wfn.org | [WCC News] WCC World Mission Conference one year away

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

World Council of Churches 7 Press Update
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 06/05/2004 - pu-04-26

 World mission conference one year away:
 Widest-ever range of churches to reflect on healing and reconciliation

		     Cf. Press Release PR-03-22 of 11 June 2003

The 2005 Conference on World Mission and Evangelism, which is expected to
host participants from the widest range of churches in the history of
mission conferences, is just one year away.

The venue - the Agios Andreas recreational centre outside Athens, Greece -
has been chosen, the dates have been set for 9-16 May, and the conference
website is now up and running in four languages, allowing participation
beyond the 500 official delegates.

Hosted by the Church of Greece, the conference will begin with the call of
"Come Holy Spirit, heal and reconcile" and finish with a Sunday sending
service at the Areopagos, where St Paul preached to the Athenians, calling
people of different faiths to seek God (Acts 17:27).

His Beatitude Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and all Greece welcomed
the conference, which is the first of its kind to take place in an
Orthodox-majority country, in a speech to present-day Athenians last March.

A unique cultural and historical city, Athens will provide a special
setting in which participants will be called to focus on mission as healing
and reconciliation and the role of the Holy Spirit.

With 25% of the participants coming from evangelical, Pentecostal and Roman
Catholic backgrounds, dialogue will focus on the growing mission
involvement by those traditions. The conference will also look at the fact
that the direction of mission today is now to a large extent from South to
North.

Since the conference coincides with the mid-point of the WCC Decade to
Overcome Violence (2001-2010), participants will be asked to reflect on
some of the Decade's themes, specifically the use, abuse and misuse of
power, and the understanding of religious identity and plurality.

"In our globalized and fragmented world, filled with much division and
conflict, the gospel message of healing and reconciliation is vital," says
Rev. Ruth Bottoms, a Baptist pastor from the UK who is moderator of both
the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism and the conference's
planning committee.

Reference and preparatory materials in English, German, French and Spanish
are now available on the conference website, and congregations and
individuals are invited to contribute resources and share ideas.

A special web conferencing feature will allow people around the world to
follow the conference closely and participate in discussions on conference
themes.

The tradition of world mission conferences goes back to the 1910 world
mission conference in Edinburgh, leading to the creation of the
International Missionary Council, a body that merged with the WCC in 1961.
The last such conference was held in 1996 in Salvador da Bahma, Brazil and
focused on gospel and cultures.

www.mission2005.org 

For more information contact: Media Relations Office
 tel: (+41 22) 791 64 21 / (+41 22) 791 61 53
 e-mail:media@wcc-coe.org 
 http://www.wcc-coe.org 

 The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 342, in
 more than 120 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
 traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works
 cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly,
 which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally
 inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its staff is headed by
 general secretary Samuel Kobia from the Methodist church in Kenya.