wfn.org | Ecumenism must Be More Popular, less Elitist, Says WCC Official

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

26-August-1999 
99281 
 
    Ecumenism must Be More Popular, less Elitist, 
    Says Leading WCC Official 
 
    by Jerry L. Van Marter 
    Ecumenical News Service 
 
GENEVA - The ecumenical movement of the 21st century must focus less on 
church institutions and more on the church as "the whole people of God," 
the moderator of the World Council of Churches' (WCC) central committee 
said on August 26. 
 
    At a press conference following his report to the 158 members of the 
central committee, who were elected in Harare last December by the WCC's 
8th assembly, Catholicos Aram I, of the Armenian Apostolic Church, said: 
"The church is not just institutions but the people of God ... we in the 
World Council of Churches must deepen our collaboration with all people." 
 
    Aram's remarks echoed the WCC's determination to reinvent itself for 
the new millennium as an institution that is less programmatic and more 
focused on the relationships between member churches and with other, 
non-member Christian bodies. 
 
    "The church is not a museum, destined to remain immutable and 
untouchable," Catholicos Aram said.  "The church is not a self-centered and 
self-sufficient reality ... the church must search constantly for more 
relevant modes of being church." 
 
    Catholicos Aram said that a clear message from the Harare assembly and 
the basic challenge of "Common Understanding and Vision" - the 
restructuring of the WCC adopted by the 8th assembly - "is that the council 
should go beyond its institutional obligations and manifestations - it 
should focus less on programs and more on fellowship-building." 
 
    The past failure of the WCC to work more closely with its member 
churches had, Catholicos Aram said, "made the council's work less relevant 
to the life of the churches, and has opened a gap between the council and 
the churches." 
 
    To achieve such global ecumenism, Aram said, a number of 20th-century 
legacies must be overcome, including: 
 
    * "predominant anthropocentrism," in which humanity fancies itself the 
master of creation at the same time that such domination "accelerates the 
process of the earth's destruction"; 
    * the predominance of ethnic identity over faith, leading to a "failure 
to respond to the gospel"; 
    * the emergence of power as "the absolute criterion of human life," 
thus creating a moral vacuum; 
    * the clash of civilizations brought on by globalization and differing 
world views. 
 
    Catholicos Aram, who is beginning his second seven-year term as 
moderator of the central committee, said one of the effects of 
globalization in many parts of the world was the introduction of "Western 
liberal values that are threatening coexistence, shared values, local 
traditions, cultures and communities." Catholicos Aram said "the church is 
ready to open itself up to new horizons." Similarly the ecumenical movement 
was willing to be transformed from a concern of the elite to an "instrument 
of the people." 
 
    At the press conference, Aram was asked about what is perhaps the most 
serious difficulty facing the WCC - difficulties in its relationship with 
some of its Orthodox member churches. Orthodox Christians are often 
critical of WCC policies and projects, which the Orthodox believe are 
overly influenced by Protestant and Western attitudes. A feared walk-out by 
some Orthodox members at the assembly in Harare was averted by the creation 
of a "Special Commission" to discuss the relationship. 
 
    However, the commission has not yet held a meeting. Asked why the body 
had not yet met, Catholicos Aram said he expected commission members who 
were in Geneva for the central committee meeting to meet informally within 
the next few days. A meeting of the full commission would be scheduled 
"before the end of the year." 
 
    Orthodox churches were "fully committed" to the commission, Catholicos 
Aram said, "but there are difficulties with some of the churches - internal 
difficulties and the Kosovo crisis primarily." 
 
    In his report Catholicos Aram also described as "premature" assumptions 
that a financial crisis at the WCC was over.  "Growing economic crises in 
some regions and constant fluctuation of major currencies may continue 
their negative impact on the financial stability of the council," he said. 
 
(ENI would like to thank the Presbyterian Church (USA) for making the 
services of Jerry L. Van Marter, director of Presbyterian News Service, 
available to ENI during the WCC's central committee meeting.) 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  This note sent by Office of News Services, 
  Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
  to the World Faith News list <wfn-news@wfn.org>.
  For additional information about this news story,
  call 502-569-5493 or send e-mail to PCUSA.News@pcusa.org

  On the web:  http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/

  If you have a question about this mailing list, 
  send queries to wfn@wfn.org