wfn.org | WCC Announces Date Change for Eighth Assembly

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

26-June-1997 
97253 
 
         World Council of Churches Announces Date Change 
                       for  Eighth Assembly 
 
                         by John Newbury 
                 WCC News and Information Office 
 
GENEVA--The World Council of Churches (WCC) has, due to unforeseen 
circumstances, changed the dates of its next Assembly.  The venue remains 
unaltered.  The Eighth Assembly will now take place December 3-14, 1998, at 
the University of Zimbabwe, Harare. 
 
     In a letter to member churches, WCC general secretary Konrad Raiser 
said the WCC was informed on May 29 by the vice chancellor of the 
University of Zimbabwe that the university campus would not be available 
for the Assembly in September 1998, as had been agreed. 
 
     The vice chancellor told the WCC the reason for this sudden change is 
a new funding policy of the government which drastically reduces allowances 
for students.  This has obliged the university to rearrange the academic 
year, which is now to begin in August, in order "to avoid in future students 
on campus with insufficient funds to sustain themselves." 
 
     The Assembly Planning Committee (APC), which coincidentally was 
meeting when the news came through, considered all aspects of this new 
situation and sought clarification about the circumstances which had led to 
the decision of the university administration.  It also began to 
tentatively explore alternative sites in South Africa, the Netherlands and 
Geneva. 
 
     After careful discussion, the APC concluded that the WCC officers 
should give priority to maintaining the venue of Harare, even if it meant 
adjusting the dates of the Assembly. It was the conviction of the APC that 
at this advanced stage of preparation a change of venue would cause deep 
disappointment to the churches in Zimbabwe and in the entire region of 
Southern Africa.  It would also create a major financial and organizational 
risk for the WCC.  It had also become clear that a change of venue would 
almost inevitably necessitate an adjustment of the dates of the Assembly 
anyway. 
 
     In his letter, Raiser says he is aware the change of dates may cause 
difficulties especially for some of the delegates who have already been 
chosen, as well as for other participants of the assembly.  He adds, "We 
can only ask for your understanding for this decision which we regret and 
which was caused by circumstances beyond the control of the WCC." 
 
     The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 330, in 
more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian 
traditions.  The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works 
cooperatively with the WCC.  The highest governing body is the Assembly, 
which meets approximately every seven years.  The WCC was formally 
inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. 

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