, assembly delegates heard reports about the Decade from Despina Prassas (Ecumenical Patriar-

Introduction and Personal Perspective 21

chate of Constantinople), Biasima Lala (Church of Christ in Congo), Deenabandhu Manchala (Church of South India), Mukami McCrum (Church of Scotland), Metropolitan Ambrosius (Orthodox Church of Finland), and Bertrice Wood (United Church of Christ [USA]). Vinton Anderson (African Methodist Episcopal Church [USA]), who moderated the session, challenged the delegates to “move from solidarity to accountability”. Rev. Wood presented a “Letter to the Eighth Assembly of the WCC from the Women and Men of the Decade Festival” (see text in section 8.1).

1.12. Behind the scenes

In some ways this was a “high-tech” assembly. Computers made this possible, despite the occasional frustrating technological challenges such as periodic crashes ! For the first time, attendees could communicate with back-home office, friends and loved ones via e-mail. The WCC provided an “internet cafe”. You could sign in, log on, and “talk” via computer with people halfway around the globe. To those who are gingerly enter¬ ing the computer age, it seemed nothing short of miraculous.

Cell phones, ubiquitous among WCC staff, were the source of fre¬ quent amusement among the unconnected. A little jingle would erupt in the middle of a meeting, someone would pop up out of the gathered, put the instrument to the ear and talk. We laughed, but in fact the phones were indispensable in locating people on a decentralized and spread-out campus.

Other aspects of the infrastructure were very “low-tech”. Staff and volunteer stewards could be seen transporting reams of documents on hand carts across the campus from Swinton Hall copy machines to the Great Hall, sometimes with the wind whipping and the rain flying. The assembly was overwhelmed with the happy surprise of more attendees than had been expected, with resulting lines - lines for registration, lines for tea, lines for meals, lines at the bank. People were good-natured about it (most of the time!), and in fact some serendipitous meetings occurred in those lines. The WCC staff worked valiantly and creatively through it all.

The assembly was held during the southern hemisphere’s summer rainy season. Many afternoons, the sky would quickly turn from blue to grey. Colourful African textiles in open markets around the centre of the campus would begin waving in the wind. People scurried to find their umbrellas or shelter. And the rain would come. In fact, a violent thun¬ derstorm on 1 December (reportedly the worst in ten years) shortly

22 Harare 1998

before the assembly began resulted in power outages and posed daunt¬ ing challenges to those who had come early to prepare.

As people arrived, workers could be seen constructing thatched huts to accommodate some of the Padare offerings and provide other ser¬ vices. Trenches crisscrossed the campus - the result of a welcome grant to the university enabling it to install a badly needed new computer sys¬ tem. These maze-like mud-lines prompted Leonid Kishkovsky (Ortho¬ dox Church in America) to quip, “This gives new meaning to the phrase, working in the ‘ecumenical trenches’.”

Green-garbed guards were in every building - vigilant, friendly and helpful. Attendees could be identified by the bags they carried sporting the WCC logo - bags which swelled with more and more paper as the days went on. Big blue WCC logos were prominently displayed on buses that obligingly transported about half the participants to a variety of off- campus housing locations.

Huge billboards around the city welcomed the WCC, and more than one delegate could not resist hopping out of a taxi at a rather inconve¬ nient location to snap a picture.

1.13. What does it all mean?

At age 50, the WCC is both venerable and vulnerable. In Amsterdam delegates said they would “stay together”. In Evanston they said they would “go forward together”. In Harare they recommitted themselves to “grow together in unity” and they prayed. They prayed for the Spirit “to pray in us what we dare not pray..., to bind us when we are tempted to go our own ways”. They asked the God of unity and love, “what we say with our lips make strong in our hearts...”

Advance news reports of the Harare assembly heightened anxieties that it could be a messy meeting, fraught with tension and controversy. Such fears were not realized. In fact this was an assembly that reflected a more seasoned, mature, chastened ecumenical movement, still clear (at least in official texts) on the goal of visible Christian unity, but sobered by the challenges and reminded of our dependence on God as we face them. Implicit in the actions of delegates was the recognition that the councils of churches movement may be an imperfect instrument, but it is the best we have, and we will try mightily not to abandon it despite all the confusion and struggle.

Getting an overview of anything as diverse and multifaceted as a WCC assembly is a daunting challenge. Words freeze ideas in time and for time. Any evaluative comments so soon after an assembly must be

Introduction and Personal Perspective 23

tentative. The official texts themselves, tested over time by the reception 3f the churches, will reveal the full weight of the assembly’s actions. Mevertheless, some tentative, preliminary assessments may be offered.

1. The churches at the assembly in Harare reaffirmed and renewed fheir commitment to the quest for visible Christian unity. Not all of the delegates may have understood the full implications of this commitment 'I am not sure that any of us can), but they made it on behalf of their :hurches when they considered their “Common Understanding and Vision” and voiced their commitments in the service of recommitment. When our churches are fully reconciled, it will change the ways that we relate, are accountable, and are committed to each other and to the world around us. Churches around the corner, down the block, across town, around the world will see each other with new eyes. For many people, it is difficult to imagine how these new ways of being church together will look. Yet when reconciliation happens in tangible, concrete, visible ways, it can be transforming and invigorating. Councils of churches have an essential role in this journey, serving as ecumenical advocates, reminding, helping, when necessary cajoling the churches towards this goal of visible unity.

2. The assembly reinforced an awareness of our ecumenical interde¬ pendence, of the local in relation to the universal. The assembly made a more intentional commitment for the WCC to work in concert with ecumenical partners such as Christian world communions, national and regional councils of churches, and other ecumenical organizations. It reaffirmed that the ecumenical movement is one. It is whole. Its story belongs to everyone. Its tradition is our tradition. Our churches are a part of it. We have participated in it. We have contributed to it. Its strengths are our strengths. Its weaknesses are our weaknesses. Its strug¬ gles are our struggles. And Christians everywhere will help shape its future.

3. People voiced a longing to make our ecumenical life whole by finding ways of including the full range of Christian churches in their midst - Roman Catholics, Evangelicals, Pentecostals and Indigenous churches. We are not always clear about how best to do this. Not every¬ one who is being invited into the tent wants to come! What might work with one tradition may not for another. What might work in one place may not make sense in another. As the ecumenical tent gets bigger, it stretches our capacity to function together. But this longing is on the right path, and the WCC assembly tried to honour and respond to it. With some appropriate anxieties, WCC delegates supported continuing to

24 Harare 1998

consult with leaders of various ecumenical bodies about the idea of a global forum in which the WCC would be a partner. Such a forum could be held periodically without the responsibilities and commitments entailed in membership in a council of churches. That is one approach. It has its dangers, especially (as some delegates noted) if churches settle too comfortably into this limited commitment as a substitute for the hard work of healing the divisions among the churches. But by this action, the delegates also said that we should not be afraid of experimenting in the ecumenical movement, of trying new things, seeing if they work, mov¬ ing on to something else if they do not, as long as we do not lose sight of the ultimate goal of visible unity.

4. Orthodox churches are speaking with renewed determination and vigour about their concerns in the ecumenical movement, and they are being heard. WCC delegates and staff listened attentively to the doctri¬ nal and ecclesial issues the Orthodox raised during the assembly. Both the moderator and the general secretary addressed these concerns forth¬ rightly in their reports, which helped to defuse some potential problems at the assembly. As a May 1998 statement following a meeting in Thes¬ saloniki explained, some of these concerns included the desire to increase participation of Orthodox churches in the decision-making bod¬ ies of the WCC, and the resistance to issues “alien to their tradition” such as intercommunion with non-Orthodox, inclusive language, the ordina¬ tion of women, the rights of sexual minorities, and certain tendencies related to religious syncretism. The process of change may be confusing over the short run since everyone is used to doing things and thinking about things the way they always have. But the pressing of these issues is a healthy and positive development in the ecumenical movement.

Furthermore, since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, many Ortho¬ dox churches located in countries of the former Soviet Union and other countries in Eastern Europe are experiencing a new freedom at home and abroad which most of their members have not known in their life-times. As Orthodox representatives said in Thessaloniki, “certain extremist groups within the local Orthodox churches themselves... are using the theme of ecumenism in order to criticize the church leadership and undermine its authority, thus attempting to create divisions and schism within the church”. This situation is resulting in uncertainties and reori¬ entations, the implications of which I suspect none of us fully under¬ stands yet.

The assembly approved creation of a special commission to study the issues raised and propose actions that can be taken. This is a positive

Introduction and Personal Perspective 25

ievelopment that could have ripple effects throughout the ecumenical movement.

5. In Harare there was afresh impetus to talk and listen to each other, lo consider new ways of making official decisions, to seek common ground where it can be found, to clarify the sources of differences when lhey are sharp. Some of our disagreements are tough, the resolution mclear. This is true within the churches, so it should not surprise us that t also is true among them. We want changes through the Council that we tre not able to accomplish within our own churches, and then we get exasperated when the churches together through the WCC are not able o deliver them. Patience is a frustrating but essential virtue in the ecu¬ menical movement.

Some of the subjects treated in the Padare raised difficult questions, 3ut I saw in Harare a hopeful reaching for new ways of doing our ecu¬ menical business that reflect more faithfully what it means to be the ehurch of Jesus Christ. We do not really know each other as well as we hink we do. Too often we put people and churches in stereotypical x>xes that are caricatures of reality. The ecumenical movement, at its :>est, helps break through those boxes.

When Nelson Mandela thanked the WCC member churches for the Programme to Combat Racism on that Sunday afternoon journey to ubilee, he said, “Above all, you respected the judgment of the oppressed as to what were the most appropriate means for attaining heir freedom.” In other words, people listened and responded accord- ngly. The dialogical process may seem like it takes a long time, but he assembly affirmed its confidence in and commitment to this Drocess.

6. The integral relationship between the ecclesial, spiritual, prophetic and service dimensions of the ecumenical mandate were clar- fied and strengthened. The Common Understanding and Vision state¬ ment had identified previous bifurcations, observing “a continuing ten¬ don and sometimes antagonism between those who advocate the pri¬ macy of the social dimension of ecumenism and those who advocate the Drimacy of spiritual or ecclesial ecumenism” (para. 2.5). The CUV study Drocess at the assembly sought to encompass these dimensions of the :hurch in ways consistent with the marks of the church in their fullness, for example, as expressed in the litany “Our Ecumenical Vision”. WCC leaders seemed intent, in word and deed, on making visible the coher¬ ence of the classical concerns of faith and order, life and work as expres¬ sions of the one ecumenical movement. They did so through continuing

26 Harare 1998

studies about the relationship between ecclesiology and ethics, the church and the world, the gospel and cultures.

Furthermore, delegates and visitors spoke both informally and pub¬ licly about the necessity of grounding the ecumenical quest in prayer, worship and Bible study - a common core of our Christian spiritual tra¬ ditions. The assertion repeated in the 13 December service of recommit¬ ment that “when we draw closer to the cross of Christ, we draw closer to each other” was echoed throughout the assembly. The whole event was designed to give these three elements of prayer, worship and Bible study a central place informing every aspect of the life and work of partici¬ pants.

7. A radical transformation has taken place in this 20th century which we are about to exit. It has been labelled “globalization ”, and del¬ egates said that the implications of this phenomenon “should become a central emphasis of the work of the WCC”. Through changes in trans¬ portation, technology, communications, economics and finance, the world and its creatures are increasingly interdependent and closely con¬ nected. This fact is part of our lives in new ways. At the same time that ethnicity and border consciousness are on the rise, boundaries we used to take for granted have been transcended. People from all over the world hopped on planes and were halfway around the world on the African continent in hours instead of days or weeks. Some sent e-mails to their friends and family. They heard about threats to Christians in places where they are in a minority, and came home to read in the news¬ papers or see on cable television news about fresh assaults. As the adopted statement “to end the stranglehold of debt on impoverished peo¬ ples” said, “The social, political and ecological costs of the debt crisis can no longer be tolerated and must be redressed.”

It is hard to anticipate what all this means - for good and for ill, espe¬ cially for increasingly interwoven economies, but delegates firmly charted the course for churches through the WCC in these areas.

8. The assembly acknowledged, through the acts of remembering during the Sunday afternoon journey to jubilee , that the ecumenical movement must span the sweep of past, present and future. We are hob¬ bled unless we remember our history. We fade unless we attend to com¬ ing generations.

We have an ecumenical tradition, and it is important. At the same time, by seeking (albeit sometimes awkwardly) to include youth in sig¬ nificant ways in the life of the WCC (including the election of a youth president), the assembly tried to strengthen its commitment to cultivating

Introduction and Personal Perspective 27

new generations of ecumenical leaders. Both are essential elements in the ecumenical quest.

The ecumenical movement is rooted in the very nature of the God¬ head. Thus, the unity of the churches and the renewal of human com¬ munity are not options for the churches. The challenge is to find ways, in all our human frailty and fallibility, with our limited perspectives of space and time and our inadequacies of structure, to do the best possible now - to make it better into the future - to listen and respond together for the word of the Holy Spirit.

A word of thanks!

An ecumenical assembly mirrors the ecumenical movement. Only together can one hope to glimpse the whole picture. Thus, I am espe¬ cially grateful to all who shared so freely their perspectives and impres¬ sions, both during and after the proceedings. Thanks also go to my edi¬ torial colleagues Dafne C. Sabanes Plou (Spanish), Nicholas Lossky (French) and Klaus Wilkens (German). We met regularly to confer about the structure of the report and share perspectives. These associations were stimulating, refreshing and enormously helpful. Colin Davey, Rosemary Green and Margot Wahl served as scribes at the business ple¬ naries, gathering accurate names of speakers and other details sometimes difficult to glean. And we have been aided at every step by WCC com¬ munications staff Evelyne Corelli, Marlin VanElderen, Jan Kok and Elizabeth Visinand.

2. The Theme: “Turn to God — Rejoice in Hope ”

2. 1 . INTRODUCTION

On the second morning of the assembly (4 December), lively African music drew delegates and visitors into the Great Hall for three meditative plenary presentations on the assembly theme. Anastasios, Archbishop of Tirana, Durres and All Albania, explored the implica¬ tions of ‘'anamnesis’' - “remembrance” - for the church and the world, lifting up the importance of anamnesis for the ecumenical movement. Delegates were given some silent time to reflect on his words before turning their attention to the second presentation. Wanda Deifelt, vice¬ rector and professor of systematic theology at the Lutheran Theologi¬ cal Seminary in Sao Leopoldo, Brazil, and a member of the Evangeli¬ cal Church of Lutheran Confession in Brazil, spoke about “metanoia” - “conversion” - naming the ways that Christians need to repent. Fol¬ lowing her reflections selected delegates read, in different voices and in different languages, passages of scripture related to the “jubilee year” (Lev. 25:8-17,39-43). The third meditation was given by Kosuke Koyama, recently retired professor of ecumenical studies at Union The¬ ological Seminary in New York and a former missionary of the United Church of Christ in Japan. He addressed the second part of the assem¬ bly theme, reflecting on how we can rejoice in hope in the face of so much suffering and violence. Delegates then were invited to write down their reflections and bring them into small groups for discussion.

2.2. ANAMNESIS

Anastasios, Archbishop of Tirana, Durres and All Albania

Celebrating, in the upland of Harare, the jubilee of the World Coun¬ cil of Churches, we recall an adventurous march of the Christians at the

Anastasios: Anamnesis 29

end of the second millennium. Assemblies: multiple meetings, struggles, successes, failures, enthusiasm and disappointment. But mainly march¬ ing on. With labour and pain. With vision and expectation. And now we have arrived at a landmark turning point for self-criticism and recom¬ mitment. 1

1 . Thousands of people from every nation and cultural tradition, rep¬ resenting hundreds of Christian communities and millions of people from throughout the world, are gathered at this place. The common link that binds all of us here: a series of remembrances of extraordinary events. But mainly, a specific remembrance, an anamnesis which is the main root of all the others.

A simple reminder of the themes of past assemblies2 reveals not only the conditions and the spiritual starting-point but also the longing of the quest. During these days, we will remember many aspects of this adven¬ turous journey, with a doxological attitude for all the good that God has granted us, and simultaneously with a spirit of repentance for our mis¬ takes and omissions. We will remember the keystones upon which our thinking was based in the previous assemblies: Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, humanity, God; disorder, hope, light, life, freedom, unity, renewal; the world, the whole creation, all things.

This jubilee of the WCC automatically opens to a second large cir¬ cle: the march of the church during two millennia, with all its trans¬ forming presence, but also with its tragic adventures. This history is not a past which has been lost. It is the subconscious of what we experience today. All that we now are has been determined by the events that took place during the past twenty centuries. A community without memory or with intermittent memory is fraught with problems and fragile.

However, this second circle of remembrances is encompassed in a third circle, of enormous dimensions, which embraces the entire world, the whole of space and time. It is for its sake that the two first circles exist. The church steadfastly remains the community that remembers. How God, from the creation of the universe, during the flow of time, has guided, protected and blessed humanity, choosing individuals or entities

1 I shall present my thoughts on the theme anamnesis in eight points, referring symbolically to the eighth assembly.

2 Amsterdam (1948): “Man’s Disorder and God’s Design”. Evanston (1954): “Christ - the Hope of the World”. New Delhi (1961): “Jesus Christ - the Light of the World”. Uppsala (1968): “Behold I Make All Things New”. Nairobi (1975): “Jesus Christ Frees and Unites”. Vancouver (1983): “Jesus Christ - the Life of the World”. Canberra (1991): “Come, Holy Spirit - Renew the Whole Creation”.

30 The theme

who were based entirely on him. “I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord; yea, I will remember thy wonders of old” (Ps. 76 [77]: 11). The church recalls with gratitude and draws power and inspiration as it remembers. “You shall remember what the Lord your God did” (Deut. 7:18) was the order God gave to his people when he guided them from slavery to freedom. Later, this paschal event acquired a new meaning, a perspective and dynamism in the person of Christ.

2. This entire series of remembrances leads finally to the fundamen¬ tal anamnesis which defines our Christian identity : the remembrance of the amazing intervention of God in the life of humanity. The remem¬ brance, in faith and dedication, of the economy of God in Christ through the Holy Spirit determines our self-consciousness. It is from this that all other things begin and draw their meaning.

We know that memory forms a basic psychological mechanism, a complex function that is linked with human self-consciousness and the health of the human person. Generally, it may become less or more vivid. In the former case, it may become a simple, faint remembrance of some faraway past; in the latter, there is a strengthening of the memory through which the past becomes present and defines the future deci¬ sively. The whole of human civilization and all acquired knowledge are based on the ability to organize and take advantage of memory.

This aberration, the decline of memory, brings on a more general breakdown of the personality. I recall the case of a prominent professor at the University of Athens, whose memory was severely damaged in an accident. When meeting with his friends he used to say: “You know, I am professor S., who was one of the best university professors.” It was evi¬ dent that he was in decline. When one loses the ability to remember, one is in a tremendous crisis. Very often, we individual Christians or Christ¬ ian communities resemble people or groups that are severely wounded because we have lost the vivid remembrance of Christian consciousness, or we retain the power of anamnesis only in a very feeble way.

3. The mainstay, which we steadily keep, remains the anamnesis of Christ’s redemptive work which permeates our existence and continu¬ ously transforms it. The anamnesis is not a simple intellectual function; it is an action. It has an incomparably wider spectrum, which includes the element of thought and makes it an existential, personal event. As members of the eucharistic community we recall again to consciousness the economy of God in Christ through the Holy Spirit, the incarnation, the crucifixion, the resurrection of Christ, his ascension, and Pentecost. We live them. We share in them. We do this not through our own human

Anastasios: Anamnesis 3 1

abilities but through the grace of the Holy Spirit, through the uncreated energy of God which accomplishes the sacraments.

“Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 1 1:24), the Lord ordered “on the night when he was betrayed” (1 Cor. 11:23). The con¬ tinuously proceeding divine energy culminates in the sacrament of the eucharist which has for twenty centuries formed the pivot of a Christ¬ ian’s worship. In liturgical language, the term “anamnesis” defines the core of the eucharistic anaphora, the consecrated offering.

Anamnesis is even broader. Beginning with Christ’s words, “take, eat; this is my body” (Matt. 26:26; cf. Mark 14:23, 1 Cor. 11:24) and “drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the new covenant” (Matt. 26:27), it proceeds to the offering, the invocation of the Holy Spirit, cul¬ minates in the sanctification of the holy gifts and their sanctification by the power of the Holy Spirit, and is completed through holy communion, becoming a personal event. Thus, anamnesis becomes an incessant dynamic turning to the triune God, the source of being; a grafting into Christ, a receiving of the Holy Spirit, an orientation that gives meaning to our life and to our march within space and time. Through the renewal of anamnesis the church maintains her vitality and truth.

4. Anamnesis is celebrated in the greatest variety of forms, depend¬ ing on various traditions existing within the cultural frameworks of the peoples in the oikoumene. Some years ago I was in a magnificent cathe¬ dral in an Eastern European town. The cathedral had just been returned to the church after the persecution. The liturgy was sensational, with impressive richness. After the holy communion, sitting in a corner, I recalled the liturgy I had experienced some time earlier in a hut with a straw roof and a dirt floor in an African mountain village. I asked myself: Where would Christ feel more comfortable? There or here? Where is Christ’s anamnesis more authentic? The answer came soon afterwards. There as well as here. Despite the outward differences, the element that determines the essence of the events is the same in both cases. The mys¬ tical presence of Christ, our sharing in his body and blood, the peak which the believers reach is just the same, the anamnesis of the unique event, of the keystone of universal history and the experience of it.

5. Experiencing the anamnesis while celebrating the divine eucharist in a church in the poor fringes of a big city or in a church in Albania ruined by absolute atheistic persecution or in a magnificent cathedral, we stop being isolated in our concrete narrow or more comfortable space. We enter the centre of the most essential events, which concern the whole cosmos. We come to live in the centre of the world’s history, since

32 The theme

we have become united with Christ, the Author and Saviour of the world. Thus, we are redeemed from whatever form of captivity we endure - whether in our wealth or poverty, in our glory or obscurity, in our small or big egoistic shell.

Anamnesis binds us with the world in an essential way. It places us in the centre of the world’s proceedings, of its pains, of its deepest quests. It reminds us that Christ’s work of salvation concerns the entire world; it embraces the whole universe, earth and heaven, “all things”. The church, “which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Eph.l:23), cannot be shut in itself and take thought only for itself. The church lives “for the whole world”. With its prayer, its message, its inter¬ ests, its action, it embraces all the pains of humanity, the exploitation of individuals or groups, the multifaceted oppression of women and chil¬ dren, the local clashes, the global financial unrest and injustice, and deepening ecological threats. The church offers the holy gifts “in all and for all”.

6. Of course, there exists always and everywhere a great danger for the anamnesis to become a mere simple celebration, cut off from life, from everyday action, from our wider planning. We often share in the liturgy, but nevertheless continue in injustice and among our passions, with egoism defining our life. Anamnesis does not act in a magical way. It needs to have an uninterrupted extension within life, to fertilize it, to radiate through our behaviour, to offer criteria for our plans, to illumi¬ nate our decisions, to support our acts. All of us who share consciously in the liturgy, the remembrance of the cross and the resurrection of Christ, must return to our daily routine in order to continue another type of liturgy, “a liturgy after the liturgy” (a motto proposed in Etchzmiadzin in 1975) on the daily altar of our personal responsibility, to perform our duty in the local setting, looking with a universal perspective.

All the ptoblems that worry humanity today in this new period of globalization, all the issues that concern us in the ecumenical movement, are illuminated by this anamnesis with a particular light - the light of Christ s truth, love and sacrifice; with a quiet optimism, as defined in the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-12); with the decision for a sacrificial diakonia, without being anxious about how we might become a majority, without the anguished pursuit of worldly power.

Anamnesis has a dynamism of metanoia and purification. Various complexities push us into conventional behaviour, into arrogance, into hypocrisy, into various self-centred expectations. Anamnesis brings us back to what is essential and true. Without absolute obedience to the will

Anastasios: Anamnesis 33

of God, without a readiness for sacrifice, without purity of heart, without unselfishness and courageous love, the uniqueness of Christians is lost.

In the ecumenical movement, we are often misguided by such cur¬ rents. We speak about many issues while forgetting the essential element of our identity: living the anamnesis in the certainty that our power does not come from our own projects and decisions, but is found in how God acts in us through his church. Change of mind, change of life, turning towards God - these mean renewal on the basis of the unique and eter¬ nal model which the crucified and resurrected Lord has left us. When we establish our programmes, the starting point, the standard reference, can only be anamnesis, the culmination of the love of God for the world. Experiencing it together with all that follows it makes us living cells of the church, his mystical body. This is what distinguishes us from all other human entities and human organisms, what purifies us from all other dangerous mingling.

7. Anamnesis does not simply refer to the past. It makes present the past and the future. Being a return into the centre of our consciousness, of the work of him “who is and who was and who is to come” (Rev. 1 :8), the eternal and timeless, anamnesis supersedes classical categories of created time. “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor. 11:26). “Remember¬ ing... the second glorious coming” (Liturgy of St John Chrysostom) opens our horizon to the eschata, to what is coming. In the eucharist, the events to come are named “already completed”, because Christ, who is “the offerer and the offered”, “is above space and time and of the char¬ acteristics of the created things” (Clement of Alexandria). This opens our souls towards the end of the world, when all things will be recapitulated in Christ (Eph. 1:9-12).

8. Thus, anamnesis becomes a source of doxology for all wonders the God of love has done within the history of the world, a spring of grati¬ tude “for his inexpressible gift” (2 Cor. 9:15), a fountain of joy and exul¬ tation as we share in the festivity and the triumph of the saints, of those who experienced anamnesis with all their being. Anamnesis offers enlightenment, so that we can stand with respect and authentic love in front of each person and people, before the entire world. It gives us resis¬ tance for the present and hope for the future and determination to face the new challenges that will rise up in front of us.

In this way, anamnesis becomes renewal, an opening of the existence to space and time. It places us in the heart of history and creation - so that we really become truly ecumenical, contemporary and universal.

34 The theme

2.3. METANOIA

Wanda Deifelt

There are times, although perhaps not sufficient, when humanity realizes the need for true conversion, for changing around and starting anew. These moments, in which God breaks into history, not only remind us that we have broken away from the divine, but also that in sinfulness we have essentially lost our humanity. By losing touch with that which makes us human we become insensitive towards the needs of our neigh¬ bours and ourselves.

Metanoia, conversion, makes us come to terms with the ambiguity of human existence: we are saints and sinners at the same time. We have the capacity for goodness and generosity and love. But we also have the potential for evil, selfishness and hatred. In the midst of this struggle, we easily give in to the arguments of self-preservation and maintenance of the status quo. We forget to dare. It is always staggering to realize how easily we as Christians comply with the standards of this world. The pas¬ sion for justice, the capacity to take risks and rehearse more egalitarian relations among us has long been domesticated.

