wfn.org | INCOMING, OUTGOING WCC GENERAL SECRETARIES ADDRESS AACC

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

For Immediate Release
AACC Media Team: (011) 237 966 3059 or 3063

INCOMING, OUTGOING WCC GENERAL SECRETARIES ADDRESS AACC

November 24, 2003, Yaounde, Cameroon - The World Council of Churches'
outgoing and incoming general secretaries today (Nov. 24) hailed the long-
standing and enduring bonds between the WCC and Africa's churches, whose
modeling of "economies of affection" and collaboration is much needed by
the global ecumenical movement.

Addressing the 8th Assembly of the All Africa Conference of Churches,
meeting here Nov. 22-27, the Rev. Dr. Konrad Raiser and the Rev. Dr.
Samuel Kobia also extended challenges to Africa's churches to make
ecumenism real "on the ground" in local communities and to join forces for
radical structure change in the "almost intolerable" living conditions of
Africa's working poor.

The two spoke at a plenary "AACC Celebrates World Ecumenism," at which
many bonds of affection were evident as the Rev. Dr. Mvume Dandala, AACC
General Secretary, hailed Dr. Raiser for his "extensive commitment to
Africa" manifested during his tenure as WCC General Secretary.	Dr. Kobia,
who succeeds Dr. Raiser on January 1, was for his part welcomed as the
first WCC General Secretary from Africa.

The AACC presented plaques of tribute to Dr. Raiser and to Melaku Kifle,
seconded by the WCC to the AACC as Acting General Secretary during the
past 18 months despite the financial stresses and cutbacks burdening the
WCC at the time.  Said Dr. Kobia, "(He) led the AACC through a process of
institutional renewal and ecumenical confidence that has rekindled hope
for AACC."  Dr. Kobia was presented with a Bible.

Dr. Raiser, in his address, reviewed the challenges facing global
ecumenism, including the pressure for "pragmatic organizational and
structure changes" in order to "increase 'relevance' and 'attractiveness'
by adopting 'looser, lighter and more flexible structures.'"

"Clear goals and objectives are important," he said, "but we must avoid
the appearance of being resource driven.  We are the trustees and carriers
of a vision ... expressed in the prayer of the Lord that all may be one
and in the story of the great feast where all - from East and West, North
and South - are gathered around the table."

"There is a growing tendency among religious organizations, including
those involved in the ecumenical movement, to seek wide visibility and
strengthen their distinctive profile; they are thus seeking to adapt to
the competitive rules of the global context," Dr. Raiser said.

"The mission of the ecumenical movement, however, calls for increased
cooperation and partnership, for mutual support, instead of maximizing
growth and influence at the expense of other partners," he said.  "It
favors multilateral instead of bilateral relationships and is best
expressed in conciliar structures rather than strengthening
denominationalism."

The ecumenical movement's quest for unity is not an end in itself, Dr.
Raiser continued.  "Unity at the expense of justice and the
acknowledgement of the dignity of people is not the unity that our Lord
prayed for."  He described the "acute sense of the need for the churches
to overcome their separation, which can be easily exploited for political
purposes" - a longing he said he has felt in many of his visits to Africa,
including his recent visit to Angola.

During a discussion period, Dr. Raiser challenged Africa's churches to
make ecumenism real "on the ground" in local communities.  "On many of my
visits to Africa, I was sad that it took my visit for local churches to
come together and that it wasn't happening without my visit," he said,
drawing applause from the Assembly.

Dr. Kobia traced the WCC's contributions from its beginnings as "a new
space in which all churches feel at home....For the first time, many
African leaders attending the various meetings of the WCC were able to
connect with Africans in the diaspora.	Women and youth also have found a
place to be at home."

The World Council of Churches' accompaniment the anti-apartheid
movement "was one of the greatest contributions the WCC has made to Africa
and the world."  South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission is a
model that's being picked up elsewhere in the world.  The WCC-crafted
ecumenical response to the HIV/AIDS crisis now is being implemented on the
ground in Africa's subregions, he said.  Note also was made of the WCC's
work for peace in the Sudan.

Dr. Kobia spoke of the important model Africans bring to broader global
ecumenism "in their emphasis on the relational dimensions of life,
enabling us to listen in more depth.  The African legacy of economies of
affection has made us able to survive even with the challenge of
HIV/AIDS.  We want to bring this strength into the (wider) ecumenical
movement."

Like Dr. Raiser, Dr. Kobia also pressed for an ecumenism that reaches into
the grassroots and works for justice. "The churches are called together to
be creative and not driven by ideological but theological imperatives for
radical structural change in the living conditions of the working poor,"
which for many in Africa "are almost intolerable," he said.

"They ought to establish parish networks of social study groups and
awareness building initiatives that will strengthen the ecumenical
movement from below.  It is vitally important that we bring theology back
to the people, and craft new themes of spirituality that are congenial to
our unique experience and place in the world."

Both Dr. Kobia and Dr. Raiser emphasized the importance of "ecumenical
formation" of each succeeding generation, saying it takes hard and
constant work to transmit and renew the ecumenical vision with the passage
of time.

Carol J. Fouke-Mpoyo	AACC