[119.1] WCC MISSION CONFERENCE LINKS

Rather foolishly, I forgot to mention the page that I created here in order to accumulate reporting and comment from the CWME conference. I was also interviewed yesterday by the Christian Today website on the experience, and on the future of British ecumenism. Like all bits of instant punditry, it feels inadequate... but a start.

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[118.3] LISTENING TO THE CHURCHES

...or, rather, hearing what the Spirit might be saying to the churches and movements in Christian mission, has been the task of 'listeners' at the WCC thirteenth Conference on World Mission and Evangelism meeting in Athens, 9-16 May 2005.

As well as being an ecumenically delegated participant, and reporting for Ekklesia, I have been privileged to be part of that process.



Here we are, giving some brief input at the final conference plenary. The snapshots given (you can view the webcast here) were not intended to be representative, but to give a flavour of the variety of perspectives we will be offering.

More detailed, written responses are being produced by the end of May. Some of these will be published in the International Review of Mission, others as part of the reporting process from CWME.

You can see what I have been reporting back through the media here.

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[118.2] PRAYING FOR THE PERSECUTORS

This from the irrepressible John Dear (Jesuit Priest, Peace Activist, Organizer, Lecturer, Retreat leader, and author/editor of 20 books on peace and nonviolence) on Common Dreams:

“Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:43)

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” (Luke 6:28)

A few weeks before he died in 2002, the great peace activist Philip Berrigan was asked what we could do about George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and the U.S. warmakers.

“We have to do two things,” he answered. “We have to pray for them and resist them.”

That parting wisdom sums up the mission before us, to pray for our persecutors, bless the warmakers, and resist them with all our strength and love by opposing their wars, weapons, greed, injustices, and environmental destruction.

In that Spirit, here goes then... (continued here).

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[118.1] CHURCHES INVITED TO WITNESS FOR PEACE

The world’s churches have been invited to adopt non-violence and peace building as distinctive ‘identity markers’ of the Christian community, alive and active in the world.

Dr Fernando Enns, a German Mennonite member of the central committee of the World Council of Churches, spoke on this theme at a press briefing following his presentation today at the 2005 Conference on World Mission and Evangelism in Athens, Greece.

Dr Enns played a significant role in securing the adoption of the Ecumenical Decade to Overcome Violence (2001-2010) at the eighth assembly of the WCC in Harare, 1998. Its aim is to create a space for churches across the globe to collaborate in peace-building initiatives in a world of division and conflict.

“We do not believe any longer that we will overcome evil by evil, but by doing good”, said Dr Enns. “We truly believe that the Apostle Paul is right when he says in his letter to the Corinthians that we are ‘a new creation’ from God ‘who reconciled himself to us through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation’.” (Continued here).

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[117.2] A GOSPEL OF LIFE

Three signs marked my arrival as a participant in the historic thirteenth WCC Conference on World Mission and Evangelism in Athens, Greece (9-16 May 2005). In content and form they were very different, but together they show the scale of the global challenge Christians face in commending the Gospel of reconciliation to a divided world.

The first sign was an advertising poster on the road between Athens and Attiki. “We welcome a new myth to Greece”, it declared. “Yours.” It would be hard to find a more potent summary of the post-modern condition. There is a genuine hospitality to the plural environment. But it is one which is tempted to replace commitment with curiosity, to see our founding narratives as exchangeable goods, and to think of the story that shapes us as ours to dispose of as we choose.

In coming to Greece, the land of antiquity, we have been reminded that things are rather more complicated than this... (Continued here).

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[117.1] REPORTING FROM CWME

For convenience, I have collected together WCC Conference on World Mission and Evangelism reports from different sources (mostly Ekklesia and ENI) on a single CWME web page associated with my main site.

