WCC NEWS: Christians reach broad consensus on appropriate missionary conduct

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World Council of Churches - News

CHRISTIANS REACH BROAD CONSENSUS ON APPROPRIATE MISSIONARY CONDUCT

For immediate release: 28 June 2011

“Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommendations for
Conduct”, a five-page document on the conduct of mission “according to
gospel principles”, was released during a public presentation on Tuesday
28 June at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland.

The recommendations regarding respectful behaviour on the part of
missionaries, evangelists and other witnesses when sharing the Christian
faith were issued following a five-year series of consultations among the
World Council of Churches (WCC), the Pontifical Council for
Inter-religious Dialogue (PCID) of the Roman Catholic Church and the World
Evangelical Alliance (WEA).

The three bodies include Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, Protestant,
Evangelical, Pentecostal and independent churches with a combined
membership of some two billion people representing nearly 90 percent of
the world’s Christians.

“In the past five years we have been building a new bridge,” said Dr
Geoff Tunnicliffe, chief executive officer and secretary general of the
WEA. “The document is a major achievement,” he explained, in that it
represents formal agreement on “the essence of Christian mission”
while also demonstrating that diverse Christian bodies “are able to work
together and to speak together.” In this sense, the release of the text
“is a historic moment” in the quest for Christian unity.

“We send this document to each of our constituencies,” said the Rev. Dr
Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC, “with the hope that they
will see these recommendations as an inspiration to design their own codes
of conduct, relevant to their own particular contexts.”

The document begins, “Mission belongs to the very being of the church.”
The recommendations that follow suggest practical ways of engaging in
mission while showing sincere respect for neighbours of other faiths.

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the PCID, observed that leaders in
the churches today “have a duty to proclaim the faith” and also “to
propose a greater vision of dialogue.” He cited a principle of Catholic
teaching, “Reject nothing that is true and holy in each religion”,
cautioning that Christians must overcome religious conflicts if they are
to “present the truth of God in a credible way.”

The joint document on Christian witness calls for careful study of the
issues of mission and inter-religious dialogue, the building of trust and
cooperation among people of all religions and the promotion of religious
freedom everywhere.

Christians are encouraged to pray for the well-being of all, to strengthen
their own religious identity and to avoid misrepresenting the beliefs of
others.

Where possible, it adds, the preparation of codes of conduct by churches
and related organizations “should be done ecumenically, and in
consultation with representatives of other religions.”

In presenting “Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World”, Tveit
alluded to Jesus Christ’s prayer for unity in the 17th chapter of
John’s gospel. “We are called to be one so that the world may
believe,” said Tveit. “And so this day is a day for thankfulness, a
day of celebration, but also a day of reflection.”

Meetings involving the WCC, PCID and WEA that led to the formulation of
“Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World” were held at Lariano,
Italy in May 2006, Toulouse, France in August 2007 and Bangkok, Thailand
in January 2011.

Full text of Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World:
* In English (pdf, 72 KB) (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=4d8f08ce526a2741d317
)
* In German (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=c68a6e486da2f913a548
)
* In Spanish (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=de4487c5bcf2f9268fba
)



WCC work for inter-religious dialogue and cooperation (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=bca99449f49259953f5c )

(Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=63100ae46236af59f7fa )
Website of the World Evangelical Alliance (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=2c785425f2e5ca80fc88 )

Website of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue
(Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=a0a6a4864419fdbbb8b2 )


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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