Perspectives

The following is the text (slightly adapted) of a paper I gave at the meeting of the URC's Peace Fellowship in October. I have placed it in the ecumenical blog simply because there are ecumenical questions and implications for what we decide to do.   "The concern I have developed regarding the forthcoming commemoration of the start of World War 1 was triggered by a letter from the government to faith communities inviting them to be involved. The letter specifically referred to a proposed event on August 4th in Westminster Abbey but of course by extension invited faith communities to be involved with the whole period of commemoration. This was placed on the agenda of the Free Churches Group meeting in April 2013 just after the letter was received.   Government initiatives have developed since then but the focus remains on encouraging as many parts of society as possible to join in the commemoration, including making it possible for school children to visit the battl...

Perhaps the first question one asks oneself at a gathering such as the World Council Assembly is, 'What can I compare it with?' and the second is 'What use is it?'.   One inevitably garners the answer to the first question from one's own experience and my answer is therefore that it feels like a cross between a URC General Assembly, or perhaps a Methodist Conference and the German Kirchentag. The answer to the second question can only really be found after some deeper reflection on the experience as a whole.   There were numerous strands to the event which lasted from October 29th to November 8th and drew in the region of 5,000 people in the Bexco conference Centre in Busan, South Korea. Not all were official delegates and in fact they were in the minority. Many others came as observers, delegated representatives from non-member churches or because of their engagement with one or other of the themes that made up the wider agenda of the assembly. Some...

We knew before we came that there were going to be people protesting against the WCC outside the Assembly. These protests started even before the day began with quite a large scale gathering which was heavily policed and even resulted in a hoax bomb call that brought in the local SWAT team. The protests have continued right throught the Assembly with one man sitting outside the halls with a large placard in English indicating that he has been fasting and praying against the heresy of the WCC for the whole period of the gathering. On day 12 he was looking decidedly thin and drawn. I took one of their leaflets on the first day and found it contained a mix of political opposition and conservative theology that used the langauge of serving satan, communism, heresy and the need for repentance. A car has been circling the assembly halls for several days with loudspeakers through which the driver has endlessly announced that 'Jesus is coming now, repent!'. It's easy ...

In the last business sessions the fine tuning of the wording of the statements and messages from the Assembly provides a fascinating insight into the complexities of the interaction, not just of language but of theological emphasis, contextual concerns, ethical stances and so on. The paragraphs of the statements are projected on screen and worked on one by one with contributions from delegates on phrasing, grammar and sometimes on deeper issues of emphasis. Especially when a statement is about, for example, the search for peace in the Middle East the contributions can become quite emotional and the desire to be even handed can conflict with the desire for a statement to be strong in favour of positive action on behalf of suffering groups. Similarly, the statements that are more concerned with theology can produce contributions that remind one of the argument over whether the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and with the Son... or proceeds from the Father and the Son and w...

The themes of Justice and Peace have been at the heart of what the Assembly is about. As I write this, the business plenary is negotiating the wording of a statement asking for the theme to be integrated into the future direction and programme of the World Council by means of a shared pilgrimage of Justice and Peace. The theme of evangelism too has incorporated the perception that issues of Justice and Peace cannot be separated from the ultimate goal towards we which we believe God is moving not only the Church but the whole of creation, that we cannot evangelise without including these themes in the message we share. As a balance, the idea that Justice and Peace can somehow be detached from spirituality and the communication of the Good News is also addressed and corrected. My own sense has been of a gradual growth of a holistic perception of what the mission of the Church is. For me this is all about the expansion of our spirituality, moving away from narrow interpretations to ...

Every now and again I find myself thinking about the assembly in general rather than about aspecific part or theme. After a while I began to wonder what I could compare it with and the best I can say is that it like a cross between the URC General Assembly (or indeed Methodist Conference, General synod etc:) and the German Kirchentag. I realise that isn't particularly helpful for anyone not familiar with the Kircentag in particular but it reflects two dimensions. One is the level of debate and decison making, setting agendas and diplomacy, the other is the level of the meeting, listening to one another and sharing of experiences. Un any ways iy is the second level that gives the greatest value to the experience. There could, after all, be other ways of making decisions but there is no substitte for bringing together people from every continent to share together in a huge spiritual melting pot. The challenge to those of us who are experiencing this and to the churches bac...

