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World Council of Churches - Feature
Contact: + 41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release - 06/09/2005

"WE ARE THE CHURCH" SAY ECUMENICAL YOUTH

By Gustavo Bonato (*)

Free photos available, see below

The World Council of Churches (WCC) wants to make its Ninth Assembly in
Porto Alegre, Brazil, a space where young people are welcome and enabled
to speak - and be heard. "We are doing our best for young people to have
as much of an impact as possible," says Natalie Maxson, the person
responsible for the WCC's youth programme.

"In the beginning, we had to keep on knocking at the church's door," says
Wagner Hadlich, a member of the JEPS (Juventude Evangélica da Paróquia
do Salvador), the youth group of a Lutheran congregation in Porto Alegre.
"No one was against our activities, but we had to keep on reminding the
parish council: 'Don't forget us! We are here, and we need your support.'"

In the end - as happens in local churches all around the world - it was
the congregation which benefited from the creativity and dedication of its
young members: "The biggest challenge was to keep young people's interest
in faith-based activities," says Wagner. "We invented a whole bunch of
dynamic games and entertaining ways to meditate, composed new songs, and
kept on inviting friends from school." The group became a success that
grew well beyond the limits of the particular Lutheran congregation,
including also other Protestants, Roman Catholics, and people who
otherwise would never have visited a church.

Many young people from Christian youth groups like the JEPS will visit the
WCC's Ninth Assembly, taking place in their home city next February. And
as they do in their own congregations, they will try to make their voices
heard in the world-wide ecumenical community. They will join a youth camp,
or participate in an "ecumenical conversation" or a Mutirão workshop,
giving their opinions about the presence of youth in the churches.

"Only young people can bring the kind of fresh energy to the Assembly that
we need to develop new perspectives and vision for the ecumenical
movement," says Natalie Maxson, WCC's programme executive for youth. "Some
will come with fresh eyes and can point out the shortcomings of our
churches and the ecumenical movement. Others will be well-seasoned leaders
with unique expertise on human rights, inter-religious dialogue, economic
justice, HIV/AIDS and other issues facing youth in their contexts."

WCC wants to make this "the youngest Assembly in its history". The
ambitious goal is to have 25% of young people between 18 and 30 among the
delegates. So far, its member churches have nominated far fewer young
people, more or less the same percentage as at the last Assembly in Harare
1998 (14%). But even this can be seen as a small success, because the
total number of delegates per church is reduced by almost one-third, which
makes it even harder to get youth into the smaller delegations.

> The Assembly opens its doors

Right now the spaces for youth to have a strong impact on the Assembly are
being created. There will be a three day pre-Assembly youth event,
gathering young delegates and stewards to develop ideas to be brought to
the Assembly. "There, we will build a strong community together. This is
an essential source of support and sense of 'home' within a major event
like the Assembly", Maxson says.

A further 250 young people from Latin America will get together at a youth
camp during the Assembly. Cláudio Becker, the Brazilian Assembly youth
coordinator, calls the camp a 'trademark' of the events involving youth in
Brazil. "The purpose of the youth camp is to build a space for gathering,
formation, empowering and celebration. It will be a place for the young
people to 'show their faces' and make their voices heard," he says.

Of the 150 young stewards helping in all the operational tasks of the
assembly, 30 will come from Brazil, 20 from other countries in Latin
America and 100 from the rest of the world. Their backgrounds are
extremely diverse and range, for example, from that of a software engineer
from the Middle East, to an Orthodox woman studying business in Canada, to
a cattle farmer and a government expert for seaweed from Fiji, to that of
a Christian youth worker from Brazil.

As far back as the 19th century, it was actually young people who started
the ecumenical movement - in the Student Christian Movements, YMCA, YWCA -
taking leadership and daring to challenge the churches. A good example of
ongoing ecumenical commitment will be given by the World Student Christian
Federation, which holds its executive committee meeting in Porto Alegre
just prior to the Assembly.

During the Assembly, delegates and official participants will gather in 22
"ecumenical conversations", designed to provide opportunities for
discussion among the delegates on significant issues. One of them will be
on "Youth transforming the ecumenical landscape," and will focus on how
young people and organizations like the Student Christian Movements can
contribute to the unity of the churches.

But young people will not only contribute to this particular ecumenical
conversation. Although the debates are restricted to the churches'
official delegates, there is an exception: every young person participating in the Assembly, in no matter what capacity, can take part in all of the
discussions.

"We don't want youth to speak to the Assembly, but rather the Assembly to
speak with a youth voice," concludes Maxson. "For me, this paradigm
honours and recognizes that we, the youth, are the church and the
ecumenical movement."

[908 words]

(*) Gustavo Bonato from the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession
in Brazil graduated in journalism at the Pontifical Catholic University in
Porto Alegre, and has worked as a journalist for three years. He is
currently working in Geneva in the Assembly Office as a WCC intern.

Free high resolution photos to accompany this story are available at the
WCC Assembly website: www.wcc-assembly.info

[Sidebar text]

9th WCC Assembly: Praying for a transformed world

The 9th assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) will be held in
Porto Alegre, Brazil, from 14-23 February 2006. Its theme is a prayer:
"God, in your grace, transform the world".

The first WCC assembly of the 21st century, it will gather up to 3,000
church leaders and ecumenical representatives from nearly every Christian
tradition around the world. As such, it will be one of the broadest global
gatherings of its kind.

WCC assemblies are often turning points in the life of the World Council,
and this one is expected to leave its mark on ecumenical history.
Deliberations will focus on issues such as the future of the ecumenical
movement, the churches' commitment to economic justice as well as their
witness to overcoming violence, and the challenges faced in the midst of
religious plurality.

In Porto Alegre, members of the ecumenical family will be able to gather
around the assembly at a Mutirão, a Portuguese word that means coming
together for a common purpose. Made up of workshops, exhibitions and
cultural celebrations, this part of the assembly programme will offer
opportunities for members of the wider ecumenical movement to gather,
reflect and celebrate together.

This is the first WCC assembly to be held in Latin America, and it is
being hosted by the National Council of Christian Churches in Brazil
(CONIC) on behalf of churches throughout the region. Pre-assembly events
for youth and for women will be held from 11-13 February.

Assembly website: www.wcc-assembly.info

[246 words]

Opinions expressed in WCC Features do not necessarily reflect WCC policy.
This material may be reprinted freely, providing credit is given to the
author.

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The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 347, 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.