WCC NEWS: Message of the WCC presidents at Pentecost 2011

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MESSAGE OF THE WCC PRESIDENTS AT PENTECOST 2011

For immediate release: 03 June 2011


Renewal and witness at the heart of Pentecost


Power from the Holy Spirit, drawing on “the uncreated energy of God”
and revealing the Word of God in Jesus Christ, is the divine blessing for
which Christians give thanks on the Sunday of Pentecost.

The eight presidents of the World Council of Churches, in their annual
Pentecost message, write that this holy day “offers a new opportunity to
each church community and to each of us” to celebrate “the advent and
gift of the Holy Spirit, to renew our trust in the Spirit’s power.”
They invite us to pray for grace to become witnesses to Christ’s cross
and resurrection as well as “to justice, peace and hope” in the world.

In 2011, Pentecost falls on Sunday 12 June.  The day occurs fifty days
after Easter and marks the coming of the Holy Spirit to empower the
church.  The biblical description of the event appears in the second
chapter of the Acts of the Apostles.


Message of the WCC presidents at Pentecost 2011

You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. (Acts 1:8)

The promise of the resurrected Christ before his ascension was actualized
on the day of Pentecost in two types of power: the sound “as of a
rushing mighty wind” and “tongues as of fire” (Acts 2:2-3). The
advent of the Holy Spirit surpasses all possible description. For this
reason Luke the evangelist uses the word “as”.

The powerful wind completely renews the entire atmosphere; it creates a new
climate, providing a life-giving environment of breath and energy.
“This energy filled the whole house where they were sitting.”  The
disciples were flooded, immersed, “baptized” in this divine energy, as
the Lord had previously announced: “before many days you shall be
baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:5).

The other type of power is symbolized by “tongues as of fire”.  It is a
manifestation of the uncreated energy of God.  The fire burns, heats,
enlightens. The Holy Spirit acts within the world “as” fire, burning
whatever is dangerous or not useful – warming, comforting,
strengthening.  The Holy Spirit will forever remain a source of
enlightenment, revealing the truth concerning the mystery of the Holy
Trinity and of human existence.

The Holy Spirit comes in an hour when “they were all together in one
place” (Acts 2:1), in a celebration of thanksgiving – “the
Pentecost”.  It comes at a gathering of the faithful – “among the
brethren” of “about a hundred and twenty” (cf. Acts 1:15), in order
to transform the gathering into the Church of the Triune God.  The
“rushing wind” does not originate from some earthly direction but
“from heaven”, from the “Father in heaven”.  The fiery presence is
split into tongues “and one sat upon each of them”. In this way the
direct relationship between the Spirit and the Word of God (the Logos) is
revealed, along with the personal nature of the divine gifts.  The Spirit
will reveal Christ as Lord and Saviour (cf. I Cor. 12:3) to human beings
and will bring him, along with his grace, into the human heart.  The Holy
Spirit continues the saving work of Christ, within time and space,
radiating the divine energy; in ways, often incomprehensible to the human
mind.  “The wind (pneuma) blows where it wills” (John 3:8).

The power, which the disciples received on Pentecost with the advent of the
Holy Spirit, does not concern their spiritual progress and personal growth
only.  It is not an individualistic enlightenment, a fortunate state of
ecstasy for them to enjoy on their own.  It is offered for the
transmission of the gospel of salvation to all of the inhabited world, the
oikoumene, to continue the work of the transformation of the world, the
work which Christ began: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit
has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).  The
disciples, who until then had been afraid, are turned into courageous
apostles, the ones who are sent to continue the ministry of Christ in the
world.  And the Church becomes for all time “apostolic”.

The steadfast desire of each of the faithful is to become a temple of the
Holy Spirit, for the personality of each one to be perfected with the
maturity of the fruits of the Spirit within them (Gal. 5:22), so that each
may become a bearer of the Spirit of love, truth, holiness and
reconciliation within their surroundings, to those both near and far, and
to contribute to a constant renewal of humanity.

Every celebration of Pentecost offers a new opportunity to each church
community and to each of us, to live eucharistically and doxologically the
advent and gift of the Holy Spirit, to renew our trust in the Spirit’s
power and to implore with all of the intensity of our soul:

All-Holy Spirit, “come and dwell in us and cleanse us from every
stain”:
Strengthen our courage and determination.
Renew and impart new breath and power to the Church.
And give us the power to become, in today’s suffering world,
“martyrs” of the cross and the Resurrection, witnesses to justice,
peace and hope.

Archbishop Dr Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania, Orthodox Autocephalous
Church of Albania
Mr John Taroanui Doom, Maohi Protestant Church (French Polynesia)
Rev. Dr Simon Dossou, Methodist Church in Benin
Rev. Dr Soritua Nababan, Protestant Christian Batak Church (Indonesia)
Rev. Dr Ofelia Ortega, Presbyterian-Reformed Church in Cuba
Patriarch Abune Paulos, Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
Rev. Dr Bernice Powell Jackson, United Church of Christ (USA)
Dame Dr Mary Tanner, Church of England


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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