The Unity Day at the Assembly is really the core of the Assembly because without the search for unity the entire enterprise would not be happenng at all; we would all simply be going our own ways or engaging perhaps in disconnected gatherings focussed on separate issues. Most of the work for the documents that are being worked on has been done by the Faith and Order Commission over years so it is perhaps hard to see how the Assembly can make any substantial difference but some of the statements that are produced are worked on in the ecumenical conversations and there is a careful process of discussion and reflection on the appropriateness of the documents and the ways in which the churches can be asked to reflect and receive the them. The term 'receive' is an important one to explore because it means much more than simple accept and file away or display on the mantelpiece. it means to think about how it can create change within our own thinking and churches. The ecumenic...

The programme of the Assembly changed for Saturday and Sunday with some visiting Seoul which included staying in local homes, visiting local churches on the Sunday morning including a mega church with 70,000 members and 2,000 Sunday school teachers and a visit to the North - South border zone. I opted to stay in Busan and spent Saturday on a 'spiritual plurality' visit to a number of sites. The first of these was a Won Buddhist centre. Won Buddhism is unique to Korea and was developed only 100 years ago. The most obvious distinctive characteristic is a lack of any images of the Buddha, these being substituted by a simple gold circle to represent the essence of being human. We then visited a Confucianism school at which we were repeatedly told that they did not worship any god. Not only young people are taught here but leaders of business and politics too. We were then somewhat hijacked on the way to lunch into a museum to the history of Korean Christianity which has ...

One of the features of the Assembly is the possibility for shared small group Bible study on the suggested texts. Today's was on the words ofAmos 5:14-24. It's a powerful passage that begins 'Seek good and not evil' and goes on to hear God say, 'I hate, I despise your festivals.....take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an everlasting stream'. The energy level of the group grew as we shared our reflections on the emphasis the text contains. Why is God so angry? It is because there is a disjunction between the practice of the worship offered and any ethical dimension; even worse the worship, the rituals are carried out in order to manipulate or control God. The vineyard that people have planted and which the text refers to are perhaps like the constructs that we ask or expect God to bless, such as the international economic system which must be s...

  Day 2 of the Assembly began as each day does with prayer and bible study. The bible studies are either in large plenary sessions or in small groups where there is the scope for shared reflection. This was the one that I chose and as one of the only native English speakers ended up facilitating. The text, within the context of the Assembly theme considered the creation story of Genesis 2, we shared both our undersatanding of the passage and our own thinking about its elevance in our modern context. Perhaps unsurprisingly our small group ended up thinking of the responsibilty for the creation that we are given as a valuable gift emerged as the most important aspect. In the morning plenary we were addressed by the Prime Minister of South Korea which was followed by a conversation between a number of speakers and a young theologian who put questions to them about the future of the ecumenical movement and its connection with the issues that challenge the wider world. At l...

The first day of the Assembly is now over and following the induction and orientation sessions, the Assembly began with opening worship. Given the theme of 'God of Life, Lead us to Justice and Peace', it was particularly moving to hear prayers of 'Cries and Hopes' from eight regions of the world. These were read in different languages but with the trnslation of the whole liturgy each could be followed. What was noticeable was the repetition of cries across several of them which a liturgist might have thought spoiled the poetry but instead it reinfoced the awareness that so many people, esecially the poorest and most vulnerable, suffer the same kind of violence on different continents. After an opening plenary session which contained a beautiful and powerful presentation by Korean young people the first business session began. This contained the reports both of the moderator, Bishop Walter Altmann from Brazil and the General Secretary Dr Olaf Tveit. Both rep...