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[116.1] NOT RIGHTNESS BUT RIGHTEOUSNESS

"I don't have the Holy Spirit in my pocket"

These were Orthodox theology teacher Athanasios Papathanasiou's words during one of the press briefings at the WCC world mission conference. Papathanasiou, a member of the Church of Greece involved with the planning of the conference, was trying to explain the seemingly abstruse issue of the influence that the final things (eschata) have over the non-final ones (history).

"Nothing in history is final," he said, "and that gives us a lot of freedom, because the future remains open for God". At the same time, the perspective of God's kingdom means that every human activity is under judgement. "I know for sure that I'm being called to salvation, but I can't be sure that God would agree with everything I think," he said. Papathanasiou is nonetheless sure about some things: "It's not true that we Christians should be reconciled with everything: we don't have to be reconciled with injustice." (via WCC)

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[115.5] CHURCHES CALLED TO REPENTANCE AND PEACE

If Christians are to be heard speaking truthfully in a fast-changing, plural world they must repent of domineering attitudes and emulate the self-giving, non-violent love of Jesus Christ. That was the heart of the message presented today by the general secretary of the World Council of Churches to participants at the Athens global mission conference.

Speaking to the widest range of church representatives ever gathered for such an event, the Rev Dr Samuel Kobia acknowledged that “the word ‘mission’ carries a heavy historical baggage, having played a part in fostering division and conflict between peoples, and even between families of churches".

“Perhaps the time has come for confession and repentance,” continued Dr Kobia, an ordained member of the Methodist Church in Kenya who took up his post as WCC chief in January 2004. (Full story here).

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[115.4] JERUSALEM BEARS WOUNDS OF THE CROSS

In a moving ceremony to mark the opening of the Conference on World Mission and Evangelism in Athens, Greece, a 25-foot high Cross arrived by boat from the divided city of Jerusalem today. It was received with prayers for peace with justice by representatives of churches from across the globe.

The olivewood Cross was made by craftspeople who have themselves been caught up in the tragic Israel-Palestine conflict. It represents both the historic presence of the Gospel in the region and the call for worldwide support for peace building and for solidarity with the small Christian community, the ‘living stones’.

The Cross is a gift from Christians caught up in a war zone to their sisters and brothers gathering to reflect on the role and impact of the Christian message in the 21st century. (Full story here).

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[115.3] AN OLYMPIAN TASK

Part of the site of the Olympic Games in 2004 is being transformed this week into a global meeting point for Christians from 105 countries. The Agios Andreas Recreational Centre in Attiki, near Athens, formed the hub of media operations for the Games. It is now mainly used by officers of the Greek army. For seven days, however, the military is taking a back seat to a historic meeting about the future of Christian mission – one focusing on the healing, reconciling and peacemaking vocation of the churches. (Full story here).

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[115.2] INTRODUCTION TO CWME

The most widely representative global gathering of Protestant, Catholic, Anglican, Evangelical and Orthodox Church leaders concerned with the 21st century mission of the world's 2.5 billion Christians begins today. It will be a unique moment in Christian history.

The assembly will commence with the gift of a huge wooden Cross from Jerusalem, due to be blessed by Orthodox Archbishop Christodoulos. Some five hundred delegates and 200 advisers and media have gathered from every corner of the earth through the auspices of the thirteenth World Council of Churches' Conference on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME). They will confer, debate, pray and work together from 9-16 May under the theme "Come, Holy Spirit, Heal and Reconcile!"

The conference in Athens convenes at a time of continuing division among nations, across peoples, between religions and throughout the churches. WCC general secretary, the Rev Dr Samuel Kobia, will this morning issue a stirring call to Christians of every tradition and theological persuasion to take with renewed practical seriousness the Gospel of peace, justice and reconciliation which called them into being in the first place. (Full story here.)

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[115.1] NEWS FROM ATHENS

So here I am in Athens, 9-16 May, at the World Council of Churches' Commission on World Mission and Evangelism. Since I finish my work at CCOM on 30 June, this is really my swansong. The theme is right up my street, and the sub-theme crystallises the challenge very aptly: Called in Christ to be Reconciling and Healing Communities.

