Perspectives

  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 ...