BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA, Nov. 3, 2013 – Just like the Presbyterians, only more so.
Through the first three days of discussions, the 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches strikes this Presbyterian as being just like one of our general assemblies, with just a few extra twists.
As with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s national gatherings, this one touts opportunities to hear eloquent speeches from and rub shoulders with renowned leaders, the one difference being that the renown is that much broader. For example, greetings were brought by not just the city’s mayor, but also the nation’s prime minister. Jung Hong-won expressed his welcome to the world Christian leaders, highlighting the Korean churches’ discipline of “giving continuous prayer.” He added that they “also provide help to people who are disadvantaged, with love and service.”
Greetings were also expressed by the chair of the host committee, Dr. Kim Sam-whan, the pastor of the Seoul’s Myungsung Presbyterian Church, whose 150,000 members rank it as the world’s largest Presbyterian congregation. His brief remarks highlighted the need to confess Jesus Christ as “our only hope … the way, the truth, the life and salvation,” the need for the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit, the need to be guided by the Bible, and the concerted commitment to prayer.
Enter Justin Welby, the new Archbishop of Canterbury. His brief address captured the overwhelming impact that such an assembly is prone to have on WCC rookies. “This is my first Assembly. I am enjoying a sense of wonder at my smallness, my tiny place among God’s great Church.” He expressed glee over the opportunity to fellowship with those of different continents, cultures and ecclesial traditions, providing “a fresh vision of what we are called to be.”
Further, he added, “We must learn to hear Christ through one another.”
Like most speakers he said that he has been praying the words of the assembly’s theme, “God of life, lead us to justice and peace.” He reminded of the core basis of such a prayer. “When we are not at peace with God through Jesus Christ we cannot be peacemakers in the world. God calls us to be reconciled reconcilers, reconciled ourselves to God and to each other.”
Some leaders’ speeches have pressed points of agendas that are not universally supported.
In his address, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, affirmed the Council’s “greatest achievement” as building relationships of “well intentioned and mutual respectful inter-Christian communication, which has never allowed for compromises in the field of theology and morality and which has enabled us to remain true to ourselves and to bear witness to our faith, while at the same time growing in love for each other.”
He then pressed the assembly to tackle its two greatest present challenges, militant secularism and radical Islamism. The secularism that had, a generation ago, overwhelmed the Soviet bloc, he said, has recently overwhelmed the west with its “straightforward destruction of traditional notions of marriage and the family” i.e., “equating homosexual unions with marriage and allowing single-sex couples to adopt children.”
He added, that such changes are occurring in historically Christian countries in which “the number of divorces is growing, the birthrate is declining catastrophically, the culture of a family upbringing is degraded, not to mention the prevalence of sexual relations outside of marriage, the increase in the number of abortions and the increase of children brought up without parents, even if those parents are still alive.”
Regarding the rise of radical Islamism, he clarified that Islamism is “in many ways the opposite” of Islam. Islam itself is a religion of peace that coexists alongside other religious traditions, “as is demonstrated, for example, by the centuries-old experience of peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims in Russia.”
Radical Islamism, known as Wahhabism or Salafism, is a sub-movement of that is set upon the goal of establishing a worldwide Caliphate in which there is no place for Christians.
In recent years, he said, “the persecution of Christians has assumed a colossal scale,” citing reports that every five minutes a Christian dies for his or her faith, and presently one hundred million Christians worldwide are being persecuted or discriminated against for their faith. He commended the Council for recent efforts to promote inter-religious dialogue, and to speak out on behalf of persecuted Christians, but he pressed for further efforts to be taken.
Given the progressive positions of many European, UK and American member denominations and the conservative positions of many African, South American and Orthodox denominations, his comments created much buzz in the hallways – naming out loud the major sources of tension within the WCC community, indeed, within the whole worldwide Christian Church.
In fact, apart from the diverse languages and accents – the buzz sounded like that heard in PC(USA) assembly hallways – underlining the intense sensitivity and disagreement that these two topics generate.
No doubt, ears throughout the Busan assembly will need will be paying close attention to how these addresses – delivered by larger-than-life leaders of world community – will translate to actions to be taken by the hundreds of voting delegates as they turn their attention to adopting policy papers and directing the work of the World Council of Churches for the next several years.