I have three functions at CWME. One is to link with members of the British and Irish contingent (as a delegated ecumenical representative). Another is to be a rapporteur for the event on behalf of the WCC. And a third, fitted in around the other two, is to deploy my press credentials on behalf of Ekklesia. I'll post the openers for my stories here, too.

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[114.1] AFTER THE ELECTION

Life being as busy as it has been, I have been quiet for most of the British general election campaign. Here, anyway. Over on Ekklesia I was involved in the Subverting the Manifestos document. I also penned two columns, one during and one right at the end of what turned out to be a rather depressing campaign: how the Cross marks our ballot and Questioning political leadership.

The outcome was pretty much as I expected and wanted: a Blair goverment may have many faults, but after the appalling xenophobia of the Tories, with their vilification of migranst and asylum seekers, the main opposition deserved nothing but defeat.

I voted Labour without much enthusiasm, however. Thank goodness my London MP is the dedicated and principled Glenda Jackson, who deserved re-election. If I had voted in Exeter it would have been with the Lib Dems against pro-war (and anti-asylum gateway scheme) MP Ben Bradshaw. He got my effective abstention instead.

As many commentators have observed, the most pleasant irony of the result is to be found in the fact that a non-proportional electoral system ill-suited to nuance ended up delivering just the kind of mixed message that was needed at a time like this.

The prime minister's majority (and his room for manoevre) has been limited by dissenters in the Labour Party and by those who stengthened the Liberal Democrats. The Greens, sadly disabled by greener-than-thou sectarianism, had little impact.

At the same time, and less enjoyably, we have also been made to face up to the scale of anti-immigrant opinion reflected both in the Conservative vote and in the growth of support for the British National Party. The issue must now be confronted, both politically and socially.

The big lie behind the 'tough immigration controls' argument, besides its unfeasibility and immorality, is the unspoken notion -- one that goes back to the early 1950s in British parliamentary discourse -- that a dose of racism at the borders will innoculate the country against racism within those borders. This is the reverse of the truth. Michael Howard boosted the BNP mentality by scapegoating for votes. Christians should not be afraid to point this out.

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[113.1] A POPE FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY?

[I have just written this for Ekklesia. The new Pope was elected two hours ago. It is difficult to feel any great sense of enthiusiasm, and easy to feel something to the contrary. Since a European was chosen it is sad -- but predictable -- that Cardinals Daneels and Kasper should have been overlooked.]

In a move set to cheer Catholic hardliners and dismay reformers, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, aged 78, was this evening elected by the college of Cardinals to succeed the late Pope John Paul II. He is already being talked about as a transitional figure as the Church absorbs the legacy of the longest Pontificate of the twentieth century.

Cardinal Ratzinger, from Traunstein in Germany, has chosen the name Benedict XVI. He is the first German Pope since Victor II, bishop of Eichstatt, who reigned from 1055-57.

The new Pontiff was immediately greeted with relief and enthusiasm by the large crowd gathered in St Peter’s Square, Rome.

It was one of the fastest elections over the past hundred years: Pope Pius XII was elected in 1939 in three ballots on one day, while Pope John Paul I was elected in 1978 in four ballots in one day. The new pope was chosen after either four or five ballots over just two days.

Ratzinger, now Benedict, has long been seen as the real power behind the papal throne. He worked directly for his predecessor from 1981.

John Paul II travelled widely (making over one hundred international visits) and was content to build up a strong bureaucracy in the Vatican – often to the discontent of bishops and ordinary Catholics around the world, who saw it as a source of intrigue, politicking and obduracy.

The new Pope is seen as a hardliner, but when he played a major role in the Second Vatican Council (1963-65) he was actually a modernizer. Vatican watchers say that his influence in recent years has come by mediating between other powerful figures.

Coming from the same generation as Pope John Paul II, the now Pope Benedict similarly struggled with rapid change in the modern world, and came to see retrenchment rather than revision as the way forward.

