WCC NEWS: Central Committee discusses world Christianity’s changing context

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World Council of Churches - News

CENTRAL COMMITTEE DISCUSSES WORLD CHRISTIANITY’S CHANGING CONTEXT

For immediate release: 17 February 2011

As the World Council of Churches (WCC) take new steps to promote
Christian unity and inter-religious harmony, will the challenges of
organizational governance and re-structuring drain “the life out of the
ecumenical movement”?

These were among the key questions raised on Thursday 17 February in
morning plenary sessions of the WCC Central Committee in Geneva. The
discussions were devoted to “the changing ecclesial and ecumenical
landscape” and to “inter-religious relations and cooperation: the
search for just peace.”

The historical and cultural “landscape” surrounding churches is always
changing, observed the Rev. Dr David Thompson of the United Reformed
Church in the United Kingdom, adding, “The question is: how will we
respond?”

“What economy weaves us together in this structure of ecumenism?” asked
the Rev. Jennifer S. Leath of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in
the USA. She was alluding to the Greek root of both “economical” and
“ecumenical”: oikos, meaning “house” or “household”.

Will the WCC accept the same influence and domination from the northern
hemisphere that shapes global economics, or will it insist on respect for
the marginalized? To accept the former model, she argued, is unacceptable.
Speaking on behalf of women, the young and groups newly incorporated into
the traditional ecumenical movement, she insisted: “We will not be the
charismatic showcases of this council” at the expense of full
partnership; instead, “the oikos of God will rise.”

Fr Gosbert Byamungu, co-moderator of the Joint Working Group between the
Roman Catholic Church and the WCC, expressed confidence that world
Christianity would master the situation before it. Over the past
half-century, he said, Catholics and the WCC have moved from a
relationship in which “distrust and animosity have been replaced by
trust and friendship.” Now, “our challenge is to transform agreement
in matters of doctrine into common witness and service.”

Archbishop Nareg Alemezian of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church, in
Lebanon, spoke of his experience in the Middle East and elsewhere. He
called for visible church unity in ministries to migrants, in missionary
work and interfaith relations, in facing the many challenges of
globalization. Above all, he called for church members to “live the
fellowship of the WCC beyond a merely institutional framework” and to
participate in “a prayerful movement, with Christ at its centre.”

Many members of the Central Committee took this opportunity to celebrate
closer ties that are being developed between the WCC, the Catholic Church,
Christian world communions, Pentecostal associations and evangelical world
bodies.

Speakers from Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Germany shared the effects of
inter-religious dialogue and cooperation on their ministries.

Rev. Ebenezer Joseph, a Methodist from Sri Lanka, spoke of the benefits he
had discovered in working with people of other faiths.

Inter-religious gatherings with Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims happen at
every level of church and society in Sri Lanka, Joseph said. “There is
the dialogue of life, with lots of public expressions of faith,” he
explained. There are no ulterior motives in such encounters, “just
positive religious engagement.” This is what Joseph calls “collective
engagement” in which “we just try to figure out what we could do
together,” particularly around issues arising from the 30-year civil war
that has recently drawn to a close.

There are also formal interreligious dialogues in Sri Lanka, but they
involve scholars and clergy and “have no impact on the lives of the
people,” Joseph said.

Rev. Dr Margaretha Hendriks-Ririmasse (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=b39271c6578d7ccd3aa3 ), a 
vice-moderator of the Central
Committee, reflected on inter-religious relations in Indonesia where she
is a minister of the Presbyterian Protestant Church in the Moluccas,
Working side by side with other faith communities, she reported,
“generally we face no major conflicts within these relationships, though
certain prejudices are present because each considers itself to be the
best.”

But interreligious relations have worsened in Indonesia as a result of the
United States-backed “war on terror,” she added. “Because
Christianity is considered an agent of the U.S. and the West, groups of
hardliners have formed among Muslims. Attacks on Christians and churches
are growing.”

Still, Hendriks-Ririmasse said she sees many signs of hope, including good
relations between the Communion of Churches in Indonesia and other
religious groups. Christians have received strong support from
Indonesia’s mostly moderate Muslim community. “They have shown strong
support at times of attack, speaking out forcefully,” she said.

Christina Biere of the Evangelical Church in Germany said that in the
European context inter-religious relations often involve migrant
communities. Citing a recent survey conducted by the University of
Muenster, she noted that Germans “are less tolerant of Muslims than are
their European neighbours.”

Biere attributed the country’s religiously-tinged immigration debate to
the dearth of interreligious dialogue in the country. “We have not had
an honest and intense debate about Muslims and immigration, unlike our
neighbours,” she added.

As in many other contexts, hope lies with younger generations. A local
public school-based initiative sponsored by her church, “Do you know who
I am?”, she said, “is producing healthy dialogue between Christian,
Muslim and Jewish students. But not enough of these efforts are getting
into local churches.”

The Thursday morning plenary sessions were co-moderated by the WCC
president for Europe, Dame Mary Tanner (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=9558f10eeb79c13041a2 ) of the Church of 
England, together
with Omowunmi Iyabode Oyekola of the Church of the Lord (Aladura)
Worldwide.

More information on the Central Committee meeting (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=f949b703f7a6fb27930a )

Photos of the meeting (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=753d95324306d63f8699 )


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 Olav Fykse Tveit, 
from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.



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