wfn.org | WCC NEWS: WCC executive committee to meet in Seoul, Korea

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches - News Release
Contact: +41 22 791 6153   +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org 
For immediate release - 16/08/2004

 WCC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE TO MEET FOR FIRST TIME IN KOREA;
 GENERAL SECRETARY TO VISIT KOREAN CHURCHES

 The vitality of the churches and the ecumenical movement in Korea and the
 region will be at the centre of attention during a 24-27 August 2004 World
 Council of Churches (WCC) executive committe meeting in Seoul. The meeting
 will be preceded by a visit by the WCC general secretary to the Korean
 churches from 18-20 August 2004, and by a special programme for WCC
 executive committee members from 21-23 August 2004.

Peace and reconciliation in the divided peninsula has received particular
attention from the churches and the WCC for decades; it will be the focus
of a statement by the executive committee on Korea. . The committee will
address other situations of international concern, including events in
Sudan, Zimbabwe, and Somalia.

Preparations for the WCC's 9th assembly, to be held in Brazil in February
2006, will also receive priority attention. In addition, the committee will
review applications for membership from several churches, and a series of
proposed amendments to membership rules.

Also on the agenda are a review of the WCC's Pacific office, a progress
report on relations with partner organizations, a detailed programme report
for the first half of 2004, and an update on the council's finances.

For the first time, the executive committee will be using a consensus
method of decision-making as a new methodology of work to be applied at
major WCC meetings. This approach to decision-making was proposed by the
Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the WCC, and is seen as a
more inclusive and conciliar way of working.

WCC leadership to visit Korean churches

Prior to the meeting, the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia will
visit WCC member churches in Korea, and a series of encounters with church
leadership and congregations is planned (18-20 August).

A special programme (21-23 August) for the members of the executive
committee will include a visit to the demilitarized zone that divides North
and South Korea.

The programme also includes worship in local church communities, as well as
a reception hosted by the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) and
the Korean ministry of culture. An audience with the president of the
Republic of Korea, H.E. Roh Moo-hyun, is also foreseen.

On 23 August, the NCCK will organize a seminar on the future of ecumenism
which will be addressed by WCC leadership.

The executive committee meeting is being hosted by the NCCK and the four
WCC member churches in the country: the Anglican Church of Korea, the
Korean Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea,
and the Presbyterian Church of Korea.

The 25-member executive committee is the highest governing body between
meetings of the WCC central committee, and it usually meets twice-yearly.
Its moderator is Catholicos Aram I, head of the Armenian Apostolic Church
(Cilicia).

Media contact: Ms Jung Hae-Sun, 82-2-745-4943, 82-16-396-2876 (mobile),
jhs@kncc.or.kr 

Programme highlights for press:

18 August
16:00  WCC general secretary gives press conference at Korea Christian
Building

20 August
09:20  WCC general secretary visits the Christian Broadcasting System and
gives an interview

21 August
Morning:  WCC general secretary attends the North East Asia church leaders'
meeting at the Centennial Building

22 August
09:00  WCC executive committee members visit local churches

18:30  Welcome reception (hosted by NCCK )

23 August
09:30  International Forum on New Vision and Challenges to Ecumenism in the
21st Century (80th anniversary celebration of  NCCK)

16:00  Visit to office of South and North Dialogue

17:20  Welcome reception (hosted by minister of culture and tourism)

24 August
16:00  Visit to the Blue House (presidential office)

27 August
14:00  WCC leadership give a press conference at Korea Christian Building

Website of the National Council of Churches in Korea
http://www.kncc.or.kr 

Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153  +41 79 507 6363
	 media@wcc-coe.org 

The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 342, in more
than 120 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, Netherlands. Its staff is headed by
general secretary Samuel Kobia from the Methodist church in Kenya.

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