WCC NEWS: WCC president from Europe: “I believe that unity begins with relationships – Christ becomes visible as we look with attention to each other”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly elected eight new presidents on 5 September. Below, Rev. Dr Susan Durber, WCC president from Europe, reflects on the new role, and a vision for how insights gained at the assembly will carry forward. 6 September 2022, Karlsruhe, Germany: Rev. Dr Susan Durber, newly elected WCC president for the Europe region at the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches is held in Karlsruhe, Germany from 31 August to 8 September, under the theme "Christ's Love Moves the World to Reconciliation and Unity." Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC 08 September 2022 What inspires you most about taking on this important role within the WCC? Rev. Dr Durber: I am honoured to be asked to be an advocate for our fellowship within the European region. There are some places where our work in calling one another to visible unity is well known and others where it is not. I believe that unity begins with relationships so that Christ becomes visible as we look with attention to each other. My priority will be to make and build relationships. I have been part of the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace, bringing my Faith and Order experience there, and I hope to go on participating in the breadth of our WCC life and speaking about it wherever I can. What are the top concerns among churches in Europe? Rev. Dr Durber: Europe is presently facing the reality of a war within our borders, and a war in which Christians are fighting Christians. The churches are tangled with war and with the problems that have led to it – we are not “above it,” and we must be active in overcoming and ending the violence. We also fail to notice the many other conflicts that scar our world. I long for a Europe that is not defensive and protective of its own concerns but is open to the wider world. Europe has within it some of the world’s strongest economies and we must do our part in addressing inequality in our world, so hungry for justice. Many of the churches in Europe, perhaps all of them in different ways, are facing a time of decline in numbers and in our cultural power. We are rediscovering our role as those who are ‘salt’ in the world, rather than the world itself. How will the WCC 11th Assembly help move you forward on the path of reconciliation and peace? Rev. Dr Durber: It helps me by reminding me that Europe is one part of a fast moving and complex world. The colonial story of European powers still haunts the ways that we, in Europe, belong to the world. A gathering like this assembly shows me how I am part of a wider family and that new kinds of relationships within it need to be shaped. My first identity is as someone “in Christ” – and the challenge is to live out my discipleship with faithfulness in this part of our beautiful and hurting world. Christ’s love moves the world – and moves all of us who are Europeans! Livestream of the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany Photos of the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC acting general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, from the Orthodox Church in Romania.  Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland