wfn.org | Title: Churches' unity at centre of ecumenical vision

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches
News Flash 
For immediate release NF-03-17
12 August 2003

Unity of Christian churches remains centre of ecumenical vision

"All our church traditions are the result of human efforts to witness to the
faith in one and the same Lord." That was the view expressed by WCC general
secretary Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser in his sermon at the induction of Bishop
Hamilton Mvume Dandala as general secretary of the All Africa Conference of
Churches (AACC).  The service took place on Sunday 10 August, at the Vista
University in Soweto, South Africa. 

In a sermon intended to highlight "the importance of the ecumenical
fellowship for the churches at the local level", Raiser stressed that "no
church can be truly the church of Christ without living in relationships of
mutual trust and accountability with other churches in the same place". "The
strength of our unity becomes manifest where we are able to 'speak the truth
in love', recognizing that the truth never becomes our privileged
possession," Raiser affirmed. 

Emphasizing that "unity is the fruit of the praxis of bearing with one
another in love", he highlighted that "a community of churches which are thus
united at the centre of their being can become an instrument of peace, a
source of reconciliation within the wider community". 

The full text of the sermon is available (in English) at:
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/kr-sermon.html 

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