As human beings, we are always at the crossroads between change and accommodation. Yet we also long for a different reality. We miss and feel homesick for something that cannot be reached through our own efforts. This search is better translated in the words of Nelle Morton: “I came to know that home was not a place. Home is a movement, a qual¬ ity of relationship, a state where people seek to be ‘their own’, and increasingly responsible for the world.” This is our feeling towards the reality of the reign of God: a situation of justice, peace, reconnection and reconciliation. We long for something that exists but is not yet fully - a reality that can only be established through God, in Jesus Christ and with the power of the Holy Spirit, that will bring us home.

Thus, as prodigal children returning home, we repent. We repent, first, of the way we perceive God. Chico Cesar, a Brazilian song-writer and musician, sings with his Afro beat: “There are people who don’t leave God alone, who treat God as their personal employee. These people are the devil and make God’s life hell.” We repent of our attempts to domesticate God and define God’s greatness with our lim¬ ited language and experience. We confess that we use God’s name to justify human affairs. Thus we pray: “ Your will be done in heaven as it is on earth.”

Deifelt: Metanoia 35

We also repent of the way we perceive our fellow human beings. According to the Genesis narrative, God created male and female in God’s image. All human beings reflect the divine image, independent of class, race, caste, gender, age or sexual preference. If we look into each other’s eyes, we can catch a glimpse of the divine. When human relationship is broken, we can no longer face each other, look into another person’s eyes. Either we look from above, in a position of power, or we look from below, as we experience powerlessness. To look into the eyes of another human being is to occupy the same space and stand as equals. Metanoia is conversion to otherness. The strange and unfamiliar are placed under the protective wings of God, under the cross of Christ.

Thus we are invited to live out our solidarity with one another, being the extended arms of Christ in all-encompassing embrace. We are asked to be in solidarity with AIDS victims. There are now more than 33 mil¬ lion people in the world infected by the HIV virus, and in Africa alone there are 22 million. Half of the HIV-infected are between the ages of 15 and 24, leading us to think about the future of our youth. We are asked to repent of our passivity towards famine, war, the massacre of indigen¬ ous populations and the death of millions of children who do not have access to adequate drinking water or health care.

As we approach the end of the millennium, it is with shame that we look at the economic disparities among human beings and nations. Waste and scarcity are neighbours. On the one hand, there are a few people flooded by the amount of material things they acquire; on the other, there is a multitude of dispossessed, whose life is defined as “less”: jobless, landless, homeless, voiceless, powerless - in short, everything that makes the poor person less than a human being.

It is said that the 20th century is the great century of women. Never before now have so many women had as much access to legal rights, education, property, leadership in church and society. The World Coun¬ cil of Churches even declared 1988-98 to be the “Ecumenical Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women”. However, women and girls con¬ tinue to face the hardships of discrimination, violence, prostitution, mutilation and rape. In many cultures and societies women are still not perceived as full human beings, with potentials to develop and gifts to share, as children of God called into communion. From the Decade reports, it is questionable whether this was really a decade of solidarity of the churches with women, or if it was a decade of solidarity of women with other women.

36 The theme

We repent of the way we perceive nature and treat God’s creation. We recognize how little effect our gestures towards a more hospitable envi¬ ronment have had, in light of the pervading omnicide that kills not only human beings, but animals, plants and the whole ecological system. We presume that, as human beings, we are at the centre of creation, having been given power to subdue and dominate the earth. However, we are co-dependent. After all, God did not even have a separate day for the cre¬ ation of humanity but made Adam in the same day and right next to “cat¬ tle and creeping things and beasts” (Gen. 1:24).

Although we include repentance in our worship, do we really grasp its meaning? Many of us feel “clean” because we have done nothing wrong. Sometimes, however, we sin not by what we have done but by what we have left undone. We sin by omission, not only by commission. Let us not wash our hands like Pilate, and pretend that our cleanness is purity of heart. Instead, let us dare to prophesy and to get dirt on our hands: the dirt of the slums, of the poor people, of the children who sleep on the streets, of the teenagers who are thrown into prostitution by sex tourism, of drug addicts who find no meaning for their lives. Let us risk getting dirt on our hands by reaching out and holding the hand of the other, the one who displaces us from our truths and certainties. Then we will realize that the other is the holy with the face of God.

Thus, we turn to God, to the divine in us, to the divine in others and to the divine in nature. Turning to God is also turning towards humanity and acknowledging the suffering, pain and death that mark our times. Metanoia brings tears to our eyes. We recognize how fragile human beings are, how much we need God’s grace and love. The Spanish poet Leon Felipe, after his life-long exile in Mexico, wrote on the occasion of his 80th birthday about the courage of reaching one’s limit with tears in one’s eyes: “When my eyes reach it, the function of my eyes will no longer be of crying but of seeing. All the light in the universe, the divine, the poetic, that which we seek, we will see though the window of some shed tears.”

We see the world through our tears. To see with tears in our eyes is to recognize that we can see only partially: we stand on the side of those who are suffering. To see with blurred eyes is not to be absent from this world. Like Mary Magdalene, weeping outside the tomb. Her shed tears identified her with the one who was persecuted, and died on the cross. To weep for and with the suffering is to place ourselves on their side, and to suffer the consequences of that position. It is to announce, with Paul, that death does not prevail, but the integrity of God’s creation, through resurrection.

Deifelt: Metanoia 37

As a foretaste of the feast to come, we call upon the people to turn to God and rejoice in hope, testifying here and now that signs of the reign of God are already present in our midst. The kingdom of God does not exist because of your effort or mine. It exists because of God. We as Christians are invited to be signs of this kingdom in our midst, being the prophetic voice of our times. What message do we give to the world when Christians cannot speak with one voice against the injustices of our times? Why do we as Christians spend so much time and energy on the issues that separate us as individuals and as churches? Our times demand a much stronger statement from us: they demand that we take risks and be passionately in love with life, and life in abundance.

When the World Council of Churches was started, fifty years ago, the issues to be addressed were clear. Reconciliation and reconstruction after the two European wars of this century was an imperative. It was a time for healing, for repairing the injustice towards those persecuted under the Nazi regime. Nowadays, as much as in that time, we need prophetic voices, voices of reconciliation and vision towards the future. However, with much regret, we realize that prophesying has gradually been replaced by profiteering. Sometimes, profits are much more valued in our churches than prophets are, and the cooperative spirit among our¬ selves has given place to competition. For this, we as churches should also repent.

God breaks into history to be crucified. As Christians, we see the world from the perspective of Christ on the cross. We see the world with tears in our eyes because we feel the pain and the suffering of the world. Nothing can be more radical than saying “I believe in Christ” while standing at the foot of the cross. This is the deep commitment of God with humanity, a God that does not turn God’s back on us or judge us according to our merits, but finds us where we are and reaches out a gra¬ cious hand to embrace us, inviting us back into fellowship.

The crosses made in El Salvador symbolize this new dimension of reconnecting to God and the others. In lively colours, they show God’s presence in the midst of the poor, the simple and the outcast. The suffer¬ ing of Christ makes it possible for us to repent and say: no longer is suf¬ fering acceptable. We can celebrate the fruits of reconciliation with God and one another as we would savour the first fruits of a harvest. The fruits of repentance are justice, freedom, peace, equality, respect and dig¬ nity for all of God’s children. So, then, we are invited to turn to God - confessing our sins and setting the path of justice straight again - and to rejoice in hope.

38 The theme

2.4. REJOICE IN HOPE

Kosuke Koyama

“Rejoice in Hope.” How strange this sounds! How are we to “eat” this message (Jer. 15:16)7 We live in a world so shattered and broken by violence. The “whole inhabited world” (oikoumene) is full of the des¬ perately poor, starving children, people uprooted from their homes, and innocent victims of war and ethnic conflict. The threat of nuclear extinc¬ tion still hangs like a cloud on our horizon and our planet is in the grip of an ecological crisis. How can we rejoice in hope?

Our everyday perception of joy and hope fails to comprehend the mystery which surrounds this message of hope in which we can rejoice. The mystery is of a compassionate God who embraces the world. The more desperate the world becomes, the more intimate and determined becomes the life-sustaining embrace of God. This is our faith. This is where we stand. “Rejoice in hope” rings out “throughout the land to all its inhabitants” from the compassionate God (see Lev. 25:10). We hear God’s word: “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground” (Ex. 3:5). The whole world is now holy ground. We remove our sandals. Grace is barefoot.

Our thoughts turn to Jesus Christ, who himself was homeless. “... The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:58, 2:7). God’s embrace of the world has become passionate in this homeless Son of Man. No one is more homeless than the crucified Jesus. Jesus - crucified - barefoot - the shattered, broken Christ - speaks to the shattered, bro¬ ken world. The cross is the most holy ground before which the very san¬ dals of God are removed. “O sometimes it causes me to tremble, trem¬ ble, tremble. Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” In this evangelical space “we may be knocked down but we are never knocked out!” (2 Cor. 4:9, J.B. Phillips). This space is nurtured and maintained by the Spirit of God whose name is Compassion. This is the space in which the eighth assembly of the WCC, by the grace of God, finds itself.

The call to “rejoice in hope” begins with the “impassioned God” (Ex. 20:5, Jewish Bible). There is a painful relationship between the world and this God who embraces it. Through the ancient prophet Hosea, God says: “My mind is turning over inside me. My emotions are agitated all together” (1 1:8, Anchor Bible). Israel is found to be unfaithful. But God refuses to give her up. The world is unfaithful. But God refuses to give it up. God is caught in a dilemma. God is in distress, a distress sharpened

Koyama: Rejoice in Hope 39

3y love. The mystery of our theme, “rejoice in hope”, is hidden in this extraordinary story of God’s inner life.

Is hope related to the future? Yes. But even more it is related to love, dope is not a time story. It is a love story. “We shall overcome someday ” neans “we shall overcome by the power of compassion ”. The gospel lares to place love above time. All the healing stories of the gospels, and ultimately the confession of the faith that “the third day he rose again Tom the dead” (the Apostles’ Creed), point to this awesome truth. Hope s impassioned by love as is every healing word of Jesus. “Stand up, take /our mat and go to your home” (Mark 2:11). Remember! The one who ;ays this is homeless, and he embodies fully the God who embraces the vorld. How impassioned the whole situation is! If God is found in sheol “cold storage”) as the Psalmist says, then sheol will melt in the heat of he compassionate God (139:8). Was not the Birmingham City Jail made lot by the impassioned hope of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr when he was mprisoned there? What is hope if it is not inspired by love? What is the leld of love if it is not the whole inhabited world? Hope is a hot love itory.

Is hope about that which is not seen? Yes. “Hope that is seen is not lope. For who hopes for what is seen?” (Rom. 8:24). “Although you lave not seen him, you love him...” (1 Pet. 1:8). But hope is rooted in ‘what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have ooked at and touched with our hands” (1 John 1:1). What is love if it emains invisible and intangible? “Those who do not love a brother or lister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen” 1 John 4:20). The devastating poverty in which millions of children live s visible. Racism is visible. Machine guns are visible. Slums are visible. Starved bodies are visible. The gap between the rich and the poor is glar- ngly visible. Our response to these realities must be visible. Grace can- lot function in a world of invisibility.

Yet, in our world the rulers try to make invisible “the alien, the )rphan, and the widow” (Jer. 7:6; see Ex. 22:22, Ps. 82:3, Mark 12:40, fames 1:27), and the “hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick and impris- )ned” (Matt. 25:31-46). This is violence. The gospel insists on visibility - the emaciated bodies of starved children must remain visible to the vorld. There is a connection between invisibility and violence. People, >ecause of the dignity of the image of God they embody, must remain ieen. Faith, hope and love are not vital except in “what is seen”. The ecu- nenical movement seeks the visible unity of the churches. Was not God visible in Jesus Christ (John 1:18, 14:9)? The gospel sees the mystery of

40 The theme

salvation in what is seen. Religions seem to raise up the invisible and despise what is visible. But it is the “hear, see, touch” gospel that can nurture the hope which is free from deception.

The one God embraces the one world which speaks more than 7000 dialects and languages. God is open to all cultures and nations. “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my heritage” (Isa. 19:25). How many languages does God speak? All of them! No people can speak an isolated language, and have an exclu¬ sive self-identity. All peoples are webbed. The church is in the world and the world is in the church. God’s word to the church is God’s word to the world. There are no “two words” of God, one for the church and another for the world. The one world listens to Christ’s words to “the goats” and to “the sheep” (Matt. 25:31-46). In the hearing of the one world Jesus exclaimed: “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning” (Luke 10:18). When God embraces this one world with compassion, the world becomes “upside down” (Acts 17:6). What a commotion!

Listen to Jesus’ commotion-filled parable: “But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). A running God! What can we make of the Centre God who runs out to the periphery? While we are puzzled, the periphery becomes the centre! The light shines from the periphery, not from the centre. From “the stone that the builders rejected” comes salvation (Mark 12:10). What an unexpected commotion! “Quickly, bring out a robe — the best one - and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet... And get the fatted calf... Grace causes commotion, not tranquillity. The church is the body ol Christ who runs to welcome the broken world. Our hope, by nature, is not tranquil, it is commotion-ful. The apostolic “rejoice in hope” is known in this world turned “upside down” by the running God.