Controversy followed Ratzinger closely in his time as head of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, once known as the inquisition. The Cardinal was obstinate in his opposition to liberation theology, to radical lay movements (like ‘We are Church’ in Europe and base ecclesial communities in the developing world).

He also pursued bitter doctrinal vendettas against key dissenting theologians, including Leonardo Boff and Tissa Balasuriya in Brazil and Sri Lanka respectively. Both were poorly treated in investigations which amounted to one-sided trials, according to many observers.

Boff’s mistake was to question the power and ethics of the church itself, and the contradiction between this and its message of justice and peace, in his book ‘Church, Charism and Power’. He said that the Holy Spirit was reinventing the Church from the grassroots, but the guardians of the institution had different ideas.

Talented and sensitive theologians who explored the relationship between Christian faith, inter-faith relations and post-modern culture also felt the wrath of the sacred Congregation and of the German Cardinal.

They included Jacques Dupuis, who died sad and lonely as a result of his rejection for work on the theology of religions which is hailed as groundbreaking and deeply faithful by many fellow scholars in the Catholic world and beyond.

Roger Haight, also a Jesuit, and considered one of the Church’s most brilliant minds, has also been condemned recently. He is an expert in philosophy and Christology, the understanding of the nature of Jesus Christ.

Pope Benedict XVI is certain to continue with the conservative policies of the Curia on contraception, abortion, homosexuality, priestly celibacy and the refusal of women’s ordination as either deacons or priests.

However, some are tonight saying that Ratzinger’s choice of name may indicate some measure of conciliation towards those who disagree with him. This is because he has chosen the successor appellation to a Pope who succeeded a hardliner with a more moderate tone.

Benedict XV, who reigned from 1914 to 1922, followed Pius X, who had implemented a sharp crackdown against doctrinal "modernism." He reigned during World War I and was credited with settling animosity between traditionalists and reformers, He dreamed of reunion with Orthodox Christians.

Benedict, which comes from the Latin for "blessing," is one of a number of papal names of holy origin such as Clement ("mercy"), Innocent ("hopeful" as well as "innocent") and Pius ("pious").

Cardinal Ratzinger gave a moving and profound homily at the funeral of Pope John Paul II on 9 April 2005. As the new Pope Benedict XVI, he began his reign today by speaking to the world's one billion Catholics of the importance of humility and the need to be robust in faith.

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[112.2] STANDING UP FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS

[from Ekklesia] The Anglican Bishop of Ripon and Leeds and the Christian churches in West Yorkshire have entered the general election debate on migration by urging political parties not to stoke fears about asylum seekers during the campaign.

Some 400 people attended a recent protest in Leeds over the mistreatment treatment of asylum seekers in Britain. Organiser Dave Young told the BBC that churches had serious concerns that the asylum issue was used as a "political football", re-iterating the earlier plea, reported on Ekklesia, made by churches across the UK.

The West Yorkshire Ecumenical Council (WYEC) has called for a “radical revision” of current asylum policy. The Council, which represents all the major Christian churches in the county, says that in its own direct experience asylum seekers are often “destitute, terrorised and imprisoned”.

In a public statement, the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, John Packer, said: "The church leaders of West Yorkshire deeply regret the way in which concern for the needs of asylum-seekers seems to have been replaced by a desire to treat them harshly. All human beings are created by God and should be treated with dignity and generosity of spirit. The greater their need, the more they deserve our compassion and practical help.”

Bishop Packer continued: “We call on our political leaders to refrain from exploiting the plight of asylum-seekers and misleading the electorate by confusing the issues of asylum and immigration.”

Asking for a radical change of policy in favour of the persecuted and destitute who come to Britain for refuge, the Bishop added: “In the light of the parable of the Good Samaritan, we ask Christians to challenge their political candidates on the treatment of asylum-seekers - and to take their response into account when deciding how to vote.”

