Note #9140 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:
06097 Feb. 16, 2006
Leaders of 3 Christian groups hail plan for joint global assembly
WCC, WARC, LWF agreement called 'important step forward' for ecumenism
by Jerry L. Van Marter Ecumenical News International
PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil - Leaders of two worldwide organizations of Christian churches have responded positively to a proposal from the leader of the World Council of Churches (WCC) that all three groups jointly hold the next meetings of their highest governing bodies.
The Rev. Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the WCC, made the proposal in an address to the council's current Assembly, saying, "The next assembly of the WCC should provide a common platform for the wider ecumenical movement."
"I'm thrilled with the proposal of the general secretary that we look forward to a common global assembly," said the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC). "This is an important step forward for the ecumenical movement, and for as many Christian world communions to join us as wish to."
The proposal was also welcomed by Bishop Mark Hanson, president of the Lutheran World Federation. He told Ecumenical News International that Kobia's proposal "broadens the scope of the ecumenical movement, and provides a way for Christian world communions to make a larger contribution to the wider ecumenical movement."
In his Feb. 15 address, Kobia said: "I propose that this Assembly gives us a mandate to accelerate the dialogue with the LWF and the WARC to explore possibilities of holding our next assemblies as a combined event. And we should also invite any other world Christian body to join us in this dialogue."
Many of the WCC's more than 340 member churches also belong to other Christian world communions, such as WARC and the LWF. All three groups are headquartered at the Ecumenical Center in Geneva, Switzerland.
Like the WCC, these bodies hold large assemblies every few years, often gathering many thousands of people, who travel at great expense from all over the world. The Lutheran federation held its last assembly in Canada in 2003; the last meeting of the Reformed alliance took place in 2004, in Ghana.
The LWF general secretary, the Rev. Ishmael Noko, noting that his group had indicated previously that a joint assembly with WARC would be desirable if the WCC was included, said, "I am delighted by general secretary Kobia's positive response today."
WARC's general secretary, the Rev. Setri Nyomi, also hailed Kobia's proposal. His group floated the idea of a common assembly in 1997; a year later, the WCC started informal discussions of the possibility of a joint assembly.
In 2005, the Reformed and Lutheran groups corresponded about holding their next assemblies together, but that plan seemed to flounder in September when the LWF scheduled its next assembly for 2010 in Stuttgart, Germany. At that time, Noko expressed reservations about a joint assembly that didn't include the WCC, contending that such a gathering "could be misunderstood."
Kirkpatrick said WARC was "disappointed" that the LWF had made its decision "on its own." Nevertheless, in October WARC's executive committee postponed a decision on its next assembly until 2007, expressing hope that "ecumenical possibilities may emerge" in the meantime.
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