It is the task ol theology to paint this grace-impelled commotion — to make it visible. Ministry is to “bring out a robe, quickly”. The commo¬ tion-event ushered in by the coming of Jesus Christ is the gospel. The commotion is not pain-free. The followers of Christ can have different views and convictions about some of the issues that confront us today, even while they participate together in sincere Bible study and devoted worship. With sincerity and devotion we are called to place our views and convictions under the light of the compassionate God who embraces

the world. In theology and in ministry, we must become “barefoot” and “homeless”.

Koyama: Rejoice in Hope 41

“Rejoice in hope” says the homeless apostle (Rom. 12:12; 1 Cor. 4:11). He continues: “extend hospitality to strangers” (Rom. 12:13). He is in line with the ecumenism of Jeremiah: “Seek the welfare of the city... for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (29:7). The gospel of the Compassionate Spirit admonishes us to rejoice with the strangers, with the world. The world is not just “goats”. “See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves” - this is not an absolute, fixed truth (Matt. 10:16). The Spirit of God embraces the world of the “goats and sheep”. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near” (Mark 1:15). To rephrase John’s gospel: “God came to what was God’s own, and God’s own received God joyously!” (see 1:11). This is the sub¬ stance of our rejoicing in hope. The rejoicing of a private and exclusive community fails to invite all to hope. That is not the gospel. Hope with all creation, and rejoice with all creation! What a far-reaching horizon (Ps. 139:7-10)!

This horizon is not a hallucination. For God no one is a stranger. Every person - whatever his or her cultural, religious, racial, political identity - is known to God as an irreplaceable and incomparable person. This is the root of God’s wholesome ecumenism. But when our actions say “I am not my brother’s keeper” (Gen. 4:9) - the clearest most under¬ standable expression of sin - we treat God as a stranger. To say “I am not my brother’s keeper” is to look upon others as pollution. This destroys the foundation for hope for the world. “Rejoice in hope” is to “love your neighbour as yourself’. If hope is not experienced now, it may not be experienced in the future.

We cannot love our neighbours unless we are open to being loved by our neighbours. We cannot extend hospitality to strangers unless we accept hospitality from strangers. The gospel upholds this two-way traf¬ fic. One-way traffic breeds self-righteousness, “...a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head”. Deeply impressed by this hospi¬ tality - even as it causes a considerable commotion among onlookers - Jesus accepts and commends her. “Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her” (see Mark 14:3-10).

“Rejoice in hope” is an “upside-down” possibility. It lives today in the commotion caused by grace. The biblical mystery is not tranquil. It is impassioned. It is about the homeless Jesus who embraces everyone by going to the periphery. Therefore, cantate domino , for “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

3. The Work of the WCC: Past, Present and Future

3.1. INTRODUCTION

One purpose of an assembly is to receive and respond to an accounting of what the churches have done together through the WCC since they last met. The report From Canberra to Harare was included in advance materials mailed to delegates. This 53-page text, which included illustrative photographs, gave highlights of the work of the General Secretariat and the four units of the WCC (unity and renewal; churches in mission - health, education, witness; justice, peace and creation; sharing and service). On Friday, 4 December, delegates heard reports from the moderator, the general secretary, and the Finance Committee. On Monday, 7 December, delegates were invited to attend a hearing on one of the units or the General Secretariat. Members of the Programme Guidelines Committee were distributed among the hearings, enabling them to prepare the part of their report assessing the work of the WCC in these areas since the Canberra assembly.

3.2. REPORT OF THE MODERATOR

Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia

1. As we meet today as the eighth assembly of the World Council of Churches, my mind goes back to the second assembly of the WCC in Evanston, in 1954. Meeting at a time of fear and despair, and confronta¬ tion between East and West, the Assembly made an urgent appeal to the churches and the world “to turn from our ways to God’s way” and “rejoice in hope”.1

' yisseEEH?°ft’ ed-’ The Evanston Report: The Second Assembly of the World Council of

Churches, 1954, London, SCM, 1955, p.l.

Aram I: Moderator’s Report 43

These words are more than appropriate 44 years later at this critical point of history as we come together under darker clouds of uncertainty and hopelessness, in a world threatened ecologically, spiritually and morally, to challenge the churches and the world to “Turn to God - Rejoice in Hope”.

2. Unprecedented and far-reaching changes have marked the history of humankind since we met in Canberra (1991). Ideologies have col¬ lapsed, barriers have been destroyed, apartheid has almost disappeared. Yet, the end of the cold war has not ushered in a new era of justice, peace and reconciliation. The world remains broken, divided, threatened. These radical and rapid changes and the emergence of complex realities have had direct repercussions in the life and witness of the churches, the ecumenical movement and the work of the WCC.

3. In fact, the period extending from Canberra to Harare has been marked for the Council by a number of significant programmatic achievements, a considerable growth in the membership of the Council, acute financial instability and multiple and diverse challenges coming from the churches and societies. In spite of enormous and unpredictable difficulties the Council has carried out its work with a profound sense of responsibility and accountability within the mandate given by the Can¬ berra assembly. Before I turn to the actual work of the Council, I invite you all to remember, in a moment of silent prayer, the “great cloud of witnesses” who, coming from different churches and regions, brought their important contributions to the promotion of ecumenical values and goals. These ecumenical witnesses will always remain with us in our common ecumenical pilgrimage. The work of the Council is an indivis¬ ible whole to which each person or body brings active participation and makes a specific input. At this point, I would like, on behalf of the vice¬ moderators and myself, to express my sincere thanks and deep appreci¬ ation to the former general secretary, Dr Emilio Castro, to the present general secretary, Dr Konrad Raiser, to all members of the outgoing cen¬ tral and executive committees, to commissions, committees, working groups and Council staff who have significantly contributed to the implementation of programmes and policies set by the Canberra assem¬ bly.

4. The central committee has been the magnet around which the Council’s life and programmatic activities are organized and developed. Since Canberra, the central committee has met five times. The attend¬ ance at these meetings, each of which had a flavour of its own, was excellent and participation was serious. The WCC is a council of

44 The work of the WCC

churches. The member churches, through their delegates, elected us to implement their decisions. The Council’s role is to be the churches’ ser¬ vant. Therefore, the assembly is the proper context in which to give account of our work and to analyze the Council’s stewardship. In fact, our long and complex journey from Canberra to Harare cannot be con¬ densed in a brief moderator’s report. The report From Canberra to Harare and the Assembly Workbook provide a full and illustrated account and a helpful overview of the life and activities of the Council over the past seven years. Through an intensive process of hearings as well as through the Padare you will be given ample opportunity in these days to assess the Council’s work in all its dimensions, aspects and manifestations.

5. My report will be composed of two parts. In part I (paras 6-46), I will evaluate critically the programmatic work of the Council by high¬ lighting some key areas of involvement, indicating the emerging trends, and spelling out their impact on member churches. In part II (paras 47- 71), I will discuss the significance of the 50th anniversary of the forma¬ tion of the WCC, and the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and I will attempt to bring into focus some of the chal¬ lenges and perspectives emerging from these two jubilees for the life of our churches and for the future of the ecumenical movement. And, as a conclusion, I will share with you a few personal thoughts pertaining to the theme of this assembly to discern our ecumenical journey.

I

KEY INVOLVEMENTS AND EMERGING TRENDS

6. The process that came to be known as “Towards a Common Understanding and Vision of the WCC” (CUV), embarked upon in 1989, became the major initiative of the period under consideration. It led the Council into two comprehensive processes of internal restructuring and programmatic prioritization. The first restructuring took place in 1991, right after Canberra, and divided the programmatic work of the WCC into tour units: Unity and Renewal; Churches in Mission - Health, Edu¬ cation and Witness; Justice, Peace and Creation; and Sharing and Ser¬ vice. For historical and methodological reasons each unit divided into what were variously called teams, streams or desks. Units were urged to work in a collaborative and integrated fashion while maintaining their

Aram I: Moderator's Report 45

specificities. Almost six years of full experimentation and concrete ex¬ perience revealed the deficiencies of the structure in light of the major changes that have taken place in the life of the churches. This reality, combined with a significant drop in the Council’s income, led the WCC to a second restructuring within the process of the CUV. At its last meet¬ ing in 1997 the central committee endorsed the proposed structural changes, together with constitutional amendments, for the assembly’s approval. It is important to note that one basic question motivated both these attempts at internal restructuring: How can the WCC as an instru¬ ment of the ecumenical movement best serve the churches in their con¬ tinuous search for visible unity and in their common witness in a rapidly changing world? This same concern has also determined, sustained and oriented the programmatic work of the Council.

Towards a fuller and more visible koinonia

7. The search for fuller and visible unity remains at the heart of the ecumenical movement, and a major goal for the WCC. At Canberra, the assembly adopted a statement describing the unity of the church as koinonia which is God’s gift and calling, and considering the church as the foretaste of this koinonia with God and with one another. The fifth world conference on Faith and Order (Santiago de Compostela, 1993) explored the meaning and implications of koinonia for the life and work of the church, focusing on “koinonia in faith, life and witness”. The con¬ ference, which drew participants from every continent and ecclesial tra¬ dition and which had been prepared through a series of regional consul¬ tations on the theme, also explored steps towards the visible expression of koinonia in the life of the church and identified the theological and practical implications of living in communion.

8. In the light of the search to manifest a fuller and more visible koinonia, Faith and Order prepared a convergence document on “The Nature and Purpose of the Church”. This issue is fundamental, for our differences in this area hinder the growth towards a more visible koinonia. This document explores further the understanding of koinonia, which means “to have part in”, “to participate”, “to act together” and “to be in a contractual relationship involving obligations of mutual account¬ ability”.2 In the future. Faith and Order should explore how to engage the churches in work that draws more on contextual as well as confessional

2 The Nature and Purpose of the Church: A Stage on the Way to a Common Statement , Faith and Order paper no. 181, forthcoming, para. 52, p.25.

46 The work of the WCC

expressions of what it means to be church. Furthermore, we are respon¬ sible for strengthening each other as we seek to be faithful to the gospel in diverse situations. The understanding, as developed in the CUV document, of the WCC as a fellowship of churches is an invitation to the member churches to manifest such solidarity and accountability.

9. But how do the churches understand the gospel and articulate it? Different emphases, which have sometimes alienated one tradition from another, are in part derived from different ways of reading the gospel and the history of the church. In struggling for a fuller and more visible koinonia, it has been important to seek convergence in methods of inter¬ pretation, including contextual methods of understanding and articulat¬ ing the Christian faith. The search for fuller koinonia also requires an appreciation of the structure, meaning and symbols of worship. In fact, during this period Faith and Order has reflected, with liturgists, on the basic patterns of worship (both eucharistic and non-eucharistic) which are shared by an increasing number of churches today, on the issues involved in inculturation of worship in local contexts, and on the ethical implications of worship, especially baptism. This work will certainly help diverse Christian traditions recognize one another’s worship as an authentic and faithful expression of prayer and praise to the triune God.

10. As the fifth world conference on Faith and Order affirmed, there can be no concern for the unity of the church which does not take engagement in the struggles of the world seriously. Faith and Order in conjunction with Unit III has explored, through the Ecclesiology and Ethics study process, the implications of koinonia for engagement in issues of social ethics. I believe that such commitment is intrinsic to the life of the church. Applying our faith to crucial issues facing humanity and the world today is not an optional “extra” for the churches, but a matter of faithfulness to the gospel. And as Christ calls us to be one, he calls us to a common engagement in the ethical, social and economic issues of today. This common engagement is not always clear or com¬ fortable; it may offend sensitivities and create tensions, and test our resolve “to stay together". Thus “a costly unity requires a costly com¬ mitment to one another”.3 This calls the churches to mutual trust and accountability. Koinonia must be undergirded and strengthened by an ecumenical spirituality that affirms the centrality of praying with and for each other, embracing each other even in our differences. This ecumeni-

3 Thomas F. Best and Martin Robra, eds, “Costly Commitment”, in Ecclesiology and Ethics: Ecu¬ menical Ethical Engagement , Moral Formation and the Nature of the Church, Geneva, WCC Publications, 1997, para. 17, p.28.

Aram I: Moderator's Report 47

cal spirituality, which the Council has started to explore, must be further developed.

Ecumenism and proselytism cannot co-exist

11. Through the years, the Council has repeatedly spelled out the intrinsic relationship between mission and unity, witness and ecu¬ menism. It is a matter of utmost gravity for the ecumenical movement and the WCC that proselytism continues to be a painful reality in the life of the churches. Ecumenism and proselytism cannot co-exist. Prose¬ lytism is not only a counter-witness, it is a negation of fundamental theo¬ logical and missiological convictions.

12. We are all aware that the situation produced in Eastern Europe and in the former USSR countries following the collapse of communism has become particularly urgent for the ecumenical movement. In all major ecumenical meetings since 1989, we have been reminded that the new freedom for churches to express and develop their witness openly not only presented unforeseen opportunities to the local churches, but also to scores of foreign mission groups and sects directing competitive missionary activities at people already belonging to one of the churches in those countries. The re-emergence of tension between the Orthodox churches and the Roman Catholic Church concerning the Eastern rite Catholic churches is another case in point. So the question of how to rec¬ oncile our history and overcome mutual ignorance and distrust has also become a fundamental ecumenical concern in our time. Though the situ¬ ation of Eastern Europe is particular, it is by no means unique. Recent years have seen an increase of aggressive evangelism and competition in mission in an almost free-market spirit in many other areas of the world as well. We can be grateful for the regeneration of mission in numerous local contexts, yet we cannot turn a blind eye to the damage inflicted to the unity of Christ’s church by different expressions of proselytism.

