WCC Media media@wcc-coe.org> 26/11/2007 04:58 PM >> ( mailto: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 - 26/11/2007 4:35:22 PM
NIGERIAN METHODIST LEADER HEADS INTER-CHURCH GROUP CHARGED WITH RE-ENVISIONING A "POLYCENTRIC" ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT
Methodist archbishop Michael Kehinde Stephen of Nigeria has been chosen to moderate the Continuing Committee on Ecumenism in the 21st Century, a group assigned to monitor and encourage initiatives in the global quest for Christian unity. He was affirmed by consensus of the fourteen members attending the committeeâs first meeting during the week of 18-20 November in Bossey, Switzerland.
Archbishop Stephen was active in two earlier conferences that led to establishment of the continuing committee: a 2003 session in Antelias, Lebanon on âreconfiguring the ecumenical movementâ € and a 106-person consultation in late 2004 at Chavannes-de-Bogis, Switzerland on âecumenism in the 21st centuryâ.
A quartet of alp-horns welcomed the committee to the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey and was featured in opening prayers, emphasizing the Swiss context for the gathering of Christian leaders from six regions of the world. The group included representatives of the Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, Protestant and Pentecostal churches as well as Christian youth, regional ecumenical organizations, Christian world communions, national councils of churches and relief and development agencies.
Georges Lemopoulos, deputy general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), noted that the process leading from Antelias to Bossey has relied on the Councilâs backing but is not under its control. In recent years, Lemopoulos said, âwe have sincerely moved from seeing the WCC as the central, privileged instrument of the ecumenical movement to a vision of a polycentric movementâ. The Council has been seeking new and renewed partnerships with Evangelical and Pentecostal churches as well as the Roman Catholic Church in a manner âcharacterized by a spirit of mutuality and cooperation, by a practice of shared tasks and resources, by a common policy of avoiding competition and the demarcation of areas of influenceâ. He called this process âa shared journeyâ in which the WCC wishes to assist administratively by ensuring coherence and effectiveness.
Robina Winbush, a member of the WCC central committee, agreed that the Council has no desire to be the âcentre or controlling forceâ in emerging initiatives toward unity in Christ. âThi s is not about institutional survival issues,â she said, âbut about re-envisioning what is possible. My prayer is that the future of institutions will also become plain along the way.â
Rudolf von Sinner of the SÃo Leopoldo school of theology in Brazil pointed out that the Greek term pistiscan mean both âfaith â and âtrustâ. It is through recognition of mutual faith in one God that Christians âcan risk to trust each other. This makes us vulnerable, but it is the only way to build meaningful relationships.â Beyond trust, he stressed the need for âcon crete goals, from practical cooperation to strengthening relationships between congregations and participation in the struggle for a more just, more democratic and more peaceful worldâ.
Several committee members reported on the recent Global Christian Forum ( http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=4775 )in Limuru, Kenya, an example of Christians from an unusually wide range of traditions discovering common ground for dialogue and cooperation.
Several institutional recommendations were forwarded by the continuing committee to the February 2008 meeting of the WCC central committee. Amongst them, one proposed to arrange for an inter-organizational planning of an extended gathering at the time of the WCCâs Tenth Assembly in 2013. This would allow for the meeting of many Christian organizatio ns in what each would consider âhome spaceâ rather than âguest spaceâ. In line with this goal, planning of WCC business sessions should be separate from the planning of common activities including worship.
Stories, reflections and photos from the Global Christian Forum meeting in Limuru, Kenya: http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=4775
WCC and the ecumenical movement in the 21st century: http://www.oikoumene.org/en/programmes/the-wcc-and-the-ecumenical-movement- in-the-21st-century.html
Additional information:Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363media@wcc-coe.org
The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 347 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
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