Here are two images from the day before the formal opening of the Assembly.  One shows the final touches put to the 'Madang' banners in the Bexco conference centre with the themes of the informal conversations that will form part of the Assembly.  The other shows a gathering of protetsters who promise to make their presence felt during the Assembly.  I was given one of their leaflets that uses the kinds of criticisms that were leveleed at the WCC during the anti apartheid era of being in league with communism and  of seeking to create a unified world order ruled over by the devil.  They are extreme sentiments rooted in fear and suspicion and I found myself becoming angry that crowds of otherwise seemingly polite and well intentioned people could have the Christian faith interpreted to them in such a way that they cannot differentiate between a gospel of love and a gospel of hate.  In other places I write about the confusion between superstition and faith an...

This morning I attended worship at the MinNam Church which is an Amoy congregation worshipping primarily in the Fujian dialect so there was translation of the sermon from Cantonese for the congregation and into English via headphones for Michael Jagessar and myself. In many ways it is a very traditional style of worshp that would be familiar to most non-conformists in the UK, including the titles and tunes of the hymns even if the actual words remain incomprehensible.  it is remarjkably easy to feel at home in this setting not least because of the warmth of the welcome. English is, of course, spoken by many people here so when I gave a welcome and spoke for a few moments before it was translated, there were quite a few people who clearly understood, nodding at appropriate times. The hospitality is very generous.  We were given lunch in a 1 start Michelin resturant opposite the church and treated to some typical Cantonese delicacies.  I am used to Chinese food in England b...

We have now arrived in Hong Kong for five days of visits with the Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China otherwise known as the HKCCCC.  We should have such an abbreviation! They are one of our partner churches within CWM.  We will start a fairly intensive programme of meetings over the next few days but for now have been warmly welcomed and well fed in one of the local Chinese restaurants.  One of the interesting challenges of my work is when you encounter another Vhristian grouping or church for the first time with which you had not previously been familiar. It is important to be able to understand their history, situation, culture and so on in a way that is not simply informational but allows you to enter into a deep understanding that is essentially empathic and spiritual. Michael Jagessar and I had the first opportunity to do that in our informal conversation with Wang Kai Chan, the director of their social service section.  That will become expanded...

Tomorrow I shall set off for Hong Kong on the way to Busan.  Michael Jagessar and I will be visiting the Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China, one of the URC's partner churches in the Council for World Mission.  We have been asked, among other things, to speak about the mission challenges facing us in the UK and it will obviously be interesting to see how the challenges we face compare with and differ from the challenges in Hong Kong.  This will prove to be a useful preparation for the WCC assembly at which I will be the ecumenical adviser to the URC delegation which consists of Michael Jagessar and Sarah Moore. The challenge with all of these experiences is to see how they can be related to the everyday life of churches and individuals across our Island nation.  At the time of the last Assembly in Porto Alegri there was almost no awareness of it or interest in the UK.  This time, perhaps its location in the high profile country of Korea will help ...

There have been various responses to the announcement by Iain Banks that he is suffering from incurable cancer of the gall bladder. One of the pieces written already, almost as a premature obituary, has reflected on the image of the future that Banks has created in his Culture series of science fiction stories. John Butterworth writing in the Guardian said; 'In his Culture novels, Banks has created what as far as I know is the only convincing utopia in print. Dystopias are relatively common in fiction. You take a bad trend, give it more technology, and extrapolate. They can be terrifying and salutary, and powerful writing about them may help avoid their realisation. But describing utopia seems to be harder. You have to deal with, and incorporate, the flaws. And what is a person, when there are no struggles? What is life for, when everyone already has everything they want? Religions have the same problem as Sci-Fi here, I think. Hell, with fire, demons, liver-tearing-b...

I've been a long way away from my blog but the appointment of a new Pope and such an interesting one, compels to me to my keyboard again! Given the fact that it had to be one of the cardinals in the conclave clearly meant that the world wasn't going to get either a woman, someone in a civil partnership or someone with extremely radical views who would be selling the Sistine Chapel on eBay in a weeks time. Despite that, the choice of someone whose actual name is so hard to recall unless you are a Spanish speaker and who will therefore very quickly be known only as Francis, seems an inspired choice. But it is a choice fraught with dangers! The problem is that given his already well publicised history of living simply according to a vow of poverty and his genuine 'preference for the poor', there will be those who will be disappointed not to find the Sistine Chapel on eBay and the money being used to finance projects to end poverty or develop work to offer real alternative...