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>World Council of Churches - News

ECUMENICAL CELEBRATION WELCOMES LIVING LETTERS TEAM IN NIGERIA

>For immediate release: 17 May 2010

A Living Letters (Link:

http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=2573c7e95912393cbe7f )  team travelling 
on behalf of
the World Council of Churches (WCC)was welcomed to Abuja by Nigerian
church and ecumenical leaders during an ecumenical celebration organized
by the Christian Council of Nigeria, (CCN) on Sunday 16 May.

The team arrived in the Nigerian capital city Abuja last Saturday.  It was
the first stop on their four-day solidarity visit to Africa's most
populous nation. The CCN is an umbrella organization of all Protestant
churches in Nigeria.

The service held at the Cathedral of Unity of the Methodist Church  Nigeria
in the capital city was attended by top Christian leaders from across  the
country. They included the president of the Christian Association  of
Nigeria (CAN), Roman Catholic John Onaiyekan, and the head of the
Methodist Church Nigeria, Prelate Sunday Ola Makinde. The CAN comprises
churches from all Christian traditions present in the country: Protestant ,
Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, Evangelical and African Instituted  Churches.

Preaching in front of hundreds of worshipers, Prelate Ola Makinde  described
the visit of the team as an expression of the worldwide solidarity  of
churches with fellow Christians in Nigeria. He added that the visit  of the
team demonstrates the love of Christ.

"By coming to visit the troubled spot in Nigeria you have followed  the
footsteps of Jesus Christ who went about doing good things, who  cared for
the marginalized, the homeless, the oppressed, and comforted those  with
broken hearts”, the prelate said. He lamented that people  in the
northern part of the country have been neglected and denied basic  rights
and expressed hope that the visit of the Living Letters would give  hope,
encouragement, spirituality and strength to Nigerians for their  Christian
journey.

Later in the evening during a dialogue session between the members  of the
team and key Nigerian church leaders, CAN president Archbishop John
Onaiyekan, speaking on behalf of the Nigerian churches and ecumenical
organizations, expressed great delight at the solidarity of the  team
noting however that religious crises in Nigeria had become too frequent.
He expressed hope that the team's visit would build confidence in  the
people especially the victims of the crisis.

During a meeting of the team with heads of churches of the Council  of
Churches in Nigeria, Archbishop Kehinde Stephen, who is the moderator  of
the WCC Continuation Committee on Ecumenism in 21st Century expressed  the
view that the WCC should be more dynamic and proactive on issues  that
concern Christians in Nigeria at this time of crisis. He expressed
appreciation, however, for the visit of the Living Letters, which  marks
the first time people from different parts of the world come to  show
solidarity with Nigerians on behalf of the WCC.

The Living Letters team also took part in a religious service held  for the
new president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, and for the family  of the
former president, the late Umaru Musa Yar'Adua who died recently  after a
protracted illness.

At the service, the primate of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Nicholas
Okoh, gave a sermon on "Servant leadership". He said the time had  come for
Nigerians to think of being productive rather than being consumers  of
goods brought from the western world. Greatness does not come from  buying
things for fashion, but from producing things, he said.

The team's day ended with a briefing on situations and issues related  to
the conflict in Jos, where more than 500 people were killed in ethnic
violence in the early part of this year. The church leaders, including
those from the conflict-affected Jos, opined that Jos had known  peace for
years and the situation in the troubled area could be traced to
intolerance on the part of the different factions of people due  to various
reasons.

The members of the team will visit Jos in the Plateau state during  the
second part of their journey.

The Living Letters visit is being organized by the WCC in cooperation  with
the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC). The delegation is
accompanied by WCC Central Committee members from Nigeria.

More information on the Living Letters visit to Nigeria (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=f79e3b677c596ed8a025 )

WCC member churches in Nigeria (Link:

http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=04c622dc027e23092087 )

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 349 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 Olav Fykse  Tveit, from 
the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.