13. In the face of a myriad of new and complex situations and com¬ plaints, the Council organized fact-finding team visits to Eastern Europe and held a major consultation on Uniatism in Geneva. The central com¬ mittee in 1991, in its turn, recommended that the issue of proselytism and common witness be studied further. Unit II embarked on a broad consultative study process that incorporated the work of the Joint Work¬ ing Group (JWG) and involved churches, mission agencies, the evan¬ gelical, Pentecostal and charismatic constituencies, theologians, missiol- ogists and local congregations. New impulses were given to this study effort by the conference on world mission and evangelism (Salvador,

48 The work of the WCC

Brazil, 1996), and the CUV process. This led to the formulation of a statement called “Towards Common Witness: A Call to Adopt Responsi¬ ble Relationships in Mission and to Renounce Proselytism”. This docu¬ ment, adopted by the central committee in 1997, while recognizing the facilitating role of the WCC, places the main responsibility for imple¬ mentation with the churches themselves.

Pluralism: a new context for Christian education

14. An analysis of these questions affecting our common life reminds us that one of the principal unfinished tasks of the ecumenical movement is, in fact, ecumenical education at all levels. The Ecumenical Theologi¬ cal Education (ETE) programme of the Council has done significant work in this respect. Not only should ecumenical formation and learning and love and respect for other churches become new priorities for the member churches; it is vitally important that the churches disseminate, discuss, own and uphold the statements on the urgency of common wit¬ ness that have been adopted by the WCC. Maybe the time has come to encourage the churches to do an audit on their degree of knowledge of and commitment to the principles and guidelines they subscribe to in the ecumenical fellowship.

15. Another pressing issue that requires a concerted ecumenical response is the reality of pluralism. Around the world, local Christian communities find themselves surrounded by neighbours of other faiths, cultural traditions, ideological persuasions, or no faith at all. For some churches, pluralism is a relatively new phenomenon, brought about mainly through migration and refugee situations. Others, for whom interfaith co-existence has been a fact of their life for centuries, are ex¬ periencing new tensions due both to shifts in the balance of power among the religious groups and to the rise of fundamentalism.

16. The reality of pluralism and the challenges it presents to the task of Christian education need to be raised up for priority attention by the Council and the churches. How can the churches, through processes of learning and formation, more fully express God’s reconciliation and inclusiveness in the context of pluralistic societies? How can local con¬ gregations be helped to overcome fears and prejudices that lead to the exclusion of strangers? How can Christians be assisted in learning about the faith traditions of their neighbours in an attitude of respect and open¬ ness? What resources are available for improved interfaith relationships?

In this context the Christian formation of the laity remains a continu¬ ing priority for the churches. In fact, the church is the people of God, the

Aram I: Moderator's Report 49

community of men and women. The churches must develop people- oriented educational methodologies by which the local congregation is engaged in a learning process in its contextual setting.

17. During this period, the Council, through Unit I’s Inclusive Com¬ munity stream, and Unit II’s Gospel and Cultures study, Education, and Urban Rural Mission programmes, took a leading role in stimulating reflection and sharing on some of these questions and in encouraging practical collaboration among people of different faiths. In a focused way, it promoted fresh approaches to Christian education in a pluralist context through a programme that developed along two lines: one addressed Sunday school teachers, teachers of religion in schools, edu¬ cators of adults, parish workers, curriculum writers and seminary teach¬ ers; the other addressed women specializing in various aspects of women’s work, professional women, and housewives living in inter-reli¬ gious contexts. Fruitful work was done in a global seminar held in Salatiga, Indonesia, to develop a basic educational resource for learning how to live as Christians in community with people of other faiths. A ground-breaking meeting was also held in Tashkent, where Christian and Muslim religious leaders came together for the first time, to discuss ways of learning about each other’s faith and to set up a process of edu¬ cation and training. The important task of creating opportunities for Christians to grow in conviviality through sharing in day-to-day situa¬ tions and developing inter-religious educational models and approaches lies ahead.

Contextual mission

18. Churches everywhere are called to witness to the gospel in ways that are authentic, both in the sense of being faithful to what God has done in Christ and of being rooted within local culture. In recent decades the plea for authenticity and relevance in mission has been voiced with a greater sense of urgency in ecumenical discussions. The Vancouver assembly asked the WCC to help member churches develop an under¬ standing of the relationship between evangelism and culture in respect of both the contextual proclamation of the gospel in all cultures and the transforming power of the gospel in any culture. Canberra strongly affirmed that the gospel of Christ must become incarnate in every cul¬ ture, and spoke of the need for the churches to recognize how cultures themselves nourish and enrich the gospel.

19. In the past seven years, the Council has made deliberate efforts to encourage reflection and action in the direction of contextual mission,

50 The work of the WCC

understood both as authentic inculturation and contextual proclamation. A number of regionally based consultations on contextual mission and evangelism have been held. These meetings were important occasions for discerning the context, and examining the motives, content and meth¬ ods of mission and evangelism in cultures. Solidarity with and partici¬ pation in the struggles of poor and excluded communities for justice and fullness of life have long been understood as central to the mission of the churches. This work has been developed and sustained through URM.

20. The Gospel and Cultures study and the focus it provided for the conference on world mission and evangelism assisted the churches to witness more authentically within their cultures. This study, undertaken by churches, ecumenical agencies, special groups, theological institu¬ tions and interested individuals in over sixty countries, shed new light on the dynamic and creative inter-relationship between the gospel and cul¬ tures and offered both valuable critiques and important affirmations for the contextual mission of the churches. Where there has not been a suf¬ ficiently profound interaction between the gospel and local cultures, churches are being challenged to take steps to embody the gospel more deeply. In situations where the voice of the gospel has been muffled through powerful forces, or where it has lived too cosily with rampant individualism and consumerist values, or where the gospel has been rel¬ egated to the private spheres of life, the churches are urged to recover the challenge of the Christian message. In fact, the Gospel and Cultures study has helped us not only to focus on the symbols and values of our cultures in relation to the gospel, but to examine the structural realities in cultures that suppress and deny the presence of the gospel. We have been powerfully reminded that the forces of racism, social, economic and political marginalization and the destructive repercussions of glob¬ alization need to be countered with the churches’ resolute witness to the liberating news of God’s inclusive and reconciling love for all people and the whole of creation. I believe that globalization, contextualization and pluralism with all their implications on mission and evangelism must continue to be seriously studied in the coming years.

Towards a holistic healing ministry

21. Churches recognize that they are called by God, through the example of their Lord and by the power of the Holy Spirit, to be healing communities and to be involved in the ministry of healing. In a world that is marked by brokenness through war, injustice, poverty, exclusion and ill health, they are gifted with the possibility of finding healing, for-

Aram I: Moderator's Report 51

giveness and wholeness and to bring these gifts to bear in society. This calling is becoming increasingly acute in the present circumstances, as the displacement of people due to violence or injustice continues on an unprecedented scale, environmental degradation destroys the quality of life, and the combination of a market-driven economy and the abandon¬ ment of health as a priority of public interest threatens the survival and well-being of the human community. Through its programme CMC- Churches ’ Action for Heath , the Council has carried out the specific mandate of equipping, strengthening and enabling the churches to par¬ ticipate fully in this ministry of healing. Key to carrying out this man¬ date has been the basic conviction that spirituality, theology and ethics, justice and advocacy, human rights and the perspectives of women and vulnerable groups, empowerment and capacity-building are interlinked. During this period, highly significant work has been accomplished through seminars, such as the one on “Medicine and Theology: Can They Get Together?”, a series of workshops on community-based approaches and on health and healing in cultural contexts, and special meetings in which specific issues such as human rights and the vulnera¬ ble situation of women were taken up.

22. The Council made additional efforts to foster collaboration among churches, address the question of human-resource development, advocate church perspectives in global forums dealing with health, ana¬ lyze factors that make the operation of church-related health facilities sustainable, and communicate perspectives on the nature of the churches’ ministry of health and healing. The Council’s three-year, broadly based study conducted on HIV/AIDS grappled seriously with illness and health, brokenness and healing in a holistic way. In response to the churches’ appeal for assistance in addressing the pain, fear and ignorance associated with AIDS, a specially convened consultative group designed a process that engaged the areas of theology and ethics, pastoral care and the church as a healing community, and justice and human rights in specific yet inter-related ways. Building on existing work carried out by the churches and relationships already established in the regions and with expert bodies, the study process culminated in the production of an extremely valuable and timely resource for the churches called Facing AIDS: The Challenge, the Churches ’ Response , and a statement on AIDS; this resource was adopted by the central com¬ mittee in 1996. Appropriation of this work continues as churches, agen¬ cies and networks discuss, translate, adapt and critique its findings. The WCC’s work on the healing ministry of the church is comprehensive and

52 The work of the WCC

inter-related. The churches are challenged to bring the full range of their resources to bear on human brokenness, as a sign of God’s desired full¬ ness of life for all. While it will not be possible to continue to conduct programmes in this area in the same style as in the past, the healing min¬ istry of the church, as an essential dimension of the churches’ mission¬ ary calling, should continue to be one of the foci of the Council’s work.

A Decade that generated dignity and justice

23. The Ecumenical Decade - Churches in Solidarity with Women was launched in 1988. This ten-year period was intended to give the churches a space and a time to translate the commitments that have been made to women, since the inception of the ecumenical movement, into concrete action. The scope of the Decade has been wide enough to encompass the concerns and issues of each church within its own life and in its own context. The focus has been on the local and national church, in order to make each church, and indeed each congregation, into a truly inclusive community. It is regrettable that the churches have not been as responsive as was hoped. There have, however, been some important signposts of visible solidarity actions of the churches along the way. We have witnessed some remarkable changes in the last ten years. While all the changes that have taken place cannot be attributed solely to the Decade, there is little doubt that the Decade did contribute to the churches’ impulse to act. In fact, the proactive role of the churches in calling for changes, the growing participation of women in all spheres and at all levels of church and community life, including the decision¬ making, the reactivating of women’s associations to deal with issues related to social and economic justice, increasing concern for violence against women, and emerging similar initiatives and actions in many churches and societies are, indeed, concrete expressions of the impact that the Decade made on the life and witness of the churches.

24. It is important to note that the ecumenical teams that visited the member churches during the mid-point of the Decade have identified, among many others, the following facts:

a) Women all over the world have grasped the Decade as an oppor¬ tunity to become more organized in linking with each other ecumeni¬ cally within countries and across the world. There are many examples of this growing sense of global solidarity among women.

b) The mid-Decade team visits provided an opportunity for women to speak out on issues of deep concern to them. Four issues have received special attention in this process: (1) continuing barriers to

Aram I: Moderator's Report 53

women’s participation in all aspects of the life of the churches; (2) the global economic crisis and its grave impact on the life of women; (3) violence against women, and the growing consciousness that this issue demands the serious and active attention of the churches; (4) racism and xenophobia that are tearing our societies apart and the effect this has had on the lives of women.

c) Often issues related to women have been divisive and have even threatened to tear the ecumenical movement and churches apart. Too often, when women speak up their voices are viewed as being con¬ frontational or as a demand for token representation in power positions. A reading of women’s participation in the church reveals in fact that women are crying for a more responsive church, and a participatory and inclusive community.4

25. The women viewed the Decade as a space in which the churches could welcome the contributions and gifts of women. But have the churches really heard this plea? The WCC has invested an enormous amount of staff and financial resources in the Decade project. What has been its value to the churches and to the ecumenical movement? Despite the gains of the Decade and the ecumenical movement, women have not yet been fully accepted and integrated into the work and life of the churches. What the Decade has achieved is only the beginning of a long process. This assembly will discuss a statement on the Decade and will definitely call the churches to take the matters emerging from the Decade seriously and responsibly in the future.

For an integrated youth engagement

26. The integration of youth and its concerns in the life and work of the Council has been a permanent trend in the history of the ecumenical movement. The fifth assembly gave voice to this concern by stating: “Youth work must have a somewhat autonomous character, structurally located in one particular programme unit, but relating to all units so as to bring the presence of youth fully into the life of the ecumenical move¬ ment.”5 Since then the Council’s Youth office has been located in a unit while its mandate was to ensure that youth work permeate all aspects of the Council’s programmes, the objective being to overcome the tempta¬ tion of placing the concerns of the youth “on a separate island”.

4 Living Letters: A Report of Visits to the Churches during the Ecumenical Decade - Churches in Solidarity with Women, Geneva, WCC Publications, 1997.

5 David M. Paton, ed., Breaking Barriers: The Official Report of the Fifth Assembly of the WCC, London, SPCK, 1976, p.3 1 6.

54 The work of the WCC

27. The internship programme has proved to be a bridge between the Youth team and the hosting unit/programme where the intern was placed. It has helped the different hosting units to discover and integrate the resources of young people into their work, as well as training young people and developing their skills, which in turn makes them ecumeni¬ cal catalysts at their local/national level.

The Gospel and Cultures study involved close cooperation and cross¬ unit engagement between the Gospel and Culture stream and the Youth team over a two-year period. Youth were integrated into this process by participating in: (a) an international planning group and two workshops designed specifically for young people; (b) participation in the Gospel and Cultures drafting group which linked the separate youth events and the overall Gospel and Cultures process; (c) the youth pre-conference meeting held prior to the conference on world mission and evangelism; this meeting brought together many of the youth involved in the process and maximized their contribution to the conference.

