World Council of Churches - Update
Contact: + 41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org For immediate release - 24/05/2006 02:29:10 PM
WCC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ENDORSES NEW PROGRAMMATIC DIRECTIONS
The date of the executive committee meeting
mentioned in the third paragraph has been corrected.
At its first meeting since its appointment in February 2006, the WCC's executive committee has approved new programmatic directions for the Council and has endorsed a framework for activities in the coming years.
The 25-person executive committee also issued four public statements on matters of international concern, including the situation in the Middle East and human rights.
The committee, meeting at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute near Geneva, 16-19 May 2006, discussed a framework for the WCC's programmatic activity 2007-2013 prepared after the WCC's 9th Assembly in February. The Assembly had called on the Council to focus its work on a limited range of areas where the WCC could play a unique and global role.
Programme framework
The programme plan approved by the executive committee lists six areas that will provide the framework for the Council's activities in the coming period. These are: WCC and the ecumenical movement in the 21st century; unity, mission and spirituality; public witness; justice and diakonia; ecumenical and faith formation; interreligious dialogue and cooperation.
Detailed plans for activities, staffing and budget estimates will now be elaborated and submitted to the central committee for final approval in September 2006. The executive committee also mandated a partial reorganizat ion and integration of the WCC's main consultative and advisory bodies, to bring these into line with the new programme plans.
Welcoming these decisions, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia underlined that the programme framework "prepares the ground for a more integrated and pro-active style of work in the WCC as we prepare to confront the new challenges of the 21st century".
Communication for a global voice
The executive committee also called for a reinforced communication strategy to raise the public profile of the Council and to ensure that communication is a dimension of all programmatic activity.
Among other decisions, the committee took steps to set up a permanent body on youth participation in the Council, as recommended by the 9th Assembly. The body will be appointed by the central committee in September 2006.
Other issues
Four issues of major international concern were the subjects of statements by the executive committee: Iran and nuclear non-proliferation; the establishment of the new UN human rights council; the conflict in Israel-Palestine; and the situation in Sudan. The full texts of the statements are available on the WCC's website (see below).
In a letter addressed to Brazilian member churches, the executive committee moderator Rev. Dr Walter Altmann and the WCC general secretary affirmed the Council's "solidarity and prayers" for the victims of recent violent incidents in São Paulo. They also commented on the social and legal background to these events, specifically the "inadequacy of the legal system and the overcrowding of prisons," as well as the "corruption, impunity and lack of political will" that have made reforms difficult.
The 25-member committee, appointed by churches in every region, is moderated by Rev. Dr Walter Altmann from Brazil. It is the main decision-ma king body of the Council between the meetings of the central committee.
The executive committee's statements on public issues are available on the WCC website at: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=2256
A list of WCC executive committee members is available at: http://www.wcc-assembly.info/en/news-media/news/english-news/article/1818/n ew-wcc-central-committee.html
Photos from the meeting are available at: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=2261
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Additional information:
Juan Michel
+41 22 791 6153
+41 79 507 6363
media@wcc-coe.org
The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 348 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.