wfn.org | WCC UPDATE: Planners anticipate WCC assembly of "inspiration

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World Council of Churches - Update
Contact: + 41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org 
 
For immediate release: 15 November 2004

PLANNERS ANTICIPATE TIME OF "INSPIRATION AND HOPE" AT WCC NINTH ASSEMBLY

The WCC ninth assembly in 2006 should be a time of "inspiration and hope" for
the churches according to members of the international planning committee
after their first visit to the assembly venue in Porto Alegre, Brazil, last
week.

After a preparatory meeting that ended on 13 November, the committee
moderator, Rev. Norman Shanks from Scotland, looked forward to an assembly
that would "strengthen the ecumenical fellowship and Christian commitment" of
the participants.

The WCC's ninth assembly will convene on the campus of Porto Alegre's
Pontifical Catholic University (PUCRS) 14-23 February 2006 under the theme
"God, in your grace, transform the world". It is expected to gather over
3,000 church leaders and ecumenical representatives from throughout the world
for a week of prayer, reflection and celebration. The assembly is the highest
governing body of the WCC, and is traditionally one of the broadest global
gatherings of Christian churches.

In addition to visiting the venue for the assembly in the PUCRS' modern
conference centre, the committee met with local and national committees
preparing the event, and worked on the programme and participation
arrangements.

Committee members joined leaders of the main Brazilian churches and
ecumenical organizations, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, and hundreds of
worshippers on 9 November at Porto Alegre's main Methodist church for an
official and public launch of assembly preparations. 

"The talents and potential of the local churches forms a microcosm of the
diversity of the ecumenical movement and give us great hope for the success
of the assembly," commented WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, who
preached at the ceremony. Kobia is presently touring Latin America on a visit
to churches there. 

Alongside the formal administrative tasks, the planning committee identified
a series of theological and social themes to be explored during plenary
sessions, including questions of church unity and the future of the
ecumenical movement; alternative approaches to economic injustice; and the
role of the churches in building a culture of peace in the world. In 2006,
the WCC will reach the mid-point of its international Decade to Overcome
Violence. 

The assembly will be marked by the Latin American context, and many church
members and young people are expected to join the gathering, culminating in a
special Latin American ecumenical celebration in Porto Alegre. 

Several new features will be included in the ninth assembly programme. A
series of "ecumenical conversations" will enable delegates to debate crucial
issues in the life of churches and the WCC. Around the formal programme of
the assembly, a "mutirco" - which in Portuguese signifies coming together for
a common purpose - will be open to other participants. This part of the
programme will provide opportunities for churches and ecumenical
organizations to arrange exhibitions, workshops, music and presentations
during the assembly.

Daily prayer services drawing on the diverse traditions and practices of the
churches will be a vital feature of the assembly programme. The assembly
worship committee, which also met in Porto Alegre prior to the planning
committee, was moderated Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima (Ecumenical
Patriarchate). "We have had a strong conviction from the start that prayer
will be at the heart of the assembly, and that the daily worship, drawing on
the riches of the assembly theme of grace and transformation, will inspire
and support the participants during their work," he emphasized. 

For the Rev. Ervino Schmidt, the general secretary of the Brazilian National
Council of Churches (CONIC), which invited the WCC assembly to the country,
hosting a WCC assembly for the first time in the region offers a "time of
kairos" for the ecumenical movement and for the churches in Brazil. His hopes
were echoed by Rev. Rui Bernard, WCC ninth assembly local coordinator: "We
hope that the assembly can be a moment of spiritual renewal and authentic
encounter among the local churches and the participants," Bernard said.

Further information: http://www.wcc-assembly.info/

Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363
media@wcc-coe.org 

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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.