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?Mutirão’ program draws more participants to WCC assembly

A UMNS photo by Igor Speretto, WCC Exuberant dancers perform during a "mutirão" session at the WCC assembly.

Feb. 22, 2006

By Linda Bloom* 

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil (UMNS) — While much official business is being conducted at the World Council of Churches’ 9th Assembly, organizers have also added events to encourage more informal participation by other Christians.

A Brazilian word with indigenous roots, “mutirão,” was chosen to describe this opportunity to gather and share together at the assembly through workshops, cultural offerings and exhibits. The region of Latin America and the Caribbean and the participation of youth have been highlighted through many of the activities.

Of the 4,014 participants attending the Feb. 14-23 assembly, more than half — a total of 2,303 — have come to Brazil as mutirão participants. Among United Methodists, such participants far outnumber the official 18-member delegation.

Mutirão participants take part in the daily prayer services and Bible study and can even sit in the plenary hall when enough seats are available, but the focus of their assembly experience is the dozens of workshops being offered.

The workshops may be in one or more of the assembly’s five official languages — English, German, French, Spanish and Portuguese — and translation is sometimes provided. Some workshops are repeated on different dates.

A variety of social concerns, geopolitical crises, theological questions and ecumenical issues are addressed through the workshops. Topics for Feb. 21, for example, included “Churches and UNAIDS Working Together,” “The Orthodox Presence in Latin America,” “How to Become a Corruption-Free Church,” “Terminator Seeds, Clones and Implants: Who Benefits from New Technologies,” “Successes and Tensions in Jewish-Christian Dialogue” and “Faith-Consistent Investing.”

Both the United Methodist Board of Church and Society and the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries are presenting workshops at the assembly.

Tamara Walker, a Global Ministries executive, teamed with Gabriela Miranda, director of the Latin America/Caribbean region for the World Student Christian Federation, and representatives of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Havana, Cuba, for a workshop on “Building Bridges Between Youth Organizations and Ecumenical Movements.”

Walker said the workshops particularly provide an opportunity for youth to tell their own stories, make ecumenical connections in their regions and share ideas for ministry.

“This is a way for young people to understand (ecumenism) from a more realistic perspective and from experience,” she explained.

During her Feb. 21 workshop, a young man from Northern Brazil said coping with all of life’s injustices was hard, but he noted that meeting and sharing with other Christians provided a way to find hope.

A UMNS Web-only photo by Paulino Menezes WCC assembly participants walk under a diversity flag as part of a "mutirão" event.

A woman who joined the Methodist Church in Brazil 27 years ago told how the denomination was known for its openness to people from other religions.

An Anglican and theology student from the Amazon region of Brazil described how Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans and Methodists had traveled together to the assembly by bus.

A Methodist pastor from Sao Paulo explained the difficulties in connecting the charismatic local congregations to the ecumenical movement.

Another Feb. 21 workshop, on “Gender, Human Rights and Inter-cultural Issues,” was led by Rosangela Oliveira, a regional missionary for Latin America through the Women’s Division of the Board of Global Ministries; Marie Sumire, Andean Women Association of Peru; and Donahe Zambro Intriago, Fundacion Kairos of Peru.

The group showed a short video on indigenous women in Peru, who are present in the church but not really allowed active participation, and encouraged the sharing of stories on gender and race inequality.

Neal Christie, a staff member with the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, and Laura McDowell, a US-2 (young adult missionary) working with the board’s seminar program, presented four workshops during the first week of the assembly.

“Violence in David’s House and Ours” offered an opportunity to learn nonviolence and peace-building skills, while “Addictions: Booze, Butts and Betting” focused on the industries that cause addictions and steps that can be taken to deal with those industries through public policies and community action.

A “Sexuality, HIV and AIDS” workshop was designed to help churches confront and interpret “misinformation around patterns of sexual behavior and their ill effects on economic and political security.” Information about interfaith dialogue and how to move from tolerance to respect was shared in “Hospitality and the Christian Household —Interfaith Dialogue and Religious Pluralism.”

Moments of free time at the assembly — during the lunch period and refreshment breaks or between workshops and plenary sessions — could be spent in the exhibit hall. More than 100 groups were represented in the dozens of booths.

Displays covered issues such as Palestinian rights, the HIV/AIDS crisis and the reunification of Korea, and included organizations as diverse as Norwegian Church Aid, the World Fellowship of Orthodox Youth and the Ecumenical Disabilities Advocacy Network.

*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.