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6-November-1998 
98356 
    World Council of Churches Assembly Nears 
 
    by John M. Newbury 
    WCC Office of News and Information 
 
GENEVA- There are two months to go until the World Council of Churches 
(WCC) Eighth Assembly, scheduled for Dec.3-14 at the University of Zimbabwe 
in Harare.  The theme of the Assembly is "Turn to God - Rejoice in Hope." 
In this, the 50th anniversary year of the WCC, an underlying motif of the 
Assembly will be jubilee. 
 
    President Robert Mugabe is expected to attend the Opening Plenary 
session of the Assembly on the afternoon of  Dec. 3 following the opening 
worship service. 
 
    The preacher at the opening service will be Rev. Eunice Santana from 
Puerto Rico.  Santana is one of the eight presidents of the WCC elected at 
the last Assembly in Canberra, Australia in 1991.  She is a member of the 
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and works for the Puerto Rican 
National Ecumenical Movement. 
 
    The jubilee of the WCC will be celebrated in a multi-media event on the 
afternoon of Sept. 13, when one of the main speakers will be the Rev. 
Philip Potter, third general secretary of the WCC (1972-84).  Dr Potter is 
from Dominica in the West Indies and a member of the Methodist Church in 
the Caribbean and the Americas.  He will speak about the contribution of 
the WCC to the world community over the past fifty years of its existence. 
 
    Presiding over the event will be Dr Pauline Webb, a prominent ecumenist 
and broadcaster who was the first woman officer of the WCC.  Webb, a 
Methodist from the United Kingdom, was elected vice-moderator of the WCC 
central committee in 1968.  In the celebration in Harare, she 
will take Assembly participants on a journey through the WCC's history with 
particular emphasis on the world and church context in which previous 
assemblies took place. 
 
    The Eighth Assembly will address a number of burning contemporary 
issues including: 
 
  *    The present situation of Africa and the role of common Christian 
witness in this context.  An Africa plenary on Dec. 8 will present a 
realistic image of Africa, both positive and negative.  It will challenge 
the ecumenical movement to affirm Africa in this era of globalization which 
tends to exclude the continent.  The plenary is likely to end with a 
dramatic act of commitment by all Africans present to work for a better 
Africa and to say never again will Africa suffer humiliation. 
The Assembly is expected to make its own formal response to this act of 
commitment. 
  *    An appeal in the spirit of the biblical jubilee to end the 
stranglehold of international debt on impoverished people, especially in 
Africa.  This appeal will take the form of an Assembly Statement which 
delegates will be asked to consider and confirm.  The statement is likely 
to have as its title "Let the Trumpet Sound." 
  *    An ecumenical response to the challenges of globalization.  A 
special hearing on globalization will take place on Dec. 9 and there will 
be three seminars addressing critical issues of globalization within the 
context of the Padare (a Shona word meaning meeting place).  One of these 
on Dec. 9 will be on the power of global communication today.  It will be 
chaired by Mike Wooldridge, BBC South Asia Correspondent and former BBC 
Religious Affairs Correspondent.  The president of CNN International, Chris 
Cramer, will be one of the panelists. 
  *    The ecumenical responsibility of churches with regard to human 
rights, especially in this 50th anniversary year of the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights.  To mark this occasion, a special event is 
planned for Human Rights Day (Dec. 10) in the context of the Padare at 
which the main speaker will be Thomas Hammarberg the former 
Secretary-General of Amnesty International.  He is currently working in the 
Swedish Foreign Ministry and has carried out missions on human rights on 
behalf of U.N.  Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who will himself send a video 
message to the meeting.  A formal declaration of the Assembly (to be agreed 
on at an earlier business session) will be issued on Human Rights Day to 
mark the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Later 
in the Assembly program, delegates will consider a Memorandum and 
Recommendations on Ecumenical Policy on Human Rights. 
  *    A women's festival just prior to the Assembly will present a 
declaration of the ecumenical vision of women to the Assembly, building on 
the Ecumenical Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women, which ends this 
year.  A Decade plenary session at the Assembly will assess the 
impact of the Decade, affirm the positive changes that have taken place in 
the life of the churches and challenge the churches to recognize issues 
that need continued attention in the future. 
  *    The status of Jerusalem.  The Assembly will be asked to consider a 
Statement on the Status of Jerusalem in the light of the WCC's long concern 
for this city and its inhabitants, as well as peace in the Middle East. 
  *    The formation of a forum of Christian churches and ecumenical 
organizations.  The Assembly will be asked to react to a proposal 
formulated by representatives from different groups of ecumenical partners 
which will be presented to their various governing bodies. Although the WCC 
is the most comprehensive grouping of the world's churches, a number of 
confessional and ecumenical bodies are not members, among them the Roman 
Catholic Church.  The proposed forum is seen as a place for building more 
inclusive relationships.  Participation, not membership, is foreseen and 
the forum, if eventually created, would provide opportunities for worship, 
exploration of matters of common Christian concern and development of 
enhanced mutual understanding.  The occasional gatherings of the forum are 
not conceived of as decision-making, program-initiating or 
document-producing events.  However, they might lead to new forms of 
cooperation. 
 
         Plenary on the main theme: "Turn to God - Rejoice in Hope" 
 
    The first deliberative plenary session of the Assembly, on Dec. 4, will 
concentrate on the Assembly theme, "Turn to God -- Rejoice in Hope."  Main 
speakers will be the Rev. Wanda Deifelt,  Kosuke Koyama and Archbishop 
Anastasios Yannoulatos. 
 
     Deifelt is a Lutheran from Brazil and professor of systematic theology 
at the seminary of the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession, Sao 
Leopoldo, Brazil.  She is a member of the 
board of the WCC's Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland, and 
attended the WCC's Conference on World Mission and Evangelism in Brazil in 
1996. 
 