Meanwhile in London church leaders are also speaking out. United Reformed Church minister Vaughan Jones, who heads up a multi-agency project, Praxis, which works with people displaced across the capital, said today that “the whole experience of the Bible leads Christians to the defence of people in exile.”

Mr Jones, an Ekklesia associate, says that the debate about immigration and asylum is being confused both by politicians and the media. The churches, he declares, must stand up for the truth in the face of misinformation.

The statements of church leaders refusing the anti-immigrant and anti-asylum seeker tone of the general election debate come on a day when Conservative Party leader Michael Howard stands accused by a UN refugee agency representative in Britain of whipping up false fears.

But churches and humanitarian agencies are not just targeting the Tories. They have been critical of the Labour government too. “They are saying that politicians of all hues must put justice for the vulnerable above cheap political point scoring,” says Ekklesia research associate Simon Barrow.

Ekklesia, a religious think tank that has been named as one of the top 20 think tanks in the UK by The Independent newspaper, has also announced the launch of a major Westminster Forum, the first meeting of which will tackle immigration policy.

And church figures have joined politicians in expressing alarm at the actions of a Christian candidate who has had to publicly apologize after doctoring photos to support Tory immigration policy.

The full statement from the West Yorkshire church leaders was first published a week a go on Ekklesia.

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[112.1] JUSTICE, THEOLOGY AND THE URBAN CHURCH

Biblical justice and the urban church is the theme of a special day event to be held in London this coming Saturday, to honour the remarkable contribution of a little known radical evangelical theologian and urban worker. Roger Dowley, a Baptist who died in 2004, influenced several generations of Christians involved in urban issues, including the late Bishop David Sheppard.

His book ‘The Recovery of a Lost Bequest’ is a detailed study of justice-making as the pattern for biblical community and Christian action. The study day will run from 10.00 – 15.30 on Saturday 16 April 2005. The venue is Brandon Baptist Church, Redcar Street, Camberwell, London SE5 ONA.

The speakers will include Chris Rowland (Professor of New Testament at the University of Oxford, and a specialist in liberation theology), Simon Barrow (Ekklesia associate, currently General Secretary of the ecumenical Churches’ Commission on Mission) and Chris Andre-Watson (Baptist pastor in Brixton, area coordinator for BMS World Mission, and anti-drugs campaigner).

‘Dowley Day’ is free and open to all. A hot lunch will be provided. The event has been organised by Roy Dorey who teaches at Heythrop College and is founder of the Philemon Group, and by Bruce Stokes, both of Brandon Baptist Church. It is being co-sponsored by the Christian think tank, Ekklesia.

Roger Dowley’s detailed work-notes on biblical patterns for a just community, ‘Towards the Recovery of a Lost Bequest’, re-awakened the radical evangelical conscience in the mid 1980s. His work helped shape the Evangelical Coalition on Urban Mission. It was rooted in the faith and thought of a lay person deeply engaged in the tough realities of inner city issues.

Roger Dowley is one of those unsung giants of the faith whose contribution to Christian thought and action is as inestimable as it is (sadly) forgotten. He represents a tradition which badly needs to be recovered again, as the evangelical section of the church sinks further into insularity and vituperation over issues of sexuality.

Brandon Baptist Church has done a great service to the whole Christian community – evangelical, ecumenical and Catholic - by putting on this day. The speakers (we hope!) represent a broad slice of Christian opinion committed to social justice and the radical Gospel.

Dowley Day will also ensure that the struggles of urban life are properly highlighted at a time when General Election spin is in danger of obliterating the faces of those who suffer injustice - people on sink estates, refugees and asylum seekers, victims of violence and abuse.

Those intending to come to ‘Dowley Day’, or wanting any more information, should drop an email to info@philemon.co.uk.

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[111.2] JOURNEYING TOGETHER AS CHURCHES

This from Ekklesia. The full story is here.

As questions continue to be raised about their relevance in public life, churches in Britain are gearing up to renew inherited structures and embolden ‘fresh expressions of church’ through a major new initiative and training course launched this week.

