wfn.org | UMNS# 05115-World council seeks new vision for new century

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World council seeks new vision for new century

Feb. 24, 2005	 News media contact:   Linda  Bloom * (646) 3693759*  New
York {05115}

NOTE: A photograph is available in the Photo Gallery at
http://umns.umc.org.

A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*

Members of the World Council of Churches' Central Committee want a new
vision for a new century.

Efforts to shape a new ecumenical vision, as well as confront the
world's continuing crises, topped the agenda when the council's
decision-making body met Feb. 15-22 in Geneva, Switzerland. It was the
committee's last gathering before the World Council of Churches' 9th
Assembly, set for Feb. 14-23, 2006, in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Retooling the ecumenical vision for the new century is not only "a
matter of structures" but also "a process of transformation," the Rev.
Samuel Kobia, a Methodist pastor from Kenya, told the 150-member central
committee in his first report as the organization's top executive.

Such transformation, he added, "must be rooted in the conversion to the
source of our lives and the life of all creation, the Triune God whom we
confess together."

Shaping a new vision also means streamlining the council's activities to
better deal with new patterns of church life and an ever-changing world
context. The central committee did significant work on this
"reconfiguration" process, according to the Rev. Larry Pickens, chief
executive, United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and
Interreligious Concerns.

Part of the process is affirming the role of the Roman Catholic Church
and the Pentecostal movement "at the forefront of the ecumenical
movement in the 21st century," he said. "We also learned of significant
work that is taking place with respect to engaging Pentecostals in
dialogue."

Committee members adopted the consensus approach as a decision-making
model in an effort to strengthen participation and commitment of member
churches.

The Rev. Bruce Robbins - a United Methodist pastor and committee member
from Minneapolis who has been involved with the council for years -
considers the shift to a consensus model "historic."

"I hope it will lead to new levels of listening and seeking to one
another in the council," he told United Methodist News Service. "All of
us in the council knew that it was important to change the ways in which
we inter-related and that we needed to seek to be in fellowship in new
ways."

With a theme of "healing and reconciliation" for the central committee
meeting, delegates listened to concerns about conflicts and injustices
in regions such as Africa and the Pacific.

"We have heard the voices of those who live in war-torn nations in
Africa, seeking a peaceful end to the conflict in settings such as
Burundi and Sudan," Pickens said. "The World Council of Churches has
played a significant role in these trouble spots, addressing poverty in
these and other countries."

Richard Grounds, a United Methodist and central committee member from
Tulsa, Okla., called the committee's adoption of a formal statement on
indigenous peoples a "significant move forward."

The "Statement on Human Rights and Languages of Indigenous Peoples"
calls upon member churches to urge establishment of a U.N. International
Year of Indigenous Languages; appeal to their governments to remove
discriminatory laws against indigenous languages; consider practical
ways to respond to the issue of language loss and continue support of
other issues regarding indigenous rights and languages.

"This statement should serve both to raise awareness and as a rallying
point for those churches and agencies wanting to support indigenous
peoples on this urgent matter of keeping alive the richness of our
cultural heritage through our languages," Grounds said.

"The urgency of this task cannot be overemphasized. According to the
chair of the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, half of the
world's linguistic diversity will be lost in the next 20 years."

Grounds noted the lack of diversity of delegates to the council's 2006
assembly, but hopes the setback in representation is temporary. "The
reduction in numbers of delegates over the financial stress of the WCC
has had unfortunate consequences for the diversity of representation
that so many have worked toward over many years," he said. "As compared
to the last assembly in Harare, we have seen a significant decline in
the percentages of delegates representing women, youth and indigenous
peoples."

The WCC's last assembly was held in Zimbabwe's capital city in 1998.

Considering issues of international conflict, the central committee
discussed using economic measures to pursue peace in the
Israeli/Palestinian conflict. In an informational statement on the
issue, delegates reminded member churches that "with investment funds,
they have an opportunity to use those funds responsibly in support of
peaceful solutions."

The "process of phased, selective divestment from multinational
corporations involved in the occupation" approved in 2004 by the
Presbyterian Church (USA) was cited as an example. That divestment
process also has raised considerable criticism, especially from American
Jewish groups.

Responding to the crisis in Iraq, the central committee recommended a
debate in appropriate international forums about "a timetable for the
reduction and termination of the U.S.-led coalition's military presence
in Iraq and for the removal of its military bases there."

The statement calls both governments and intergovernmental bodies "to
greater accountability under the rule of international law both for the
causes of peace in Iraq and for more effective management of such crises
in the future," and it insists on a greater role for the United Nations
in helping Iraqis gain control of their country.

In other action, central committee members:

·	Called on churches to urge implementation of International Criminal
Court by governments that already have ratified the Rome Statute on
which the court is based, as well as ratification of the statute in
countries, such as the United States, that have yet to approve it.

·	Expressed prayers, condolences and concerns for the Dec. 26 tsunami
victims and survivors, and called upon churches to provide long-term
spiritual accompaniment and trauma counseling in those South Asian
countries.

·	Appealed to the U.S. government to let the U.S. National Council of
Churches "fulfill its pastoral and humanitarian responsibilities" by
visiting detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

·	Made 17 recommendations in a memorandum on "uprooted people" and
other new patterns of migration resulting from globalization and other
factors.

With new members joining the fellowship, council membership has
increased from 342 to 347 churches. The Methodist Church of Indonesia
was among those welcomed into membership, and the Methodist Church of
Puerto Rico was received as a new associate member.

In addition to Pickens, Robbins and Grounds, the United Methodist Church
was represented at the meeting by Lois Dauway of New York.

# # #

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
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