Getting ready for the start of the World Council Assembly in Busan

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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 and here is a prime example of that confusion. At the heart of what they fear is a loss of salvation if they do not assent to exactly the formula they have been given  It is a million miles from the concept of a God characterised by grace.  In contrast the eagerness to explore what being in relation to the living Christ can mean for our world is already palpably present in various pre-assembly gatherings.

There was a bomb threat today that brought the police in force with dogs and  a SWAT team.  I pray that love will win out over hate and trust over fear in the days to come and that the anger I felt today can be turned into a care for those whose faith has been so manipulated.

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