WCC assembly will signal 'life in the ecumenical movement'
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Lois Dauway |
June 13, 2005 By Linda Bloom* NEW
YORK (UMNS) — The upcoming ninth assembly of the World Council of
Churches will demonstrate "that there is life in the ecumenical
movement," according to a United Methodist who sits on the planning
committee. Lois
Dauway, also a member of the WCC's Central Committee, noted that while
business sessions will be conducted, the assembly is not a meeting for
"institutional maintenance." The
real excitement and energy, she added, will center around the worship
services, Bible studies and an informal program for delegates and
visitors alike called "Mutirao," which means coming together or
celebrating together in Portuguese. A
United Methodist delegation will be among the more than 3,000 expected
to attend the assembly, which meets Feb. 14-23 at the Pontifical
Catholic University in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The number of participants
includes some 700 delegates and their advisors, representing the
340-plus WCC member churches. The
planning committee has made a commitment to involve youth aged 18 to 30
years in the assembly, according to Dauway, who is an executive with
the Women's Division of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. Beyond
designating a percentage of the delegation for youth, another 150 youth
will participate in the Feb. 9-26 youth stewards program. In
addition, a Feb. 11-13 pre-assembly youth event will allow more
affordable participation, particularly for youth from Latin America. Six
youth interns have been working in the council's Geneva office on
assembly planning. "Energy
for the ecumenical movement traditionally has come from youth," Dauway
said, noting that the council wants to attract and involve more youth. Even
youth who are not delegates, she added, will be invited to participate
in special ecumenical conversations designed "to inform the programming
and the overall direction of the council" for the near future. Those
conversations will have four themes - changing religious and cultural
context; changing ecclesial and ecumenical context; changing
international and political context and changing social and economic
context. Financial
constraints have reduced the overall number of delegates, presenting "a
major challenge on a lot of levels," she added, including the need to
have a diverse representation. Many
member communions are allotted only two delegates to the assembly and,
she pointed out, "to this day, most of the heads of communion around the
world are male. In this country (United States), it's mostly white
males." To
help create more diversity, the planning committee added an "at-large"
category of delegates. WCC officers met in early June to consider
applicants for that category. Another
way to achieve diversity is through the "Mutirao." Open to anyone
attending the assembly, it will offer worship, seminars, cultural events
and exhibits and allow opportunities to expand upon the theme of the
assembly and plenary sessions. The
last WCC assembly took place in Zimbabwe in 1998. In Brazil, the
assembly is being hosted by that country's National Council of Churches,
which includes the Methodist Church in Brazil, a WCC member. Other
Brazilian council members are the Roman Catholics, Syrian Catholic
Orthodox, Christian Reformed, Episcopal, United Presbyterian and
Evangelical Church of Lutheran Confession. Dauway
noted that Latin America is a region that lately "has not gotten the
attention that it needs and deserves" and Brazil embodies some of the
issues the WCC will be dealing with, such as land use and ownership. The
assembly also will be the first for the WCC's chief executive, the Rev.
Sam Kobia, a Methodist from Kenya. Dauway said she is appreciative of
Kobia's leadership and believes he has created "a very helpful balance
of spirituality and justice" for the council. *Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York. News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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