wfn.org | WCC - Communique from Special Commission on Orthodox....

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

World Council of Churches
Update, Up-01-40
For Immediate Use
21 November 2001

Special Commission on Orthodox participation in the WCC:
Consensus on consensus as appropriate decision-making method for
the Council

cf. WCC Press Update, Up-00-36, of 26 October 2000
cf. WCC Press Update of 9 December 1999

At the conclusion of its third plenary meeting, the Special
Commission on Orthodox Participation in the World Council of
Churches (WCC), meeting in Berekfurdo, Hungary, 15-20 November,
released the following communique:  

Communique

The Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the World
Council of Churches (WCC) held its third plenary session, 15-20
November 2001, at Berekfurdo, Hungary, at the gracious invitation
of the Reformed Church in Hungary.  

The Commission is composed of an equal number of representatives
appointed by the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches and
representatives from other member churches of the WCC appointed
by the WCC Central Committee. Its co-moderators were Metropolitan
Chrysostomos of Ephesus (Ecumenical Patriarchate) and Bishop Rolf
Koppe (Evangelical Church in Germany) and in Bishop Koppe's
absence, Dr Anna Marie Aagaard (Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Denmark).  

The mandate of the Special Commission is "to study and analyze
the whole spectrum of issues related to Orthodox participation in
the WCC" and "to make proposals concerning the necessary changes
in structure, style and ethos of the Council" to the WCC Central
Committee.  

An interim report, summarizing the Commission's work from its
first and second plenary meetings in Morges, Switzerland, 6-8
December 1999, and Cairo, Egypt, 23-25 October 2000, was
presented to the WCC Central Committee meeting in Potsdam,
Germany, 29 January - 6 February 2001. The interim report
identified five clusters of concerns:  

-  issues related to membership;
- a review of decision-making processes;
- common prayer;
- social and ethical issues;
- ecclesiological issues.  

At its third plenary meeting, the Commission made considerable
progress. One of the most significant affirmations of the
Commission was that consensus is the appropriate decision-making
method for WCC governing bodies. This process intends to insure
that all strongly held positions will be incorporated in the
report or in the process of the meeting as a whole, thus
contributing to a spirit of common work toward unity in the
conduct of business in the Council. By consensus, the Commission
proposed the following definition for further consideration: 

The consensus method is a process for seeking the common mind of
a meeting without deciding issues by means of voting. A consensus
is reached when one of the following occurs:  

(a) all are in agreement (unanimity);

(b) most are in agreement and those who disagree are content
that the discussion has been both full and fair and that the
proposal expresses the general 'mind of the meeting'; the
minority therefore gives consent;

(c) the meeting acknowledges that there are various opinions,
and it is agreed that these be recorded in the body of the
proposal (not just in the minutes);

(d) it is agreed that the matter be postponed;

(e) it is agreed that no decision can be reached.  

Therefore consensus procedures allow any group of churches,
through a spokesperson, to have their objections to any proposal
addressed and satisfied prior to the adoption of the proposal, or
on rare occasions for any group of churches to stop any proposal
until they are satisfied that their concerns have been fully
addressed.  

It was recommended that, upon the completion of the work of the
Special Commission, "a parity committee", a group of 12 members -
50 per cent Orthodox and 50 per cent others - will continue to
give advice and make recommendations to the Central and Executive
Committees of the WCC.  

The Commission affirmed the function of the WCC as a necessary
instrument in facing social and ethical issues. Taking seriously
that such issues arise out of the life of the churches, and that,
at the churches' request, the WCC speaks on their behalf rather
than in their place, the Commission affirmed that consensus
methodology in WCC governing bodies would address many of the
concerns raised on social and ethical issues.  

Addressing issues of common prayer, the Commission expressed
that "Christians need to plead together for divine assistance".
At the same time the Commission saw the need for careful
guidelines for common prayer.  

Underlying these discussions was the enduring question of how
the churches understand themselves in relation to the one Church,
the Body of Christ. This question was seen to permeate all issues
under discussion.  

Representatives of the membership study group, who met prior to
the plenary session of the Commission in Budapest, 12-14
November, presented a second interim report, exploring
alternative models of participation in the life and work of the
WCC. With the help of members of the Special Commission, the
membership study group is continuing to prepare a new set of
criteria - embracing both theological and ecclesial requirements
- for the benefit of churches applying for membership. It was
expected that current member churches would find themselves
described by these criteria.  

The members of the Commission attended Sunday worship in the
Debrecen Reformed Great Church and visited the Debrecen Reformed
College. During the worship, both co-moderators, Metropolitan
Chrysostomos of Ephesus and Dr Anna Marie Aagaard, addressed the
congregation and gave an account of the work of the Special
Commission. At a lunch reception, the presiding bishop of the
Reformed Church in Hungary, Bishop Dr Gusztav Bolcskei, as well
as the president, Bishop Dr Mihaly Markus, and the general
secretary, Rev. Dr Tibor Gorog, of the Hungarian Ecumenical
Council welcomed the Commission members. On behalf of the
Commission members, Dr Aagaard expressed her warmest gratitude
for the hospitality of the Reformed Church in Hungry and thanked
Bishop Bolcskei and Rev. Bertalan Tamas for the excellent
preparatory work and coordination. At the close of the meeting,
Commission members also expressed their thanks to the WCC staff
for their hard work on behalf of the group.  

The Commission plans to meet in plenary session in Helsinki,
Finland, 27 May - 2 June 2002, to prepare the final report which
is expected for the WCC Central Committee meeting to be held in
Geneva, Switzerland, 26 August - 3 September 2002.  
---------------------------------

The Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the WCC was
created by the WCC's eighth assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe, in
1998. Behind the decision to create the Commission were
increasingly vocal expressions of concerns about the WCC among
Orthodox churches. These had culminated in a meeting of Eastern
Orthodox Churches in Thessaloniki, Greece, in May 1998. Central
Orthodox concerns as summarized by that meeting included some
activities of the WCC itself, "certain developments within some
Protestant member churches of the Council that are reflected in
the debates of the WCC", lack of progress in ecumenical
theological discussions, and the perception that the present
structure of the WCC makes meaningful Orthodox participation
increasingly difficult and even for some impossible. In its
action approving creation of the Special Commission, the Harare
assembly noted that "other churches and ecclesial families" have
concerns similar to those expressed by the Orthodox.  

For more information on the Special Commission please consult
http:/www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/who/special-01-e.html 

or please contact Media Relations Office, Tel:  (+41.22)
791.64.21

**********
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches,
now 342, 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, The Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general
secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

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