    Kosuke Koyama is from Japan and a member of the United Church of Christ 
in Japan. He first came to public prominence with his 1974 book, 
"Waterbuffalo Theology."   Koyama is a former dean of the South East Asia 
Graduate School of Theology and editor of the South East Asia 
Journal of Theology.  Until his retirement in 1996, he was professor of 
Ecumenics and World Christianity at Union Theological Seminary in New York 
City. 
 
    Archbishop Anastasios Yannoulatos is a member of the Greek Orthodox 
Church.  He went to Albania in 1991 to contribute to the reconstruction and 
reorganization of the Albanian Orthodox Church.  In 1992 he became 
Archbishop of Tirana and All Albania.  He was formerly acting 
archbishop for the East African Diocese of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate 
of Alexandria, and moderator of the WCC's Commission on World Mission and 
Evangelism from 1983-1991. 
 
    Plenary on the Ecumenical Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women 
 
    On Dec. 7, a plenary session will review the Ecumenical Decade of 
Churches in Solidarity with Women and consider challenges arising from it. 
Speakers for the plenary will be Metropolitan Ambrosius, the Rev. Lala 
Biasima, the Rev. M. Deenabandhu, Mukami McCrum, Despina Prassas and the 
Rev. Bertrice Wood. 
 
    Metropolitan Ambrosius is a member of the Orthodox Church of Finland 
and Metropolitan of the Diocese of Oulu.  He is a member of the WCC Central 
Committee, and a former member of the Faith and Order Commission (1983-91). 
 
    The Rev. Lala Biasima is a member of the Eglise du Christ au Congo 
(Church of Christ in Congo).  She is a theologian who has worked actively 
on justice concerns including the issue of economic justice for women. 
 
    The Rev. M. Deenabandhu, from India, is a Lutheran pastor and Dalit 
theologian.  He is currently a doctoral student in Sathri, India. 
 
    Mukami McCrum is Kenyan and now lives in Scotland where she is a member 
of the Church of Scotland. 
 
    Despina Prassas is a member of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, U.S. 
Diocese, and a student of theology. 
 
    The Rev. Bertrice Wood, of the United Church of Christ, USA, was the 
moderator of the Working Group on Women which planned and proposed the 
Decade. 
 
                         Africa Plenary 
 
    On Dec. 8 a plenary on Africa will present an overview of the current 
state of Africa and consider the responsibility of the international 
community and world churches for the future of the continent.  Speakers 
will be Mercy Amba Oduyoye and the Rev. Barney Pityana. 
 
    Mercy Amba Oduyoye is a Methodist from Ghana, a former WCC deputy 
general secretary (1987-1994) and now a professor at the University of 
Ghana. 
 
    The Rev. Barney Pityana, from South Africa, is an Anglican priest and 
chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of South Africa.  He is a former 
director of the WCC's Program to Combat Racism (1988-1992), and has also 
taught at the University of Cape Town. 
 
                  "Common Vision and Understanding" Plenary 
 
    "Towards a Common Understanding and Vision of the World Council of 
Churches"(CUV) is the title of a statement adopted by the Central Committee 
of the WCC in September 1997.  It grew out of a study begun in 1989, and 
draws on insights from many churches, organizations, 
groups and individuals. 
 
    The full text of this statement weaves together understandings that 
have emerged from fifty years of discussions within the WCC of the unity of 
the church with an overview and analysis of the contemporary challenges 
facing churches around the world in their life and witness and in their 
relations with one another. 
 
    The CUV plenary will enable delegates to discuss the future raison 
d'etre and work of the WCC in the light of the CUV statement.  The Assembly 
is expected to formulate a response to the statement and to reflect its own 
ecumenical vision for the future in the final Assembly Message. 
 
                 Concerns raised by the Orthodox churches 
 
    It is widely known that Orthodox member churches of the WCC have raised 
a number of important concerns about their participation in the WCC. 
Earlier this year, a gathering of Orthodox churches recommended limited 
participation in the Assembly. 
 
    Serious and intense work has been done by the WCC general secretary and 
the moderator of the Central Committee in the area of Orthodox concerns. 
Ample space within the context of the plenary discussions on Common 
Understanding and Vision will be provided in the Assembly program for the 
articulation of Orthodox concerns. 
 
    It is expected that Orthodox participants' involvement in the Assembly 
will vary from delegation to delegation.  It is likely that a few Orthodox 
churches may reduce the number and seniority of their delegates. 
 
    The Assembly is expected to affirm the importance of Orthodox 
participation in all aspects of the WCC's life and witness and to set up of 
a Mixed Theological Commission after the Assembly to address issues related 
to Orthodox participation in the life of the WCC. 
 
                        Hearings and Padare 
 
    In the first of two phases of hearings, the Assembly will evaluate the 
programs and other activities the WCC has undertaken since the previous 
assembly in 1991.  Then, in a second phase, six hearings organized around 
broad areas of concern (Unity, Justice and Peace, Moving Together, 
Learning, Witness, and Solidarity) will develop mandates for the work of 
the WCC in the years to come.  The Assembly will then consider what emerges 
from the hearings, as well as concerns 
expressed within the Padare, and make its own decisions about future policy 
and priorities. 
 
    The Padare is an integral part of the Assembly but does not form part 
of the business agenda.  It is an opportunity for churches, ecumenical 
organizations and others whose work impacts on and reflects WCC concerns, 
to take part in a time of mutual exploration, learning and discussion.  It 
will be a time for sharing experience, concerns and wisdom with Assembly 
participants.  Over 250 offerings are scheduled for the five days of the 
Padare, Dec. 7-11. 

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