wfn.org | WCC Central Committee Roundup

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

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

CENTRAL COMMITTEE          Roundup     

WCC CENTRAL COMMITTEE ADJOURNS WITH EYES ON HARARE AND A
PROPOSED COMMON VISION FOR THE COUNCIL S FUTURE

The World Council of Churches "Canberra" Central Committee concluded
its last meeting Friday (19 September) after endorsing plans for the
Eighth Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe, next year and agreeing on a final
text about the Council s future that will come before the Harare
delegates.

The Central Committee also welcomed new members and ecumenical
organisations into working relationship with the WCC, heard reports on
Council programmes and meetings and issued statements on urgent
public issues.  

The 156-person committee, elected by the delegates to the WCC s
Seventh Assembly in Canberra, Australia, in 1991 to govern the Council
until the Harare Assembly in December 1998, met in Geneva 11-19
September.  The committee, composed of representatives of WCC
member churches from all over the world, has met about every 12
months since it was elected.

Common Understanding and Vision

After extensive debate in plenary sessions and unit committee meetings,
the Committee adopted a final report of  "Towards a Common
Understanding and Vision of the World Council of Churches (CUV)," the
fruit of an eight-year-long planning process initiated by the previous
Central Committee in Moscow in 1989.

The report, which will be submitted to the delegates to the Eighth
Assembly in Harare, is seen as a blueprint for the WCC s role and
structure and a "charter" of ecumenical commitment for the 21st century.
 CUV is an effort to provide the widely diverse members of the WCC,
who include the full range of Protestant and Orthodox traditions in the
northern and southern hemispheres, with a clear declaration of their
areas of agreement -- and to inspire member churches and ecumenical
partners to recommit themselves to a bold new vision of the Council s
role in the ecumenical future.

The CUV process has proceeded from the existing (1961) constitutional
Basis of the WCC and has not proposed any shift away from the WCC s
historic areas of concern for church unity, mission and service. 
However, there is now a new focus on the Council s essential identity
as a "fellowship of churches" which implies a greater emphasis on
relationships in the future and a moving away from its profile as an
organisation that conducts a wide variety of programmatic activities,
often with little direct involvement by its member churches.  At the same
time, the CUV process has emphasised the need to see the WCC as one
element of a many-centred network of ecumenical partners, including
non-member churches (especially the Roman Catholic Church and
Pentecostal and evangelical bodies not now affiliated with the Council),
other ecumenical bodies and less formal groups and movements.

The debate on CUV exposed long-standing differences among member
churches about the role and nature of the Council.  While many
Protestant members said they regard the Council as a significant step
towards the "visible unity" of the churches, some Orthodox members
emphasised the view that the WCC is an instrument of collaboration
among historically divided churches.  Even so, the words "visible unity,"
edited out of key portions of an earlier CUV draft, were restored in the
final report approved this week.The final text is a modification of a
document drawn up by the Central Committee s drafting group in October
1996 and sent to the WCC s member churches for their comments.  The
current version reflects some 153 responses from the churches and
WCC ecumenical partners, (including the Roman Catholic Church, which
is not a member of the WCC) and scores of modifications suggested by
unit committees and Central Committee members this week.

The committee gave final approval to CUV Thursday afternoon
(September 18) after WCC General Secretary Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser
(Evangelical Church in Germany) noted that changes approved by
Central Committee members had not altered the basic substance of the
report after changes recommended by member churches had been taken
into account.  Dr Raiser made the comment in response to a concern
raised by Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Peristerion (Church of Greece)
that Orthodox members of the Committee would not have the authority to
vote on changes offered at this meeting. 

Mr Vladimir Shmaly (Russian Orthodox Church) moved to make the CUV
report a "reference document" rather than a policy statement, but the
motion failed.  WCC President Dr Aaron Tolen (Presbyterian Church of
Cameroon) noted: "From the beginning of this process the objective of
our work was to arrive at a policy statement."

The Committee also approved the broad outlines of a proposal to
streamline the organisational structure of the WCC by honing its four
units and offices now attached to its general secretariat into a "a single
administrative whole" with a central budget.  

Harare Assembly: Turn to God -- Rejoice in Hope

Despite changes in two previously announced dates for the Eighth
Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe, Central Committee members were
assured that plans for the meeting are proceeding.  Mr Densen
Mafinyani, general secretary of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches,
declared that churches in Zimbabwe and throughout Africa "are waiting
to receive you with warm hands and hearts."

