Churches must build unity, reach young people, WCC leader says

By Linda Bloom

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil (UMNS) - Churches have new opportunities to influence global policies and "bring a moral voice to the world," but that cannot happen unless they relate to each other more closely, according to the leader of the World Council of Churches.

"We can no longer separate ethics and ecclesiology, the search for unity of the church and the unity of humankind," said the Rev. Samuel Kobia, a Methodist pastor from Kenya and the WCC's chief executive. "They are closely intertwined with each other."

Kobia delivered his report Feb. 15 to participants at the World Council of Churches' 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre. Besides the 18-member official United Methodist delegation, a number of United Methodists are attending the assembly as participants in the "mutirao" - an informal, mid-day gathering of workshops, discussions and exhibits - or are present in some other capacity.

During the Feb. 14 opening worship, Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania took up the assembly's theme of transformation and noted the "transformative journey (of) our church communities cannot occur on the basis of criteria occasionally proposed by fashion and vogue, but through the guidance of 'the gospel of grace.'"

In Kobia's opinion, an ecumenical movement that is open to signs of God's transformative grace must be grounded in spirituality, take ecumenical formation and youth seriously, work for transformative justice, take risks to develop new and creative ways of working, and firmly put relationships at the center.

"To a very large extent, our disunity as churches is due to our incapacity to practice this genuine sharing of gifts."

- Samuel Kobia

He considers the spiritual base of the ecumenical movement to be the "festa da vida, the feast of life" - a grace and invitation from God. "The wonder of grace is that it is a gift, which we don't deserve, a reward which we don't earn, but it is freely given and is ours for the partaking."

Kobia issued a strong call for the nurturing and involvement of young people in the ecumenical movement. Just as an earlier generation of young adults created today's movement, so must that opportunity for participation be transmitted to future generations.

"Young people need opportunities to experience the joy of working and praying with others from different traditions and different contexts," he said. "They need support and mentoring to participate fully in ecumenical gatherings with their sometimes intimidating elders.

"We need to go out to where young people are, to schools and universities. We need to be willing to change to respond to the demands of young people. We must offer opportunities to know and learn from others through scholarships and travel. At a time when information technology is forever advancing, we must enable our youth to interact more deeply and to discover creative ways of using virtual spaces for ecumenical formation."

"To a very large extent, our disunity as is due to our incapacity to practice this genuine sharing of gifts."

More than 3,000 participants - representing nearly all Christian traditions and all geographic regions - attended the assembly, which ended Feb. 23.

More information can be found at www.wcc-assembly.info, the official assembly Web site.

Last updated on 25 Apr 2008

Questions or comments: webmaster@inareaumc.org