wfn.org | WCC NEWS: WCC central committee bids farewell to Samuel Kobia

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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 - 31/08/2009 15:37:18

WCC CENTRAL COMMITTEE BIDS FAREWELL TO SAMUEL KOBIA

With prayers, singing, gifts and speeches of thanks, the World
Council of Churches (WCC) central committee offered its farewell
to outgoing general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia on Sunday 30
August.

The events began with an afternoon prayer service at the
Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland, where hundreds of
delegates, staff, and visitors packed the Centre’s chapel. The
service had a distinct international flavour with songs from a
variety of cultures, and languages from Aramaic to Swahili.

Delivering the sermon, Rev. Dr Bernice Powell Jackson, the WCC
president from North America, noted the brokenness occurring in
many places around the globe and thanked Kobia for his leadership
“as an unwavering witness for justice and peace in the world on
behalf of the World Council of Churches”.

Sharing from her experience in the African-American tradition in
the United States, Powell Jackson told a folk story culminating
in the reminder that each of us is born to fly but has forgotten
how. According to African tradition, the incantation
Kulibahrestores this ability, and encourages us to soar. “So
Kulibah, Sam”, she said. “Go out in joy, and be led back home in
peace.”

Following the service, the congregation moved to the WCC’s
Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, near Geneva. There Kobia and his
wife Ruth were presented with an impressive array of gifts from
the churches in each of the WCC’s regions, as well as a number of
personal testimonies.

The moderator of the central committee, Rev. Dr Walter Altmann,
expressed gratitude to Kobia for “all the services rendered with
diligence and compassion”. He also highlighted how deeply
meaningful for the churches involved were the extensive pastoral
visits undertaken by the outgoing general secretary.

The central committee vice-moderator Metropolitan Prof. Dr
Gennadios of Sassima spoke about Kobia’s many charismas,
highlighting amongst them serenity and kindness. He also conveyed
words of appreciation from the Ecumenical Patriarch of
Constantinople, Bartholomew I.

Another WCC president, Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana, Durrës
and All Albania, presented Kobia with a book containing
handwritten prayers and good wishes from central committee
members.

The WCC president from Latin America and the Caribbean, Rev. Dr
Ofelia Ortega, expressed gratitude for Kobia’s visits to the
Caribbean region which helped to improve relationships between
churches.

“I feel honoured and very proud of being your successor,” the
WCC general secretary-elect Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit told Kobia.

Archbishop Silvano Maria Tomasi, the Vatican’s observer to the
UN in Geneva, thanked Kobia for advancing church relationships
beyond structural and organizational ties. “Together we will
continue to move forward,” he said.

Many special words of appreciation were expressed to Ruth Kobia
for her engagement in the movement. As one speaker put it, “You
are a woman of courage; you are brave.”

“You are on the right track to become an ecumenical saint,” Rev.
Dr Fernando Enns told Kobia, speaking on behalf of the European
region. Representatives from other regions commended Kobia for
his commitment to interfaith dialogue, ecological issues, as well
as his ability to listen sympathetically.

“Africa is proud of you. Welcome back home!” said Rev. Dr André
Karamaga, general secretary of the All Africa Conference of
Churches, a former member of the WCC staff.

In his response and words of thanks, Kobia expressed gratitude
for what he said was the “tremendous privilege” to serve the
ecumenical movement over four decades. For Kobia, leaving the
position of WCC general secretary is by no means the end of his
continuing ecumenical journey.

“We still have so much to do together,” he said.

Free of charge high resolution photos are available (please
credit Peter Williams/WCC):
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/events-sections/cc2009/photo-galleries.html

More information on the 26 August - 2 September 2009 Central
Committee meeting:
http://www.oikoumene.org/cc2009

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.