Mr Mafinyani also assured the committee that the Assembly dates -- 3-14
December 1998 -- "are firmly signed".  The meeting will take place on the
campus of the University of Zimbabwe in Harare, which is expected to
host some 4,000 delegates and visitors.

The Assembly theme is "Turn to God -- Rejoice in Hope."  Participants will
help celebrate the first half-century of the WCC s existence in a mood of
"Jubilee," based on the  biblical notion that every 50 years debts should
be forgiven and real estate should be returned to the original owners. 
Member churches will be called to recommit themselves to the WCC and
the ecumenical movement in a celebration beginning 20 September 1998
in Amsterdam, Netherlands, the city of the Council s birth in 1948, and
climaxing at the Assembly in Harare on 13 December 1998.

Bishop Jonas Jonson (Church of Sweden), moderator of the Assembly
Planning Committee, described key components of the Assembly.  An
on-site "Padare" (a Shona word meaning "meeting place") will offer
assembly delegates and visitors an unprecedented opportunity to share
ideas, songs, dances and other facets of their faith and culture. 
Delegates will also attend hearings which will provide them with a
chance to evaluate WCC programmes since Canberra and suggest new
work for the future.

Statements on Public Issues

Continuing its concern since 1993 for the Ogoni region of Nigeria, the
Committee expressed dismay over accusations that the country s
consortium of international oil companies has caused environmental
devastation and has cooperated with the military and police to repress
civilians. It welcomed continuing dialogue with Shell International, the
leading member of the consortium, and called on it to negotiate with the
Ogoni people over reparation for environmental damage.  
The Committee called on the oil companies to use their influence with the
military government to promote human rights and democratic freedom. If
their initiatives are ignored, the Committee said, the companies should
withhold cooperation from the Government until it allows the restoration
of democratic rule. 	

On the civil war in Sudan, the Committee backed peace moves by the
country s churches and called for an immediate cease-fire among the
factions in the south and by the Government.

The Committee asked for an ecumenical team to visit Iraq to see how
civilians are suffering from the UN sanctions. A report will be put before
the Executive Committee early next year for action. The Committee also
asked WCC General Secretary Dr Raiser to send an ecumenical team to
the churches of Sierra Leone to support their peace-making efforts.

Dr Raiser and His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia (Armenian
Apostolic Church), moderator of the Central Committee, sent a letter to
the Diplomatic Conference on Landmines while it was in session in Oslo,
expressing the hope that it would lead to a true ban treaty without
exemptions or reservations.

A report on "Living Letters", 75 teams sent by the WCC to practically all
its 330 member churches under the Ecumenical Decade of Churches in
Solidarity with Women, said the overriding concerns  revealed were the
violence committed against women and their particular vulnerability to
poverty and racism.

The WCC officers also sent a letter to churches in Jerusalem on
Thursday (18 September) to express "solidarity with all those who are
the victims of unacceptable collective punishment" in the Holy Land
following recent terrorist bombings.  "We denounce all forms of violence,
whether by individuals or authorities," the letter said.

Also on Thursday, Rev. Dwain Epps, coordinator of public affairs for the
WCC, sent a letter to President Chandrika Kumaratunga of  Sri Lanka
expressing the WCC s distress at the death of Rev. Innasi Arulpalan,
whose body was found 13 days after he was detained by Sri Lankan
security forces.  Two lay church workers had died with Mr Arulpalan,
according to later reports.  The WCC called for an immediate judicial
commission to investigate the murders.

New Members, Associate Councils and Ecumenical Organisations

The number of WCC member churches will rise to 332 as the Central
Committee approved the application of two new members and one
associate member.  The action takes effect in six months.  The United
Church in Papua New Guinea (about 600,000 members) and the United
Church in Solomon Islands (about 45,000 members) were each accepted
into full membership.  The churches came into being after the former
United Church in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands dissolved
in November 1996.

The Christian Biblical Church in Argentina (Iglesia Biblica Cristiana) was
received as an associate member church of the WCC.  Associate
member churches meet all the criteria of member churches but have
fewer than 25,000 members.  The Christian Biblical Church in Argentina
has 10,000 "active believers and reaches out to a church population of
over 30,000," according to a WCC document.  The Central Committee
received the Ecumenical Council of Christian Churches of Congo as an
associate council with the WCC.

