The gathering drew deacons, deaconesses, and many others who have chosen Christian service for their work, and their lives. “Let me say from the outset, from my point of view and in light of our work in the World Council of Churches, two things are clear: our several converging crises present imminent collective peril for humanity and the earth; and, against this tide, ecumenical Christian service—diakonia at all levels— can prove to be an important, perhaps even vital, catalyst for the transformative change necessary to meet these challenges and rescue our situation,” he said. “God’s work must be our own, in part because it is vital to the survival of our species and our planet.” The sobering litany of converging crises seems to signal a turning point in human history, or at the very least a historic geopolitical realignment, Pillay reflected. "In terms of scale and character, it poses a steep challenge to churches (and all people of goodwill) as they try to create and ensure a more just, peaceful, and sustainable world,” Pillay said. “In some ways, we are in danger of losing this battle for the survival of our species and the health of our planet.” As Christians, we recognize the spiritual roots of our civilizational polycrisis, Pillay continued. “I believe that, though the particular global crises facing us are dizzyingly multiple, their confluence tells us that, at their heart, we are suffering from a global, civilization-wide crisis of values,” he said. “It is a spiritual crisis, a profound challenge to rethink our toxic cultural values and economic systems in light of their deadly impact on the possibility of sustaining our species and life on this planet.” We live in an inherently exploitative economic system, Pillay continued. “We are often driven by consumerism and distorted desire,” he said. “Our business practices often license and even glorify selfishness and greed.” Our cultures cling to deep and intractable biases and prejudices, particularly of race and ethnicity, class and gender, Pillay said. “And we seem to lack the political willingness to take the hard choices and make the unwelcome sacrifices that seem required of us,” he said. “These are disvalues that, in many ways and places and times, distort our histories and cultures, our governments and economies and even our family life.” Yet, as Christians, we also lift up countervailing values, Pillay said. “We stand on the inherent dignity of all persons, created in God’s own image,” he said. “We stand in solidarity with the weak and vulnerable and seek justice for all people and groups.” Read the full text of the WCC general secretary address Photo gallery | 
