wfn.org | WCC FEATURE: How the 9th Assembly will work

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World Council of Churches - Feature
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For immediate release - 08/12/2005

LOOKING FORWARD TO PORTO ALEGRE: HOW THE ASSEMBLY WILL WORK

By Norman Shanks (*)

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The WCC 9th Assembly will offer a diverse and innovative programme for the
expected 3000 participants from virtually all Christian traditions and
regions. The moderator of the international planning committee which is
preparing the event, Norman Shanks from Scotland, explains how the 14-23
February 2006 Assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil, will work.

The Assembly programme will be both creative and diverse, and participants
will have countless opportunities to interact and share insights out of
their own experience.

Porto Alegre is an attractive and dynamic city and the Assembly venue, the
Catholic Pontifical University (PUC), offers a modern campus and meeting
centre. The University has impressive experience in hosting major
international events, not least the World Social Forum, attended by around
30,000 people. By comparison, the WCC Assembly will be smaller: we expect
up to 1200 "core participants", including church delegates and representatives of related organizations, and up to 1800 others - visitors, ecumenical
partner agencies, student groups, and so on.

The Assembly theme, "God, in your grace, transform the world", is cast in
the form of a prayer, reflecting the world's - and our own - need for
healing and change, recognizing our dependence on God, acknowledging that
we all have a part to play in the process of transformation. It will
"flow" through the Assembly as we devote specific days to exploring its
various dimensions: "transform* the earth, our societies, our churches,
our lives, our witness."

The worship at the gathering will nourish and guide the entire life of the
community, and is certain to be a memorable feature of the Assembly
experience at Porto Alegre. Each day will begin and end with prayer in the
large worship tent, with liturgy and music drawing from a wide range of
church traditions. Additional services will be offered at other moments
during the day.

After morning prayer, delegates will gather in small Bible study groups to
reflect on Scripture and share insights and experiences. Other participants will be led in larger-scale Bible reflection.

During three days of the Assembly, delegates and youth participants will
engage in "ecumenical conversations", choosing from topics of relevance to
the life and witness of the church in today's world, each reflecting an
aspect of the changing religious, cultural, ecumenical, social and
political landscape - from HIV/AIDS to the challenge of racism, from
mission and evangelism to information technology and bioethics.

Plenary sessions devoted to specific themes: economic justice; Christian
identity in a pluralistic world; church unity and the future of ecumenism;
youth overcoming violence, will be at the centre of the programme.

A series of business sessions, building on recommendations by committees
of delegates that will meet throughout the Assembly, will reflect on the
work of the WCC since the 8th Assembly in Harare in 1998, hearing reports
from the moderator of the central committee and the general secretary,
amending the WCC's constitution, adopting an Assembly "message" and
statements on significant public issues, and formulating priorities for
the Council in the coming years.

This being the first WCC Assembly in Latin America, the programme will
engage with the regional context through the involvement of local
churches, national and local ecumenical bodies, and through the expected
participation of many visitors from the region. A special "Latin America
day" will be a highlight of the week, and will combine prayer, presentations and a cultural evening devoted to the region.

The planners hope that the 9th Assembly will qualify as a youth assembly,
with the active and visible contribution of the youth delegates and the
many stewards, and through the life of a special Assembly youth camp that
will host young people from Latin America. A pre-Assembly event will
prepare the youth participants, and there will be similar gatherings for
women and members of the Ecumenical Disabilities Advocacy Network.

A Portuguese word, "mutirão" - that implies gathering, sharing, and
acting together with a view to "making a difference" - has been chosen to
describe the space for sharing and exchange provided for all members of
the Assembly community. It will be a specific part of the programme: each
day, participants will propose dozens of workshops, as well as displays
and exhibitions, cultural and artistic offerings and opportunities for
other forms of ecumenical learning.

I have no doubt that the WCC's 9th Assembly will be a life-shaping and
-transforming experience for all those involved as well as for those who
will be accompanying the event. My prayer is that all may be open to the
grace-filled, graceful possibilities that the Assembly offers, and that
the experience and decisions will permeate, influence, enrich and
transform our churches and our world. "God, in your grace, transform the
world!"

[776 words]

(*) Rev. Dr Norman Shanks is minister of Govan Old Parish Church, Glasgow
(Church of Scotland). He was a member of the central committee elected at
the Harare Assembly and is moderator of the Assembly planning committee.

[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]

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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.