WCC NEWS: Diverse implications of world Christianity

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World Council of Churches - News

DIVERSE IMPLICATIONS OF WORLD CHRISTIANITY

For immediate release: 07 April 2011

“We must avoid stereotypes,” said Rev. Dr Nikolaus Schneider, chair
of the council that coordinates relations and activities within the
Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). As diverse groups encounter one
another in the contemporary dynamics of world Christianity, he added, the
key questions are whether the calling of the church is being fulfilled by
a given community, and whether Jesus Christ is to be found there.

Schneider made his comments during a wide-ranging discussion of
Christianity in the 21st century during a three-day visit by EKD leaders
to the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. Taking part in the
conversation were staff members and other representatives of the World
Council of Churches (WCC), the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the
World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC).

Prof. Odair Pedroso Mateus, a Brazilian theologian teaching at the
Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland, observed that Western
theologians of a century ago tended to experience Christian plurality
“in a traumatic way,” in terms of dispute, disaffection and disunity.
It was in the context of the global South that pluralism came to be seen
in a positive light, providing an opportunity for diverse groups of people
to confront common challenges.

Rev. Dr Martin Sinaga, an LWF staff member from Indonesia, noted that in
many nations Christianity sees itself as “the little flock” that needs
to embrace a wider religious pluralism in order to make an impression
prophetically and politically. Even so, a distinctive Christian identity
forms the basis for minority churches’ witness to the gospel through
their life and work.

Kristine Greenaway, the WCRC communication secretary, warned that many
promising opportunities for cooperation among Christians “are blocked by
our stereotypes about one another,” separating the member churches of
ecumenical councils from more conservative evangelical and charismatic
bodies.

“Changes in our situations are being perceived through a lens of mutual
misunderstanding,” she concluded, arguing that the so-called
“ecumenical” churches need to communicate more openly and effectively,
and to gain an institutional competence in languages beyond the
traditional, European, “official” languages of the councils.

Rev. Cornelia Füllkrug-Weitzel of the Protestant aid agency Brot für die
Welt, a member of the EKD delegation, noted that “plurality is
threatening to people when they feel that they have to give up something
important, or adopt beliefs that are not their own.”

Rev. Christoph Anders of the Association of Protestant Churches and
Missions in Germany (EMW) observed that new church movements tend to be
less bound to historical traditions and more likely to want to join in
common reflections on common problems.

Rev. Dr Fidon Mwombeki, a Lutheran leader from Tanzania, applauded recent
dialogues and conversations that have opened their examination of issues
with practical realities in today’s churches rather than with the finer
points of theological doctrine.

Prof. Kathryn Johnson, a US theologian and assistant general secretary of
the LWF, testified to exciting developments in inter-church dialogues
among widely differing communities: “Christian world communions are very
aware of growing diversity,” she said. “We live it all the time.”
This is true not only on the global scale, but in every nation and city:
“The world is coming to us.”

Rev. Dr John Gibaut, director of Faith and Order for the WCC, agreed that
varying confessions, cultures and nationalities are living side by side,
interacting, facing common challenges. “The most pressing
ecclesiological question before us,” he asserted, “is migration. This
is not merely a matter of practicalities; it is profoundly
ecclesiological. It speaks to faith, unity, mission and local ministries.
Today, the migrant communities in our societies, and in our own
neighbourhoods, are where ecclesiology and pastoral responsibility
meet.”

The Geneva visit by EKD leaders began on Wednesday 6 April and continues
through Friday 8 April.

More information on the Evangelical Church in Germany (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=87edf9be56f00e9aa20f )

High resolution photos of the visit may be requested free of charge via
photos.oikoumene.org (Link: 
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=361929288e20b07a5689 )


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.



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