The Committee, acting on a rule it approved in 1995, also approved the
application of 20 international ecumenical organisations to enter into a
working relationship with the WCC.  The relationship permits each
organisation to send a delegated representative to the Assembly in
Harare next year.
The applications approved were from: DIAKONIA World Federation of
Diaconal Associations and Diaconical Communities, Organisation of
African-Instituted Churches, World Association of Christian
Communication, World Student Christian Federation, World Alliance of
Young Men s Christian Associations, and the International Christian
Youth Exchange (ICYE).

Also, World Day of Prayer -- International Committee, The Fellowship of
the Least Coin, Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians,
Association of Protestant Development Organisations in Europe
(APRODEV), Ecumenical Development Cooperative Society (EDCS),
European Ecumenical Commission for Church and Society (EECS), Life
and Peace Institute and Christian Peace Conference (CPC).

Also, International Federation of the Action of Christians for the Abolition
of Torture (FI.ACAT), Evangelical Community for Apostolic Action, the
Council for World Mission, World Vision International and Nordic
Ecumenical Council.

Reports from Officers and Units

The Central Committee heard reports by its moderator and general
secretary and approved reports by the four programme units of the
World Council of Churches.

Dr Raiser gave the committee an upbeat view of the WCC s current
work, which he believes is beginning to suggest answers to some of the
problems facing the Church and the world.  The general secretary also
expressed the belief that the globalisation of economic markets is
seriously harming the common good, environmental sustainability and
democracy.

His Holiness Aram I called upon member churches to "recommit
ourselves to a fellowship of risks and hopes".  He expressed the fear
that the WCC is in "institutional paralysis" because it is so absorbed with
structures and programmes, but he expressed confidence that the
Common Understanding and Vision process has the potential of helping
to Council alleviate those problems.

The moderators of the unit committees reported on the work of the
committees that took place Monday and Tuesday (September 15 and 16).
 All four of the committees spent time assessing their programmatic work
since the Canberra Assembly in 1991 and reacting to the draft document
on Common Understanding and Vision.

Dr Paul A. Crow Jr. (Christian Church, Disciples of Christ), co-moderator
of Unit I (Unity and Renewal) presented several recommendations to the
Central Committee, including one that the Committee transmit its report on
a common date of Easter to the Assembly in Harare.  The report came
out of a consultation this year in Aleppo, Syria,  that offered a plan to
enable Eastern and Western branches of the church to celebrate Easter,
the observance of the resurrection of Christ from the dead, on the same
day each year.

The current Committee passed on to the Central Committee to be elected
in Harare next year a recommendation by the Conference on World
Mission and Evangelism, held late last year in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, to
establish a Commission on World Mission and Evangelism.  The
Committee also endorsed a recommendation by Unit II (Churches in
Mission -- Health, Education Witness) to refer to the next Central
Committee a proposal to establish a Commission on Education and
Ecumenical Formation.

The work of Unit III (Justice, Peace, Creation) was reported by its
moderator, Rev. Dr Margot Kaessmann (Evangelical Church in Germany).
 The committee used videotape to report on the launching last August in
Johannesburg, South Africa, of the Programme to Overcome Violence
Peace to the City campaign.  The committee also submitted four
recommendations which were approved by the Central Committee: to
offer a hearing on globilisation at the Assembly in Harare, to affirm the
direction of the Programme to Overcome Violence; and to give special
attention to the concern for "micro-disarmament," i.e., the elimination of
small arms production and the proliferation of light weapons in cities and
towns.

The Central Committee approved a recommendation by Unit IV (Sharing
and Service) to commend member churches that have supported the
Council s 1995 statement on uprooted people and invited churches and
related ecumenical organisations to develop a global church strategy to
support the dignity of uprooted people. 

Finances

The Central Committee heard a report that "unexpectedly good
investment results in 1996" had reduced the anticipated shortfall in the
1996 budget to 2.4 million Swiss francs.  "This was not in the end quite
as bad as anticipated," the Committee was told.

General income and expenditures in 1997 "are below budget" in 1997,
according to a report from the finance committee.  The 1997 budget of
80.7 million Swiss francs is balanced "by making some further agreed
cuts in services and activities," the report said.  The 1998 budget plans
expenditures of 73.2 million Swiss francs.  

The finance committee said that "Income development is a matter which
requires a great deal more work" and suggested that "the 50th
Anniversary of the WCC (in 1998) should be seen as an opportunity for
communicating the vision and for special fund raising".

NOTE TO EDITORS:

Photographs of the Central Committee are available on-line at
http://www.wcc-coe.org/photo

**********
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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