wfn.org | Moderator's report

[Sheila MESA <smm@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches
Press Release
For Immediate Use
11 September 1997

CENTRAL COMMITTEE        No.  2

MODERATOR CALLS FOR RECOMMITMENT
 TO A FELLOWSHIP OF RISKS AND HOPES 

As the World Council of Churches (WCC) nears the conclusion of its first
half-century of service, the moderator of the Central Committee has
called upon member churches to "recommit ourselves to a fellowship of
risks and hopes."

Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia, also cited several concerns about the WCC,
including his belief that the organisation is in "institutional paralysis"
because it has become absorbed with structures and programs and
finds it difficult to adjust to changing realities in the churches and in the
worldwide ecumenical movement.

But the moderator expressed his belief that the council s planning
process, "Toward a Common Understanding and Vision" (CUV), will help
the churches revitalize the WCC and clarify its role.

"As they move towards the 21st century, the churches are called to
redefine the way they want to stay and grow together, and re-commit
themselves to the common vision which sustains this fellowship," Aram
declared.  "The CUV helps us to move to the next century more
confidently."

The Common Understanding and Vision process was mandated by the
WCC Central Committee in 1989 and has focused attention on the mission
and structure of the council.  The Central Committee will process some
135 responses to CUV from member churches and consider a final draft
report this week during its meetings in Geneva.  The final report will be
approved by delegates to the Eighth Assembly of the WCC in Harare,
Zimbabwe, 3-14 December 1998.

Noting that the 156-member Central Committee is meeting for the last time
before the Assembly, Aram offered some personal "perspectives and
concerns" about the ecumenical movement in general and the World
Council of Churches in particular.

"I am absolutely convinced after my almost 30 years of ecumenical
service that one of the major roles of the ecumenical movement is to
challenge the churches to define what it means to be a church in the
world of today," he said.

That world is far different from the one in which the WCC was born in
1948, he noted.  In the northern hemisphere, "the institutionalized church
is facing a growing crisis of identity and relevance" while in the south
"the church is booming at an unprecedented pace."  In both hemispheres,
he said, evangelical and charismatic movements are attracting millions.

These movements require the institutionalized church "to re-define and to
re-affirm its specific identity and vocation in the power of the Holy Spirit
and, in the midst of fragmented and disoriented societies, to act in faithful
obedience to the Gospel and to respond to the needs of people by
seeking new ways of being church."

One way the institutional church can respond to people s needs is to
stay in touch with the people, he said.  "The church is not a  place 
where people go, but a reality that should embrace the whole life of
people.  This is exactly the ecclesiology of my own (Armenian Apostolic)
church.  Any ecclesiology that does not touch the concrete and daily life
of people at the grass-roots level loses its credibility and reliability."

The churches must also decide how they will continue relating with each
other through the fellowship of the World Council of Churches, Aram
suggested.  "Sometimes we tend to speak about the WCC as if it is a
reality outside the life of the churches," he said.  "Yet what is happening
in the WCC is, directly or indirectly, the projection of the internal life of the
churches.  In fact, the WCC is the churches together in Council.  As such
the Council does not take any decisions nor does it advocate issues
apart from the churches."

As the CUV process continues, Aram said, the churches must work to
free the WCC from "prevailing dichotomies: unity and mission,
ecclesiology and ethics, local and global, etc.," which have resulted in a
"continuing tension" between the theological and social-action thrusts of
the Council.

The moderator also warned that the Council "is increasingly threatened
by institutional paralysis . . . . Over-institutionalization has made the
Council lose much of its creative dynamism and vision.  Meetings, paper
work, computers and travel have heavily dominated the life of this
house."

Aram also suggested that the WCC is still heavily influenced by European
and North American and Protestant sensibilities, despite the fact that
Orthodox churches have been WCC members for nearly 50 years and
most member churches are in the southern hemisphere.  Orthodox
churches, in particular, are "less and less enthusiastic" about the Council
because their traditions have not been fully integrated into Council life. 
"These churches are reminding us, out of their painful experience, that
ecumenism and proselytism cannot co-exist," he declared.

He called upon member churches to have the "humility to recognize our
limitations and shortcomings." The ecumenical movement "also taught us
how to tolerate our divergences and even live with tensions," he pointed
out.

"Ecumenism is the courage to be together and to grow together," he said.
 "Our obedience to the command of the Lord and our faithfulness to our
missionary vocation have given us the courage to come together in the
power of the Holy Spirit."

He expressed optimism for the future.  "Some of us think that the
ecumenical movement is in winter," he acknowledged.  "As we move
towards the end of the century, the coming Assembly, the 50th
anniversary of the WCC and the Millennium will become important steps
on the way towards ecumenical spring.  Let us always remember that
the ecumenical pilgrimage is a costly one.  We should have the courage
to pay the price if we are committed to one faith, one eucharistic
fellowship and a common witness to the world."

**********
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.  Its staff is
headed by general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church
in Germany.

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