28. The recent past has shown that whenever the youth team has cooperated with other teams (Women, PCR, ECOS, CCIA) the experi¬ ence has proved to be meaningful for everyone involved and their respective constituencies. A particular reference should be made in this respect to the Faith and Order work with “younger theologians”, a rela¬ tionship that should be encouraged in the coming years. Following the recommendation of Canberra, the Council committed itself to integrat¬ ing the perspectives of youth into the entire work of the Council. A criti¬ cal evaluation of the work of the units reveals that this mandate was not implemented fully, except in Unit III, the administrative home for the Youth office. This anomaly ought to be redressed in future to enable the youth to enrich the ecumenical movement more fully. The Council needs to take this responsibility seriously if there is to be a new gener¬ ation of ecumenically minded and committed young people in the churches. We need to work together with the youth in order to create new vocations. Only through integrating the young people into the ecu¬ menical journey will we establish a creative and meaningful interaction that may bridge the expectations of the youth with the emerging new ecumenical vision.

Sustainable creation through sustainable society

29. The Canberra assembly was marked by a new awareness of the suffering of God’s creation. The Seoul world convocation on “Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation" (1990) had already called the

Aram I: Moderator's Report 55

churches to a renewed relationship with God’s creation. The Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit raised hopes that sustainable development could foster international cooperation and give humankind a new sense of direction. The UN Earth Summit review last year, however, revealed a lack of progress in addressing issues of poverty, consumption and eco¬ logical destruction. The state of the global environment has not improved since 1992; rather, it has been characterized by rising levels of toxic pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and solid waste. Non¬ renewable resources are still being used at clearly unsustainable levels. New developments in biotechnology and genetic engineering add another dimension to the concern for God’s creation. Opening up new markets for transnational corporations and biotechnological issues are high on the agenda of international trade negotiations and agreements; these activities often weaken farmers’ and Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Clearly, the relationship of globalization and trade to human develop¬ ment and the environment is a very important cross-cutting issue for sustainability and for the attempt to promote just and sustainable com¬ munities.

30. The Council’s work on both theology of life and climate change has deepened our understanding of the link between the sustainability of God’s creation and the quest for a just and sustainable society. Churches and individual Christians play important roles in nurturing this link, cel¬ ebrating God’s gift of life and rediscovering our rich faith resources for responsible stewardship. Lessons learned between Canberra and Harare were summarized in the statement of the WCC’s delegation to the fifth session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development in 1997: “In our work, we are regularly questioning the term sustainable develop¬ ment... Our vision of a just and moral economy places on us the respon¬ sibility to build and nurture economies that put people and the environ¬ ment first... We speak increasingly of ‘sustainable community’ because it implies the nurturing of equitable relationships both within the human family and also between humans and the rest of the ecological commu¬ nity, in other words, justice within the whole of God’s creation.”6 In fact, the vision of the Ecumenical Earth that the Council started to explore through the Theology of Life programme can become a vital contribution to the future of life on earth.

6 Building a Just and Moral Economy for Sustainable Communities: Statement to the High-Level Segment of the 5th Session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development , by the Com¬ mission of the Churches on International Affairs of the WCC, 10 April 1997, New York, pp.1-2.

56 The work of the WCC

Overcoming violence through justice and peace

3 1 . Despite the end of the cold war, war itself has not gone away. Tra¬ ditional wars between states have largely been replaced, as the main source of global instability, by long-term and low-intensity wars within states. These violent conflicts are often based on bitter ethnic and reli¬ gious divisions. The violence has also moved from the battlefield to our streets, our communities, our homes and into our families. Violence is nothing new to humankind. What is new in our century is its nature and scope. People are suffering worldwide from structural violence. The image of violence permeates all sectors of life including the creation. The use of violence has embedded itself in the global culture. The 20th century is marked by the spreading of this “culture of violence”. People are bound together across political and social barriers more by fear and their common experience of violence than by their mutual hopes and aspirations.

32. The churches’ response to the question of violence has been with the WCC since its inception. This is evident in the statement of the inau¬ gural assembly. “War as a method of settling disputes is incompatible with the teaching and example of our Lord Jesus Christ. The part which war plays in our present international life is a sin against God and a degradation of man.”* 7 There has always been hope that with the churches’ growing together in unity, religion would cease to be a factor in the waging of war. Building this strong unity remains a crucial chal¬ lenge for the ecumenical movement. In 1994 the central committee established a Programme to Overcome Violence (POV). The purpose of this programme was to challenge the global culture of violence and to transform it into a culture of just peace. This was a courageous step in the history of the ecumenical movement.

33. The conciliar process for JPIC provided the framework within which the POV was formed. Seoul saw “the concretization of the act of covenanting for JPIC in the commitment to a culture of active nonvio¬ lence which is life-promoting and is not a withdrawal from situations of violence and oppression but is a way to work for justice and liberation”.8 The POV has built on the following insights, developed throughout the last fifty years: (a) peace and justice are inseparably related; (b) under conditions of the nuclear threat, war can no longer be regarded as a legit-

W.A. Visser t Hooft, ed.. The First Assembly of the World Council of Churches, Held at Am¬

sterdam 1948, London, SCM, 1949, p.78.

8 How Is the Time. Final Documents and Other Texts: World Convocation on Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation, Seoul, 1990, Geneva, WCC Publications, 1990.

Aram I: Moderator's Report 57

imate means of interstate politics and conflict resolution; (c) we are called to seek every possible means of establishing justice, achieving peace and solving conflicts by active nonviolence.

34. As a way of giving the POV a sharper focus, the central commit¬ tee in 1996 launched the Peace to the City campaign. The campaign broke new ground for the WCC. It forged active partnerships with groups (Christian, interfaith, secular) that were not part of the ecumeni¬ cal movement, but that were engaged in activities of peace-building and limiting or overcoming violence. While many people are still under the spell of fatalism and resignation, and others resort to violent ways of resolving conflicts and can see no escape from the culture of violence, this campaign has been a sign of hope, a hope not based on proclamation but rooted in the living example of human communities. In the face of the all-pervasive presence of violence in the life of human societies, and with the Council’s limited resources, the POV undoubtedly must remain one of the most ambitious undertakings of the WCC in the period to come.

Sharing and acting together

35. Theological reflections on diakonia have, in the last four decades, played a pivotal role in binding together faith and order/mission and evangelism concerns. Radical changes in the life of the churches and societies, and emerging new realities have led the Council to a holistic and integrated approach to diakonia. The nature and goal of diakonia have been redefined and new models and methods have been developed. The last period was marked by significant developments in the Council’s theology and praxis of diakonia.

From interchurch aid to sharing and acting together

36. Sharing resources is not just a new name for diakonia. It indi¬ cates a major shift from the model of donor and receiver to partners. In fact, partnership has remained at the heart of the Council’s initiatives and programmatic activities, including the whole area of diakonia. Unit IV has constantly and carefully reviewed and updated resource-sharing in its institutional and functional aspects and contextual setting, and the round-table system has been strongly reaffirmed by ecumenical net¬ works as an important mechanism. Certainly there are some cases where the system has not functioned well, but on the whole the round table has provided an ecumenical meeting place where common reflec¬ tion, analysis, joint decision-making and mutual accountability has been

58 The work of the WCC

possible. In the same way, regional groups have met every year to pro¬ vide a platform for partners in the regions to reflect together on the pri¬ orities and strategies for ecumenical diakonia. These groups have been formative in initiating dialogue between partners around the issues of sharing.

37. The Council has sought in this period to analyze critically the quality of ecumenical response in emergency situations. It has broad¬ ened the scope of emergency response so that aid to victims has come to be linked to a longer term strategic struggle for justice. This goal has guided the Council’s diakonia in the most complex situations. Rwanda and Yugoslavia are concrete examples of a comprehensive ecumenical response to complex emergencies. We learned from these situations that an integrated and comprehensive approach cannot mean that everyone involved does everything. It means that we need meticulous coordina¬ tion to enable all involved to play their own part. Achieving such a high level of coordination was the purpose behind the major internal man¬ agement exercise that resulted in the creation of a new Geneva-based emergency response team, Action by Churches Together (ACT) owned jointly by the WCC and the Lutheran World Service. ACT is an expres¬ sion of growing together in partnership. Many churches and ecumenical partners consider it a good model of joint venture.

Towards multi- dimensional and multi-centred diakonia

38. Sharing and acting together implies consistent and organized efforts aimed at capacity-building and empowerment on the local level. This ministry of accompaniment has become integral to the Council’s diakonia of sharing and acting together. Women, children, the indebted, the uprooted and the marginalized were the target groups of this type of diaconal service. The central committee adopted a new policy statement on uprooted people in September 1995. This statement recognizes the common predicament facing refugees, migrants and internally displaced people. It urges churches to familiarize themselves with the new and complex circumstances which are forcing people into this situation and to revisit the biblical principles which stress such values as hospitality, inclusion and dignity towards the stranger in our midst. The central committee also called the churches to mark the year 1997 as the ecu¬ menical year of churches in solidarity with the uprooted.

39. In 1996 the central committee resolved to continue supporting advocacy work and networking for the rights of children with the direct involvement of children’s organizations around the world. The WCC did

Aram I: Moderator's Report 59

not plan to contribute more aid supply to child victims, since many orga¬ nizations exist worldwide for this purpose. The Council’s role was once again to exploit the networking capability of member churches, locally based and globally connected.

One of the root causes of poverty is the debt burden. In 1997, con¬ cern over this issue caused the central committee to call the member churches to deepen their involvement in debt-cancellation campaigns. The concern of the Council on the debt question arose from the knowl¬ edge that more and more people are joining the marginalized and excluded because debt payments are squeezing national infrastructures. This assembly will discuss the question of debt and will make a state¬ ment on this pertinent matter.

Relations with the Roman Catholic Church

40. The Council and the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) continued to build their ecumenical relations and collaboration and reconfirmed their commitment to the one ecumenical movement. The papal encycli¬ cal Ut Unum Sint, emphasizing the Roman Catholic Church’s “irrevo¬ cable commitment” to the ecumenical movement as “an organic part of her life and work”, should be considered as a milestone in the recent his¬ tory of the ecumenical movement. Structured around the key notion of “dialogue”, the encyclical foresees and encourages a “continuing and deepening dialogue”, which can only be conceived as a “dialogue of consciences” and a “dialogue of conversion”. Particularly significant for the WCC and the ecumenical movement, the encyclical spelled out the significance of Faith and Order, recognized that “the ministry of unity of the Bishop of Rome... constitutes a difficulty for most other Christians” and invited “church leaders and their theologians” to “a patient dialogue” concerning the “exercise of this necessary ministry”. Together with the encyclical, two other authoritative documents have articulated the theological foundations and pastoral directions for the ecumenical involvement of the RCC and its relations with other churches and ecumenical organizations. These documents are the Direc¬ tory for the Application and Principles and Norms on Ecumenism (1993) and the Ecumenical Dimension in the Formation of Those Engaged in Pastoral Work (1997). Although these documents address the internal ecumenical life of the RCC, their potential impact tran¬ scends the Roman Catholic Church. They are sources of inspiration for the whole ecumenical community. One of the most significant responses to the CUV process was that of the Pontifical Council for Pro-

60 The work of the WCC

moting Christian Unity (PCPCU), on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church. This response affirms, in the light of the papal encyclical Ut Unum Sint , the common ground of ecumenism, based in the “one ecu¬ menical movement”, the common vision which holds together the churches’ faith, life and witness, and the common calling which is built on the real though imperfect koinonia between the churches. The con¬ cluding remarks of the response highlight the value of the common jour¬ ney as well as the fruits of a sustained collaboration between the RCC and the WCC: “The ecumenical understanding and commitment of the RCC is, in general, coherent with the present affirmations of the WCC member churches and of the WCC as they are expressed in the proposed Vision statement.”

41. Against this background of positive developments and with a clear commitment to a constructive dialogue, the Joint Working Group (JWG) offered its seventh report as an account of fruitful relationships between the Roman Catholic Church and the WCC. Hence various forms of collaboration between the Roman Catholic Church and the WCC, as well as within the broader perspective of the one ecumenical movement, are reported. The JWG also put forward for further consid¬ eration three study documents, particularly significant for the present ecumenical debate: (a) “Ecumenical Formation: Ecumenical Reflections and Suggestions”, (b) “The Challenge of Proselytism and the Calling to Common Witness”, and (c) “The Ecumenical Dialogue on Moral Issues: Potential Sources of Common Witness or Division”.

42. Our collaboration with the RCC through the JWG, Faith and Order, the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism and other¬ wise has been significantly enhanced in the last seven years. There remain a number of issues that must be addressed more deeply and com¬ prehensively, such as the nature, purpose and methods of dialogue, the nature and structure of “authority” and “teaching authority” in the church, the relationship between the church as “local” and “universal”, the importance of regional and national ecumenical instruments, etc. I strongly believe that as we are preparing to enter a particularly signifi¬ cant period in the life of the WCC, a period during which fundamental questions raised by a number of ecumenical partners, not least by the Orthodox churches, will be on our agenda, it will be important on the one hand to build on the experience of previous discussions within the framework of the JWG and, on the other, to attempt to find together with the Roman Catholic Church even more appropriate ways of deepening and enlarging the scope of our collaboration.

Aram I: Moderator's Report 61

Towards financial stability

43. During the last seven years the Council has suffered serious financial upheavals. In fact, recent changes in the economic environment

- the recession in Europe, globalization and market liberalization trends

- have deeply affected the financial context in which the Council has to operate today. Not only have some of our traditional sources of income drastically shrunk, but new regulations placed on “non-profit” organiza¬ tions, restrictive funding conditions and increasingly stringent reporting requirements have all contributed to a more difficult working environ¬ ment for the Council and its staff.

