WCC NEWS: Unity is God’s gift to the church, says Archbishop of Canterbury

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World Council of Churches - News

UNITY IS GOD’S GIFT TO THE CHURCH, SAYS ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

For immediate release: 28 February 2012

On the morning of 28 February, his second day visiting the offices of
the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva, Archbishop Rowan Williams
of the Church of England addressed a round table discussion on the unity
of the Christian church.

“Unity is neither a means nor an end,” he told assembled staff,
visitors and governing body members of the WCC and other organizations in
the Ecumenical Centre. “Unity is what God has given us in the
church.”

The responsibility of Christians who receive the gift of unity, he
continued, lies in “seeking a life in which no one is without the
other.” This life, “constantly moving us forward into a further
truth”, compels all who live within the love of God to ask the question:
“Who is not yet here?”

In addition to other panellists from the Anglican Communion, of which
Archbishop Williams is senior prelate, participants in the round table
included representatives of the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran
and Reformed confessions of faith.

The discussion was moderated by the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general
secretary of the WCC.

Rev. Dr John Gibaut, director of the WCC joint commission on Faith and
Order, observed that disunity is often more evident than church unity.
Different traditions describe the church in differing terms. “If we
cannot agree on what we mean by the church,” said Gibaut, “we cannot
begin to say much about the unity of the church.” The commission
continues to work on a proposed consensus document on “The Church”.

Another important submission to the WCC 10th Assembly in 2013 will be a
statement on mission and evangelism. Dr Annemarie Mayer, a Roman Catholic
theologian working as a member of the WCC staff, stressed that unity of
the church implies obligation to manifest unity in Christian witness and
service.

Dr Mary Tanner, the current WCC president for Europe, described the early
stages of drafting a unity statement to be presented at the 10th Assembly
of the WCC, to be held at Busan, Korea in 2013. A first full draft of the
document is to be completed by June 2012.

Dr Tamara Grdzelidze, an Orthodox theologian on the staff of Faith and
Order, recalled the role of Orthodoxy as a driving force behind the modern
ecumenical movement while always taking very seriously ancient teachings
on the church.

Rev. Dr Setri Nyomi, general secretary of the World Communion of Reformed
Churches (Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=1c43754612bd50d77ede ), 
reminded the gathering
that Christians are called together for a purpose. Quoting the Belhar
Confession of the anti-apartheid era, he depicted the unity of the church
as both “a gift and an obligation for the people of God.” Christians
are not called simply to “be” one, but to act together against
injustice and violence, and to establish peace.

Two bishops of the Church of England, Rt Rev. Dr John Hind of Chichester
and Rt Rev. Dr Peter Forster of Chester, commented on their service,
respectively, on the WCC Faith and Order Commission (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=6e2336c6ac4d8cb3b485 ) and the WCC 
Central Committee
(Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=2dd238bd0aa63ba58a40 ).

Hind argued that church unity must be seen by Christians not merely in
terms of institutionalism, sociology and ethics, but as having a
sacramental significance.

Forster recalled the Central Committee discussion in seeking a theme for
the 10th Assembly. They finally adopted a prayer, “God of life, lead us
to justice and peace.”

“Unity is the air we breathe,” Forster concluded, “not one more issue
to be examined.”

Read also:

Unity must remain our goal, says WCC general secretary (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=4b40552dbf1e6f663df7
) (WCC press release of 1 February 2012)

WCC Commission on Faith and Order (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=e226b172562d109fc2ff )


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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