A certificate and diploma in ‘mission accompaniment’ has been pioneered by Cliff College in association with the ecumenical Churches’ Commission on Mission (CCOM). The course is validated through the University of Manchester and its originators say that it will help to shake up church life in the UK.

The Diploma in Mission Accompaniment (DMA), which allows people with full-time occupations to study part-time, is aimed at all those who want to use their listening and consulting skills to help local churches and Christian organisations engage more effectively within their communities.

The Cliff College DMA has been developed out of the Building Bridges of Hope programme established over the past ten years by the Churches’ Commission on Mission, part of the official ecumenical body, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.

“Mission accompaniment is a new way of thinking about activating and supporting churches as they seek to become more effective expressions of the Gospel,” says Churches’ Commission on Mission general secretary Simon Barrow, who is also an Ekklesia associate.

“To be an accompanier in mission is to be someone rooted in prayer and theological vision,” Barrow adds. “But it is also to possess an eclectic range of skills, including listening, consulting, coaching, mentoring and signposting to the right resources. It’s about long-term commitment rather than quick fixes.”

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[111.1] HAVING GODLY PATIENCE

C. F. Blumhardt writes: "Nothing motivates us Christians more than being asked to do something in keeping with our strength, our ability. Just the pledge to do something, to improve a situation, can excite thousands of people. Even sensible people waver and get carried away. The kingdom of God, however, comes in an entirely different way. It makes no call upon human strength or upon the exertions of the flesh. It silences out agendas - and for us this is the hardest thing."

In a more positive vein, the late Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador made the same point through his outstanding prayer/poem A Future Not Our Own. I regard this as a manifesto for reasoning faith today.

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[110.3] GOD AND THE DARWIN WARS

I recently had an email exchange with a US Christian critic of my writings who immediately ceased conversation when he discovered that I 'believed' in evolution (as he put it), or saw no conflict between mature Christian theology and evolutionary biological sciences (as I put it). It's hard to credit the strength of anti-evolutionism from this side of the Atlantic, though we are seeing increasing manifestations of it here, too.

I've just updated my page on 'creationism' and the religion-science interface, mainly in order to include a plug for The Panda's Thumb and for Andrew Brown's Darwin Wars, which is not about the Kansas nonsense, but about fratricide within the evolutionary biology community. There is a credible debate to be had about evolutionary theory, but it starts nowhere near the creationist fiasco, or its latest manifestation, so-called 'intelligent design'.

Incidentally, Andrew, himself a sceptic, also writes the best regular column in The Church Times, commenting with wit and insight on the media reporting of religion from a British angle. I have included his elegant Helmintholog and the aforementioned sites in my permalinks. I'd also point you towards the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences website.

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[110.2] TRUTH TELLING ABOUT ISRAEL-PALESTINE

The big fuss over BBC Thought for the Day, however, is over a recent broadcast by John Bell of the Iona Community. This included inaccurate references to incidents involving the Israeli Defence Forces. The reaction has been predictably swift, one-sided and venomous from the pro-Israeli government policy lobby... with overtones about racism and anti-semitism all round. The BBC have appropriately published an apology from themselves and from John Bell, with a suitably graceful note from him. But they so far decline to publish a corrected version of the talk. I wonder whether Ekklesia might provide this function of free speech?

I sent in this response to the ongoing argument this evening:
Dr John Bell has had the good grace to apologise for the inaccuracies in his Thought [for the Day], a point some of your correspondents barely acknowledge. It is sad that he gave false data, because there is well documented material available from reputable sources on abuses of human rights committed by the Israeli Defence Force. I hope that your outraged correspondents would condemn these. Crimes are committed by both Israelis and Palestinians. Until the two peoples can recognise each other as wounded and hurting, and until both violence and occupation are outlawed as 'solutions', there is unlikely to be peace with justice for all. Meanwhile, could we have a corrected version of Dr Bell's Thought on your site please, BBC?

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