|
March 21, 2006
Dear Colleagues,
Almost four thousand
delegates from all corners of the world traveled to Porto Alegre,
Brazil, to participate in the Ninth Assembly of the World Council of
Churches. Gathered under the theme “God, in your Grace, transform the
world,” the participants met in plenary sessions and in mutiraos, a
Portuguese word used to described the 200 events (workshops, plays,
musicals), offered throughout the assembly. The mutiraos were not
decision-making fora, but spaces to dream an alternative world.
Peasants, biblical scholars, indigenous people, youth, women, church
leaders, came together to address those issues that keep the vast
majority of the world population living at the margins of their
societies: trade liberalization, a globalized, neo-liberal, free-market
economic system, sexism, xenophobia, violence against women, political
corruption, environmental degradation, increased militarism, etc. But
these were also spaces of hope and intense sharing, where the
participants presented their life stories as they were challenged and
transformed by God’s word.
This assembly implemented
two new practices in the life of the council: the method of consensus
for making decisions, instead of the traditional parliamentary
procedure, and a new style for worship celebration. Some member churches
from the Orthodox family had raised their concern about the ethos of the
council being formed and shaped by the Christian experience from the
West, a perspective that had become the ecumenical norm for the WCC.
To respond to this
situation a special commission, created by the Eight General Assembly in
Harare, recommended changes in the structure, style, and ethos of the
council. Besides the decision-making mechanism, the most visible change
was not to refer to the gathering of the community as worship.
Confessional families met for worship by themselves. These Eucharistic
celebrations were not part of the official program of the assembly.
I do not have the space in
this short letter to present the many issues discussed at Porto Alegre.
A future page could highlight some of these issues. Let me introduce
just one: the reconfiguration of the ecumenical movement. In his report,
WCC Moderator Catholicos Aram I. stated that “We have entered into a new
era of the ecumenical history. The ecumenical landscape is changing
radically: the traditional ecumenical institutions are losing their
motivation and interest; new ecumenical models are emerging…” Aram I
asked the delegates to work toward an ecumenism that is centered on the
people and that will able to respond to changing realities. This new
ecumenism has to be visionary and willing to integrate alternate models.
Another vision for the ecumenical movement came from the Pentecostal
churches. Dr. Norberto Saracco, from the Iglesia Evangelica Buenas
Nuevas de Argentina, stated that “...for the evangelical churches, unity
is not based in the recognition of a hierarchical authority, or in
dogmas, not even on theological agreements or institutional alliances.
We need to accept that this way of doing ecumenism cannot go too far.”
What are the alternative
models for the ecumenical movement? Does the WCC have the capacity to
integrate within its membership confessional families and denominations
with different understandings of ecumenism? How could we manifest the
visible unity of the church today for the sake of God’s mission to the
world? These are the questions that will shape the ecumenical dialogue
after Porto Alegre.
Together in Mission,
The Rev. Rafael Malpica
Padilla
Executive Director
ELCA Global Mission
|
