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Hundreds of Christian leaders see new unity
by Religion News Service
A broad range of more than 600 Christian leaders ended an eight-day missions conference after hearing a plea from Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, that they be a “moral compass” for contemporary society.
The May 9-16 Conference on World Mission and Evangelism, held at a military recreation center outside Athens, was the 12th such meeting since 1910—when the modern ecumenical movement began in Edinburgh—but the first held in a predominantly Orthodox country.
Unlike some other WCC-sponsored meetings in the past, the mission conference was short on political declarations but long on prayer, Bible study and workshops on a range of issues that confront the Christian movement in the new century. They include economic globalization, violence (such as the war in Iraq), AIDS and Christian and interreligious reconciliation and dialogue.
Participants did, however, draft a “message to the churches” that called on the world’s Christians to be “reconciling and healing communities.” While noting a power imbalance between the global North and the global South and East, the statement offered no specific suggestions to address the difference.
“We have become painfully aware of the mistakes of the past and pray that we may learn from them,” it added. It said delegates were conscious that race, caste and gender bias continue to exist in the churches.
Perhaps reflecting the larger than usual presence of Pentecostals at the meeting, the statement put special stress on the role of healing, including that which takes place through prayer, ascetic practices “and the charisms [gifts] of healing through sacraments and healing services [and] through a combination of medical and spiritual, social and system approaches.”
In some ways, the ecumenical nature of the conference overshadowed the more overtly political issues.
For the first time, the Roman Catholic Church had an official delegation rather than just observers at a WCC-sponsored meeting, and Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, was upbeat about the future of ecumenical relations under recently elected Pope Benedict XVI. . . .
Full article
by Religion News Service
A broad range of more than 600 Christian leaders ended an eight-day missions conference after hearing a plea from Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, that they be a “moral compass” for contemporary society.
The May 9-16 Conference on World Mission and Evangelism, held at a military recreation center outside Athens, was the 12th such meeting since 1910—when the modern ecumenical movement began in Edinburgh—but the first held in a predominantly Orthodox country.
Unlike some other WCC-sponsored meetings in the past, the mission conference was short on political declarations but long on prayer, Bible study and workshops on a range of issues that confront the Christian movement in the new century. They include economic globalization, violence (such as the war in Iraq), AIDS and Christian and interreligious reconciliation and dialogue.
Participants did, however, draft a “message to the churches” that called on the world’s Christians to be “reconciling and healing communities.” While noting a power imbalance between the global North and the global South and East, the statement offered no specific suggestions to address the difference.
“We have become painfully aware of the mistakes of the past and pray that we may learn from them,” it added. It said delegates were conscious that race, caste and gender bias continue to exist in the churches.
Perhaps reflecting the larger than usual presence of Pentecostals at the meeting, the statement put special stress on the role of healing, including that which takes place through prayer, ascetic practices “and the charisms [gifts] of healing through sacraments and healing services [and] through a combination of medical and spiritual, social and system approaches.”
In some ways, the ecumenical nature of the conference overshadowed the more overtly political issues.
For the first time, the Roman Catholic Church had an official delegation rather than just observers at a WCC-sponsored meeting, and Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, was upbeat about the future of ecumenical relations under recently elected Pope Benedict XVI. . . .
Full article