wfn.org | WCC NEWS: WCC 60th anniversary: Ceremonies, books and broadcasts

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World Council of Churches - News Release

Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org

>For immediate release - 20/08/2008 16:04:05

CEREMONIES, BOOKS AND BROADCASTS MARK THE WCC 60TH ANNIVERSARY

"Stating that in seeking Christ they found each other, the 147 churches  that sixty years ago came together in Amsterdam, Netherlands committed  themselves afresh to Christ and covenanted with one another in constituting  the World Council of Churches (WCC)," said the Council's general  secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia as he prepared to leave for a commemorative  event to be held at the location where the WCC was officially founded 60  years ago, 23 August 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. "It is significant  that as we gather sixty years later at the same venue we note that the  churches have been faithful to their commitment. Not only have they stayed  together, but they have deepened and broadened the Fellowship," Kobia  added.

Representatives of member churches around the world, such as Rev. Dr  Michael Kinnamon of the National Council of Churches USA, see the date as  an occasion for prayerful celebration ( http://www.ncccusa.org/news/080819w ccanniversary.html )of the ecumenical fellowship.

On Friday afternoon the creation of the WCC is to be commemorated by a  select gathering at the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, Netherlands. At the  church where the opening service of the WCC's founding assembly took place  exactly 60 years earlier, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands will receive  the first copy of the jubilee book "The Ecumenical Movement at a Crossroads ".

Both the book, a collection of essays by personalities connected to the  ecumenical movement, including Nelson Mandela, and the anniversary event  focus on the role of the churches in today's world, particularly in the  field of international relations.

With gratitude to the "Dutch churches and ecumenical friends" that have  sponsored and planned the Amsterdam event, Kobia stated: "Today the  challenges of seeking visible unity appear to be even stronger but we,  nevertheless, look to the next sixty years with hope and confidence as we  are inspired by the spirit of our ecumenical ancestors who made Amsterdam  1948 possible."

A documentary about the WCC ( http://www.ikonrtv.nl/ikondocumentaire/docume ntaire.asp?oId=2572 )to be aired by the Dutch national TV channel  Nederland 2 on Sunday, 24 August, is one of the broadcasts in different  countries covering the anniversary.

A radio service, led by the former director of the WCC's humanitarian and  refugee services Rev. Myra Blyth, will be broadcast by the BBC's Radio 4,  on 24 August. The programme, with contributions from the WCC president  from Europe, Dame Mary Tanner as well as WCC staff and students of the  Council's Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland, will also be made  available on the BBC website ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/sun day_worship ).

The central event ( http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/ article/1722/service-celebrates-wccs.html?tx_ttnews%5Bswords%5D=anniversa ry&cHash=0486f70c8a )of the 60th anniversary celebrations already  took place in Geneva in February during a meeting of the WCC central  committee. The central committee is the Council's chief governing body in  the 7-year-period between WCC assemblies.

During the festive ecumenical celebration on Sunday, 17 February, the  Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I reminded the near-capacity congregation  at Geneva's St. Pierre Cathedral that the WCC has accomplished much in its  six decades.

More information on WCC's 60th anniversary and background:
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=4246

>Photo galleries on 60 years of WCC:
>http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=5487

Additional information:Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363media@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 349 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.