The Council has been given ample notice from its traditional North¬ ern and Western European partners that past levels of activity funding could not be sustained in the future. In response to this situation and based on the assessment of our Finance Committee, the Council must concentrate its efforts in two specific areas: first, it must develop its investment and real estate revenues as a way to decrease its dependence on outside contributions from traditional partners, who are subject to some of the same financial constraints as the Council itself. Second, it must diversify the geographical sourcing of its income, actively seek to reaffirm its links with long-standing ecumenical partners in North America and explore higher levels of income from churches and other partners in the Far East and elsewhere. Third, past experience has shown that the Council’s decision cycle must be shortened and its expenditure level adjusted to incoming contributions on an ongoing basis, thus requiring a change in its financial monitoring approaches and methodologies.

44. In all of these endeavours the financial commitment of the member churches remains a basic factor. In addition to members- ship dues, the member churches are urged to contribute to the pro¬ grammatic work of the Council; otherwise the Council will not be able to recover its financial stability in the near future. Spiritual, intellectual and human resources are undoubtedly essential for the advance of the ecumenical movement. I believe that material resources are equally important, and that they will largely determine the future course of ecumenism. In fact, the financial aspect of our ecumenical work must be given serious consideration. We cannot take any concrete steps forward in our ecumenical journey without the donors, who are our partners, those who support our work, cooperate with us, and accompany us in building a vision for the ecumenical movement.

62 The work of the WCC

* * *

45. These are only a few spotlights on the vast and complex area of the Council’s ecumenical work. Needless to say that the actual work that has been done in the period extending from Canberra to Harare is far beyond what is outlined in these few pages. I would like to conclude this section of my report with a few comments:

a) The programmes and activities of the Council must be related to the basic functions given in the constitution, namely the goals of visible unity, common witness, mission and diakonia. They must be relevant to the needs and expectations of the churches. The Council has reorganized its programmatic work on the basis of this rationale. Furthermore, it has sought to invigorate the interconnectedness of its programme priorities. This commitment and vision have provided a new methodology and style to the Council’s work. However, further efforts must be made along the same lines.

b) Concern for inter-relationship has led the Council to aim for greater coherence and integrity in its work. In fact, a strenuous attempt for a holistic approach has characterized almost all aspects of the pro¬ grammatic activities of the Council. In my opinion, considerable progress has been made and much experience has been gained in this respect. Yet much remains to be done in the future.

c) The programmes of the Council must generate relations and par¬ ticipation', otherwise they become mere activities. I believe that this vital dimension of the Council’s work must be treated more seriously after Harare. In fact, the CUV has given a focal attention to these questions by emphasizing the active participation of the churches and national and regional councils of churches in the work of the Council.

46. The WCC cannot exist without the churches. It must respond effectively to the priority needs and changing conditions of the churches. This will always remain a great challenge for the Council. Therefore, the WCC should consider itself, in a sense, in a constant process of assessing its ecumenical witness, identifying its priorities, restructuring itself, and redefining its vision as a fellowship in relation¬ ship to the local churches. The CUV process is a concrete expression of this concern and commitment. It is with this understanding and in this perspective that I will now attempt to spell out the implications of the 50th anniversary of the WCC and the Declaration of Human Rights for the self-understanding and vocation of the Council as we move to the next millennium.

Aram I: Moderator's Report 63

II

THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WCC: AN OCCASION FOR SELF-CRITICAL ASSESSMENT AND RECOMMITMENT

47. Fifty years ago, at a critical point of human history, a group of churches entered into a covenant committing themselves to witness and struggle together for the unity of the church. They said: “Christ has brought us here together at Amsterdam. We are one in acknowledging him as our God and Saviour. We are divided from one another not only in matters of faith, order and tradition, but also by pride of nation, class and race. But Christ has made us his own and He is not divided. In seek¬ ing him we find one another. Here in Amsterdam we have committed ourselves afresh to him, and have covenanted with one another in con¬ stituting this WCC. We intend to stay together.”9

48. For fifty years we have travelled together on the ecumenical ship. We have faced many storms. We have experienced periods of “hot” and “cold” wars. Confrontation and fear, uncertainty and tensions have become part of our togetherness. None of these trials were powerful enough to drive the ecumenical ship off its course. We have moved for¬ ward together. Our journey has been one of martyria. So many people, men and women, young and old have sacrificed their lives for causes that have become integral to the ecumenical vision. In this ecumenical pil¬ grimage each generation has spoken with its own language, exposed its own views, voiced its concerns, posed its challenges and articulated its own understanding of the ecumenical vision.

49. Have we been faithful to the vision set forth in the message of the first assembly of the WCC? As we look back, we have both much to rejoice in and much to repent over. The jubilee of the Council is an occa¬ sion for self-examination. What can we say in a spirit of accountability and in humility at this decisive turning-point of the history of the WCC? What are we entrusting to the next generation? This is a time of looking back, looking around, and looking forward with a self-critical assess¬ ment. Let me succinctly underscore a few points.

a) The Council offered the churches the context and opportunity to transcend their national ethnic, cultural, theological and political divi¬ sions and give tangible expression to the spirit of togetherness. Distrust, estrangement and misunderstanding were replaced by rapprochement, mutual confidence and better understanding.

9 Amsterdam 1948 , p.9.

64 The work of the WCC

b) The WCC became a fellowship where churches supported, chal¬ lenged and corrected each other in a spirit of mutual responsibility and accountability. Within this fellowship the churches experienced their inherent interconnectedness, they expressed their own individual identi¬ ties and discovered their differences, while always remaining firmly attached to the ecumenical vision.

c) The Council became a fellowship of churches where the member churches reflected and acted together, prayed and shared their spiritual and material resources. Concepts and methodologies of “giving” and “receiving”, which dominated the early years of the WCC, were, with the steady growth of the ecumenical spirit and expansion of the ecu¬ menical fellowship, changed into a real partnership. The Council chal¬ lenged the churches to work and grow together towards a full and visi¬ ble unity.

50. And now, the crucial question: Where do we go from here? The WCC is an instrument, and not a goal in itself. It serves the churches in their common task of taking the gospel to the world and in their common calling to grow together in obedience to the command of Jesus Christ. From its very inception, the WCC has defined itself as “a council of churches, not the Council of the one undivided church”, and as repre¬ senting “an emergency solution, a stage on the road”.10 It remains so. The ecumenical pilgrimage continues with all its progress and setbacks, achievements and failures. It continues with renewed faith, hope and vision. It is irrevocable and irreversible. It cannot expose itself to the risks of dead-end roads or unknown destinations. Its life and witness are conditioned and guided by ecumenical vision. It is vitally important therefore that “on the way” we stop at every signpost to discern the right way to move forward safely.

Common Understanding and Vision of the World Council of Churches (CUV): a process of redefinition and reorientation of the ecumenical vision

51. In 1948, when the WCC was formed, the world was facing tremendous uncertainties and deep anxieties. In 1998 we are not in a bet¬ ter condition. Enormous changes and upheavals that have been taking place in almost all spheres of human societies are impacting intra¬ church, interchurch and church-world relations and the life and witness ot the Council. Crisis has always been with the WCC. This is what I call

10 Ibid., pp. 28-29.

Aram I: Moderator's Report 65

a crisis of growth, which challenges the Council to look and to move for¬ ward. At this moment, however, the Council is more seriously called into question than ever before. Do we, after fifty years of togetherness, still intend, as we stated in Amsterdam, to stay together and, as we affirmed in Evanston, to go forward together ? We wrestled with this burning question all the way from Canberra to Harare. Challenged by member churches and the world’s changing realities, we embarked on the critical process of trying to understand who we are as a Council. What is our specific nature and true vocation? What common ecumenical vision should guide us? The intention of the CUV process was to address these pertinent issues together with the member churches and ecumenical part¬ ners.

52. The CUV will acquire a focal place on the agenda of this assem¬ bly. It is important that we look at this process in the right perspective by taking seriously into consideration the new developments, emerging concerns and realities and changing ecumenical paradigms in the life of the churches in general, and the ecumenical movement in particular. At this point I would like to make a few observations.

a) Institutional ecumenism is in crisis. We are witnessing a remark¬ able outburst of people’s ecumenism in different forms and in different parts of the world. Much of our constituency is disillusioned with the institutional expressions of the ecumenical movement. People, espe¬ cially the youth, do not want to become prisoners of structures. They want to go beyond established systems, methodologies, procedures and agenda. They are looking for fresh air to breathe and wider space to live and to express their ecumenical concerns and convictions. They are cre¬ ating new contexts and opportunities to come together. I strongly believe that the future of the ecumenical movement lies with committed and visionary young people, not with structures and programmes. Hence, unless the churches reown the ecumenical movement, and rearticulate clearly its vision by making it relevant to the life of the people, the ecu¬ menical movement may lose its vitality and sense of purpose.

b) The ecumenical priorities have changed. In its formative years the Council was mainly preoccupied with theological and doctrinal issues. After Uppsala a special emphasis was laid on concerns emanating from the social, economic and political spheres of human life. A realistic assessment of the present ecumenical predicament will point to two basic realities: first, issues related to unity and questions pertaining to society can no longer be treated separately; they must be seen in their dynamic and inseparable interconnectedness. We have achieved this

66 The work of the WCC

insight in the last decade, and should continue to build on it. Second, it is highly probable that moral and ethical issues will acquire growing importance in the ecumenical debate in the coming years. The churches must theiefoie prepare themselves and develop methodologies by which these issues are treated with a realistic and pastoral approach and in an ecumenical spirit, respecting each other’s cultural ethos and convictions.

c) We are faced with a new ecclesial situation. In many regions and confessional families the institutional churches’ membership and their impact on societies are dwindling. People are leaving the institutional churches because they believe that these churches are not able to cope in relevant ways with changing realities. In Africa and Asia, as well as among the Indigenous Peoples, Christians are rediscovering their Chris¬ tian faith within their own cultures. In Eastern Europe and in the former USSR countries with the fall of communism and the establishment of freedom of worship, churches are seeking ways to respond to the new situation. Furthermore, in different parts of the world new types of Christian communities and movements and new forms of religious life are emerging and are challenging traditional churches, structures and theologies. Due to many external and internal religious and non-reli¬ gious factois, schisms and tensions are appearing in many churches. In some regions, church-state relations are becoming critical as the churches grow more and more frustrated with working under the umbrella of the state. All these factors will certainly lead the churches to review and reassess their role in societies.

d) Growing globalization is having a profound effect on the ecu¬ menical movement and the churches theology, spirituality and mission.

It is imposing new structures, values and human relationships on peoples and nations, harmonizing on the one hand and fragmenting on the other The context in which the churches are called to witness is becoming pro¬ gressively more multicultural and multireligious. Furthermore, for many reasons the ecumenical movement is becoming more and more polycen¬ tric, multifaceted and multidimensional. It is being expressed in new ways and forms. All these realities will have tremendous impact on the churches self-understanding and missionary engagement, and will call the churches to spell out more clearly their priorities and develop new missionary norms and strategies.

53. The ecumenical movement cannot claim that it has answers to all of these concerns or solutions to all of these problems. It must admit its weaknesses; celebrate its possibilities but acknowledge its limitations. Now more than at any time, the ecumenical movement is the proper con-

Aram I: Moderator's Report 67

text in which the churches are called to respond together to these new concerns and situations as they pray together, witness together, serve together and work for visible unity. The context and the image of ecu¬ menism are changing, as are the very nature and scope of the ecumeni¬ cal vision. Hence, the ecumenical movement needs a new self-under¬ standing and self-expression and a clear sense of orientation as we move towards the next millennium. I believe that this present critical juncture of the history of the ecumenical movement also offers us an opportunity and a challenge, and that is how the WCC should deal with it.

54. The CUV process was initiated against this background. It should not be perceived, therefore, as a process aimed simply at internal struc¬ tural and programmatic change. The CUV is a serious and integrated attempt, first, to give fresh expression to an ecumenical vision which is faithful to the gospel and responsive to the present conditions; second, to re-emphasize the crucial urgency of visible unity as the major goal of the ecumenical movement; third, to spell out the decisive importance of unity, mission, diakonia and justice as the bases of any rearticulation of ecumenical vision; fourth, to reflect the coherence and integrity inherent in the ecumenical vision in interchurch collaboration, Council-member church relations, and in the Council’s programmes and agenda; and fifth, to encourage the active and responsible participation of member churches in all aspects of the Council’s life. In other words, the CUV reminds us that the Council must become more rooted in and directed by the churches, while at the same time promoting wider ecumenical part¬ nership at all levels of the church, and in all spheres of our ecumenical fellowship. It also helps us to see the ecumenical vision and the pro¬ grammatic priorities of the Council in a broader perspective and in an integrated whole.

Growing together responsibly: a great challenge before us

55. The WCC is not a self-reliant, self-contained and self-sufficient organization. It is the churches in their togetherness. Therefore, the Council has no right to insist upon its self-understanding and agenda. The churches should say what it is, what it should become and what it should do. The CUV was not an internal affair. It was the churches ’ ini¬ tiative. Member churches, the Roman Catholic Church and ecumenical partners participated actively in the process. Furthermore, the CUV was intended to become a continuous process , not a limited attempt confined to a specific period of time and to some concrete areas of the Council’s life and work. The CUV must be seen as the beginning of new compre-

68 The work of the WCC

hensive serious efforts aimed at challenging the churches to embark together on the critical journey of reassessing and rearticulating their common ecumenical vision.

