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Thursday, August 31, 2023
WCC NEWS: Remembering the WCC 11th Assembly: one year later
As the World Council of Churches (WCC) observes one year since the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany, many resources can help the global fellowship, friends, and partners take a reflective look back at a gathering that drew more than 4,500 people, including 659 official delegates from the WCC’s 352 member churches.
8 September 2022, Karlsruhe, Germany: Assembly participants raise orange consensus cards in affirmation of what is said during a closing business plenary at the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, 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
31 August 2023
As WCC general secretary Rev. Prof Dr Jerry Pillay writes in the WCC 2022 Annual Review, “As we address the current global challenges, we realize the importance for Christian unity and vision to foster justice and peace to make the world a better place for all creation.”
A special section in the WCC Annual Review 2022 includes images and highlights from the assembly.
Another special publication is the assembly report, entitled “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity” and named for the theme of the assembly.
The report—one element of a wider collection of resources that offers a flavour of what took place at the assembly—includes an overview of the assembly, the message and unity statement, and various reflections. It also offers an overview of the spiritual life of the assembly, and reports of the work since the WCC 10th Assembly.
Additional sections of the publication include descriptions of the work of assembly committees; statements and minutes; messages from pre-assemblies; and greetings to the assembly.
In addition, the “Report on the Ecumenical Conversations” that occurred during the assembly offers a collection of all the reports of 23 Ecumenical Conversations addressing different issues pertinent to the unity of churches and their common witness and service to the world.
It presents the deliberations and the ensuing affirmations and challenges that the participants saw as imperatives for the work of the WCC and the wider ecumenical movement in the 2023-2030 strategic period until the WCC 12th Assembly takes place.
The report from each conversation contains an abstract, short notes on the proceedings, and a list of key affirmations and challenges to guide the fellowship in reflecting and acting on the issues identified.
In the preface, Pillay writes that the Ecumenical Conversations created an opportunity for collective reflection. “This compilation puts a resource into our hands that will continue the ecumenical conversation as churches and their interfaith partners move together on the Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity in a fragmented world,” he writes.
29 August 2022: Bishop Heike Springhart of the Landeskirche in Baden and the mayor of Karlsruhe Frank Mentrup holding the WCC 11th Assembly flag along with the members of Karlsruhe Local Office, Messe Karlsruhe and WCC, Photo:Marcelo Schneider/WCC
For a look back at assembly history, check out a collection of videos on all WCC assemblies. Through a series of short narrated videos, viewers can share the spirit of each assembly and the world context into which it unfurled.
The narration begins with the WCC 1st Assembly in Amsterdam in 1948, explaining: “In 1948, three years after the end of the Second World War, the world was devastated…”
The videos then move through each assembly, noting historical facts, the assembly theme, and the evolution of the ecumenical movement.
A window of access
To access these resources and more, visit the webpage of the WCC 11th Assembly. A central hub during the assembly, it now has been redesigned to focus on the needs of the WCC worldwide fellowship when looking back at the assembly in Germany, and enabling easy access to the various resources produced at the assembly.
The assembly page, available in English, German, French, and Spanish, now features collections of assembly statements, speeches, news, publications, Bible studies, photos, and videos along with other resources related to the assembly.
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 general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa.
Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches
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