Perspectives

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...