56. In the context of the CUV process, the churches as well as the Roman Catholic Church have strongly re-emphasized the importance of the WCC. Some churches, however, are not fully satisfied with the changes proposed by the CUV. They wish to go beyond. Others want to put the Council back on track since, in their view, the Council is moving away from its central vocation. Recent developments in WCC-Orthodox relations should be seen in this perspective. Any attempt aimed at an objective assessment of the prevailing malaise in WCC-Orthodox rela¬ tions must take into consideration the evolution of Orthodox-WCC rela¬ tions since the inception of the Council and the particular situation that was created in the life of the Orthodox churches after the fall of com¬ munism. Neither the time nor the nature of my report permits me to scru¬ tinize this matter in detail. I would like, however, to make a few obser¬ vations:

a) The Orthodox churches have played an important role in the for¬ mation and expansion of the WCC. They have brought significant con¬ tributions to ecumenical thinking and spirituality; but they have not inte¬ grated themselves fully into the total life and witness of the Council. This approach, which has become a permanent feature of Orthodox- WCC relations, was due, first, to some WCC tendencies and practices that were not compatible with Orthodox tradition; second, to the minor¬ ity situation of the Orthodox churches within the WCC, which is clearly reflected in the composition of governing bodies and decision-making processes; and third, to the ethos and the agenda of the Council, which remained Protestant and Western in spite of the Orthodox presence and participation of churches from different regions. These factors and con¬ cerns created a distance between the Orthodox churches and the Coun¬ cil. Both the Orthodox dissatisfaction and desiderata were expressed by so-called “Orthodox statements” made in relation to major agenda items or on special occasions. The uniqueness of Orthodox theology and spir¬ ituality have been respected. Yet, too little has been done to bring them into creative interaction with the Protestant theology which continues to dominate the Council’s theological language, thinking and methodolo¬ gies.

b) 1 he collapse of communism and the re-emergence of independent states have added a critical dimension to Orthodox participation in the ecumenical movement. In fact, the influx of sects and new religious

Aram I: Moderator's Report 69

movements into Eastern Europe and the former USSR countries, the growing efforts to reaffirm the integrity and identity of Orthodoxy, the church’s concern to find its proper place and role within the society on the one hand, and the controversial nature and perceived irrelevance of some of the Council’s programmatic activities to the life of Orthodox churches on the other hand, have broadened the gap between the Ortho¬ dox churches and the ecumenical movement. They have come to regard the Council as a Western, Protestant and liberal movement in a milieu where Orthodoxy has been trying to reaffirm itself by going back to its authentic roots.

57. In time, the WCC discerned the growing Orthodox frustration and prevailing anti-ecumenical mood, and took a number of concrete steps. These were the restructuring of the Council (1991), setting up a special programme on Christian religious education for Eastern Europe and Central Europe and the former USSR countries (1991), the consul¬ tation on Uniatism (1992), the statement of the central committee on proselytism (1993), etc. However, these Council initiatives did not bring about any substantial change in WCC-Orthodox relations. In fact, fun¬ damental questions that the Orthodox churches were raising touched the deeper layers of the Council’s existence. Thus the Orthodox churches have voiced serious doubts as to whether the CUV would be able to eliminate the root causes of their frustration, and they called for a “radi¬ cal restructuring” of the Council. The leadership of the WCC responded immediately to the Thessaloniki statement (April 1998) of the Eastern Orthodox churches by inviting both Eastern and Oriental Orthodox member churches to a meeting of the mixed theological commission, proposed in the said statement before this assembly. The Orthodox churches felt that they needed more time for preparation.

58. I cannot outline here in detail the Orthodox concerns and demands. I would like, however, to summarize the substance of the Orthodox claim in two points. First, the Council should explore new forms of representation, participation and decision-making which will bring the Orthodox churches out of their minority situation and enable them to play a more active role in all aspects of the Council. Second, the Council, in shaping its programmatic framework, agenda items and con¬ stitutional and structural aspects, must find a way to reflect equally the convictions and sensitivities, traditions and expectations of all member churches.

59. I want to emphasize that while there is no crisis in WCC-Ortho- dox relations, the situation is, indeed, critical. Unless the assembly takes

70 The work of the WCC

this present situation seriously, I fear that the Orthodox participation will steadily dwindle. It is my fervent hope that after the assembly the lead¬ ership of the Council and the representatives of all Orthodox churches will embark on a serious and comprehensive process of wrestling together with all questions and concerns that are hampering a more orga¬ nized and efficient Orthodox participation in the Council. In my opinion, the Orthodox must come with a clear agenda and an open attitude. The churches of the Protestant and Anglican traditions, in their turn, must help the Orthodox to integrate themselves fully in the life of the Council by providing ample space and opportunities to increase the level of their participation. It is time that the Orthodox churches move from mono¬ logue to dialogue, from reaction to action, from contribution to partici¬ pation, from being observers to becoming full partners in the WCC.

60. In Amsterdam the ecumenical pioneers said: “It is not always easy to reconcile our confessional and ecumenical loyalties. We also have much to gain from the encounter of the old-established Christian traditions with the vigorous, growing churches whose own traditions are still being formed. We bring these, and all other difficulties between us into the WCC in order that we may steadily face them together.”11 Dif¬ ferences of opinion, disagreements, tensions and even conflicts will always be part of this global fellowship of multitudinous ecclesial tradi¬ tions, theological teachings, cultural ethos, national and ethnic identities. This is what we have learned in our fifty years of togetherness. We must both celebrate and bear the cost of our difference.

61. Orthodox frustration must be seen in the light of their commit¬ ment to the ecumenical movement. Criticizing the WCC is not being anti-ecumenical. The problem of the Orthodox is not with the impor¬ tance and credibility of the ecumenical movement, but with the rele¬ vance of its agenda, language, methodology and procedures. Some of our member Orthodox churches are not with us in this assembly. Others are not with us the way they used to be. I am sure that we all realize that there is a problem, and that this is not an Orthodox problem but essen¬ tially an ecumenical problem. I believe that we have matured enough in our ecumenical journey together to see our problems and concerns in a broader perspective and in their inter-relatedness. This present situation must help us to know more about each other and to trust each other. I believe that our fellowship in the WCC can no longer be based on a majority-minority relationship. Unless this situation is remedied the

11 Ibid., p.56.

Aram I: Moderator's Report 71

Orthodox will always feel themselves threatened and marginalized. I also believe that we cannot impose our convictions and agendas on each other. We cannot express uneasiness against each other either, when we want to speak out on what we consider to be vital issues. The Council should provide an open space, in which churches engage themselves in creative interaction based on mutual respect, trust and responsibility.

62. The ecumenical movement, which is at a crossroads in a world in rapid transformation, may disintegrate if the churches fail to firmly recommit themselves to the ecumenical goals and vision. The churches can no longer afford to take refuge in their own confessions and to live in self-isolation. They must co-exist; otherwise they cannot meaning- ! fully exist. They must interact; otherwise they cannot properly act. They s must share their experiences and resources; otherwise they cannot grow. Agreed doctrinal statements will not lead the churches to full and visible unity and credible witness; they will merely help them “on the way”. Under the ecumenical imperative, the churches must grow together responsibly. Growing together is, indeed, a costly process. It calls for ; conversion, renewal and transformation. Ecumenism is no more a dimension, a function of the church. It is essentially a mark of what it means to be the church because it affirms and serves the oneness of the church. Ecumenism is no more a question of choice, but the way we respond to the call of God. Therefore, being church means being ecu¬ menical, i.e. being embarked on a common journey. The sign of the ecu¬ menical boat is the cross. We are called to be one under the cross of Christ. This jubilee assembly calls us to reaffirm our common ecumeni¬ cal commitment to grow together and to move forward together in courage and humility, and with a clear vision.

Human rights: a growing ecumenical concern

63. This assembly also calls us to redefine and rearticulate our com¬ mitment to justice, peace and reconciliation. In fact, human rights remain a key factor in any process or attempt aimed at justice, peace and reconciliation. Human rights are integral to ecumenical witness. And what a meaningful coincidence that in this assembly within the context of the 50th anniversary of our common ecumenical witness through the WCC, we are also celebrating the 50th anniversary of our common ecu¬ menical engagement to struggle for human rights!

64. On 10 December 1948, by adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations formally recognized and affirmed that “the inherent dignity and of equal and inalienable rights of all mem-

72 The work of the WCC

bers of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world”.12 Over the past fifty years, the UN has sought to imple¬ ment this epoch-making declaration by adopting international covenants related to a number of specific aspects and areas of human rights. The Declaration of Human Rights, however, did not prevent millions of peo¬ ple from falling victim to inhuman practices: torture, execution, atroci¬ ties, repression and genocide. Men and women all over the world have made great sacrifices, even through martyrdom, to promote and protect human rights. While the UN has spoken eloquently in favour of human rights and the peaceful settlement of conflicts, it has proved its weakness in the face of human-rights violations. At many points charter commit¬ ments have been simply neglected or bypassed through unilateral actions. Fifty years after the declaration, the cries of the victims of human-rights violations are still heard. The end of the cold war put an end to bipolar confrontation, but it was not the beginning of a “new world order” based on peace with justice. Once again the UN has diffi¬ culty in fulfilling its obligations to serve as a peace-making and peace¬ keeping instrument. While the major powers have from time to time established a fragile peace by military threats and interventions, in many regions uncertainty, confusion and volatile situations persist, and fla¬ grant violations of human rights continue. In addition to these growing concerns, the issue of human rights faces three major challenges:

a) The effects of globalization in the area of human rights are far- reaching. Globalization has significantly changed existing political, social and economic relationships and has brought about a radical alter¬ ation in the values and structures of society. The process of globaliza¬ tion, which has penetrated almost all aspects and spheres of human ex¬ perience, provided immense opportunities; at the same time it has pro¬ jected new forms of socio-economic injustice and insecurity. Transi¬ tional organizations and international finance institutions exclude people from participation in the economy and accelerate unemployment, uprootedness and marginalization. Africa, where we are meeting, reminds us existentially of some of the critical issues that we face. In fact, war, violence, poverty, uprooted people, genocide, ecological dis¬ aster and other effects of globalization are part and parcel of the daily life of African people.

b) Religious freedom, which is one of the fundamental human rights, has re-emerged in this post-cold war period as a major issue in intra-

12 Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Aram I: Moderator's Report 73

national and international relations. In a number of countries religion is being exploited to promote narrow nationalistic ends, thus creating divi¬ sions and polarizations. In some countries religion is being given consti¬ tutional power and privilege, thus destroying the secular and plural basis of these states. Religious intolerance and restrictions, fundamentalism and exclusiveness characterize the life of many societies. On the other hand, the aggressive methods used by foreign religious movements in pursuit of their proselytizing activities have created another complex situation for human rights.

c) The resurgence of ethno-nationalism has complicated the question of the right of people to self-determination. In its positive aspect the re- emergence of ethno-nationalism constitutes a search for justice and self- respect. People are seeking security within their own ethnic, religious and national groupings. Hence nationalism is a creative force in demand¬ ing respect for people’s identity and in the nation-building process. But by being transformed into an ideology it may become a source of evil, a major hindrance to living together injustice and peace. Ethnic conflicts threaten inter-religious tolerance. They destroy the very foundation of pluralistic societies and create situations in which human rights are vio¬ lated. In fact, in the past decade, ethno-nationalism has led societies into fragmentation, internal conflicts, ethnic cleansing and migration, strik¬ ing a severe blow to human rights.

65. The question of human rights remains a permanent item and a top priority on the agenda of the Council and is integral to the very vocation of the church. The WCC has involved itself in the realm of human rights by condemning the violation of human rights, monitoring the respect for and implementation of human rights, assisting churches and groups engaged in the struggle for human rights, and promoting human-rights values through education and communication.

66. 1 believe that in view of the revolutionary changes that have desta¬ bilized the political, social and economic order, and in light of the ecu¬ menical experience we have gained in human-rights struggles over these fifty years, the Council must first, within its programmatic framework, give more serious attention to globalization, religious freedom and ethno- nationalism and their implications on the area of human rights; second, in initiating a new ecumenical policy and strategy on human rights, in my opinion the Council must further develop ecumenical social thought and a strategy that will promote and defend human-rights values by preven¬ tion and legal action, when they are violated, and thus lay the foundation of a new global ethics in collaboration with other religions.

74 The work of the WCC

This assembly will be called to adopt an updated ecumenical policy on human rights. On this point, let me share with you some perspectives and insights.

1. Preventive and punitive approach

67. In view of the current ethnic conflicts and increasing violations of human rights, the prevention and peaceful resolution of conflicts remain urgent international priorities. No international mechanisms can presently guarantee, secure and protect human rights, and set procedures for conflict prevention or resolution. Before and during the cold war, military intervention was considered by major powers to be the most efficient way of peace-making. In the post-cold war period, peace-build¬ ing is proving to be a long and complex process. So far the churches have most often reacted to the situations of human-rights violations rather than pro-acting for their prevention. How can the ecumenical movement help the churches to plan a new strategy for their human- rights struggle, and create local, regional and international networks? Conflicts can be solved or prevented through various forms of public monitoring and competent mediation; and human-rights violations can best be prevented through education for civic responsibility and by addressing their root causes.

68. Punishment under the law for violation is also essential to pre¬ venting human-rights violations. Impunity perpetuates injustice, which in turn generates acts of revenge and endless violence. Violators of human rights must be held accountable to humanity. The