wfn.org | Perspective on Churches, Millennium

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Contact: NCC News, 212-870-2252
Internet: news@ncccusa.org

Y2K: `PROBLEM?' A PERSPECTIVE ON CHURCHES, MILLENNIUM

 Rosemont, Ill., Nov. 11 -- "There is little more than a year remaining
until Jan. 1, 2000.  The countdown to the new millennium is underway," said
the Rev. Barbara L. Rossing, assistant professor of New Testament, Lutheran
School of Theology at Chicago.

 Addressing the National Council of Churches of Christ (NCC) Women's
Caucus, Rossing told the group of about 100 men and women from the various
denominations that are members of the NCC, "I'm struck by the amount of
cultural attention being given to this.  On the one hand, religious
attention: the sensationalist/fundamentalist end of world scenarios, she 
said.  

 "Even more attention seems is focusing on the millennium from a
commercial, entertainment and tourism viewpoint.  Our culture is
discovering that the millennium theme sells.  From red "M&M" candies -- M
for the Roman numeral 100 -- to a Millennium Magnum Cognac carafe
advertised in the United Airlines flight magazine for $48,800," Rossing
said.

 "What does this say for churches?  What is the role of the church at the
eve of the millennium?, she asked.

 "I think the church needs to claim the millennium theme, and Revelation 20
[from the Christian Bible] if only because others are poised to claim it
and define it for us." 

 "In my view the church must use the upcoming millennium -- however
arbitrary the date -- as an occasion to offer a critique of injustice.
Just as Revelation critiqued the first century Roman political economy.
The turnover to the third millennium can be an opportunity not only for
hope-filled celebration, yes, but also for the church to offer a prophetic
reading of our times and our eschatological [end of the world] claims, to
life up the vision of `doing justice,'" she said.

 "Christians could not rush into the cultural celebrations of the 1992
Columbus Quincentenary without call for repentance.  In the same way, such
calls for repentance and renewal must be central to any millennium 
observances.  We must offer a vision of life and hope for all," said
Rossing.

 "As the year 2000 dawns, more and more of the world's people -- especially
women and children -- are living in poverty.  Since our culture has already
defined the millennium in terms of shopping days, the question for
Christians is how to counter the idea of a $48,800 "Millennium Magnum" with
a vision of a place at the table for all," she told the group.

 "Tree-planting can be a wonderfully ecological and hope-filled way for
Christian congregations to greet the Year 2000.  Such actions that extend
the church's ministry to earthkeeping will be imperative for the survival
of our planet in the new millennium," she said.

 "Christians must proclaim the hope of the risen Christ even while we also
challenge other eschatological and millennial claims.  Radical hope for the
future in the face of Roman imperial eschatology was the genius of 
Revelation's millennial vision two thousand years ago.  Such a hope can
continue to embolden our proclamation today, as we await the next
millennium," Rossing said.

 The NCC is meeting in General Assembly here, Nov. 11-13 in Rosemont, Ill.