WCC NEWS: Bishop Olav Fykse Tveit reflects on new book “Visions of Christian Unity” in video from WCC 11th Assembly

A video session of the launch of Bishop Olav Fykse Tveit’s book, “Visions of Christian Unity,” has been newly released by the World Council of Churches (WCC). 6 September 2022, Karlsruhe, Germany: Bishop Olav Fykse Tveit (left) discusses his new book, “Visions of Christian Unity,” with Anam Gill and Rev. Dag Tuvelius during a televised event at the World Council of Churches' 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany. The assembly takes place August 31 to September 8 under the theme "Christ's Love Moves the World to Reconciliation and Unity." Photo: Mike DuBose/WCC 13 September 2022 The book launch was held during the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany. Tveit, presiding bishop of the Church of Norway and former WCC general secretary, reflects on a volume that sketches an ecumenical movement, reveals a horizon of hope, and illumines many of our most pressing global challenges. In the video, Tveit explains how, as he became WCC general secretary, one of his challenges was to make churches more aware that the WCC was, in fact, working for them. “Why was this a challenge?” Tveit asked. “Sometimes the churches are very much involved and very busy with their own agendas,” he says. “I think they also felt, some of them, that the council has a very strong agenda to work for justice and peace in the world—and an ongoing agenda to work for unity. Some of the churches were asking how these agendas related to one another.” Tveit also speaks to the concept of a pilgrimage. “This recommendation from Busan opened up what was already there, in a way,” he says. “That became much more clear but also much more challenging.”  He describes the pilgrimage as how we move together as people of faith in a world in urgent need of justice and peace. “A pilgrimage is not only something we should construct for them but that they are longing for and able to make,” he says. The dynamic pilgrimage, he adds, opened up new involvement in the WCC’s work, “not only for specialists but for anybody.”  He also comments on the early thinking behind the theme of the WCC 11th Assembly, “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity.”  The theme, he says, makes it clear why we are Christians—and why we are Christian churches together. “I think there was an understanding that the theme should help people see why we as believe in Christ,” he says. “What does that mean in the time we live in now?” Book "Visions of Christian Unity" by Olav Fykse Tveit Bishop Olav Fykse Tveit publishes “Visions of Christian Unity” (WCC news, 25 August 2022) Video of the Book launch: Visions of Christian Unity 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

WCC NEWS: Bishop Olav Fykse Tveit: “We are called to be one as churches, as followers of Christ”

In a special greeting to the World Council of Churches (WCC) 11th Assembly, Bishop Olav Fykse Tveit, presiding bishop of the Church of Norway and former WCC general secretary, expressed what a miracle the assembly gathered is. 5 September 2022, Karlsruhe, Germany: Greetings by former general secretary Bishop Dr Olav Fykse Tveit to 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 05 September 2022 "It is a miracle that we all are able to gather here. Knowing how much work it is behind such an event, I will particularly commend all staff members and all involved in the preparations in so many ways that we are here,” he said. “The world is already deeply into challenges that humanity has not seen before, through climate change and all its effects on the whole world.” As always, he noted, those most affected are those who already are the most vulnerable. "The issues of justice and peace are raising every day before us,” he said. “The quest for being one in the fellowship of churches is the origin and the goal of our work.” Many efforts have been made and many fruits harvested, he noted. “We see them as we are here together, if we open our eyes to see,” he said. “We, the churches, needs a global ecumenical fellowship of churches leading us in confessing and repenting from our sins, leading us in transformation from the destructions, obstacles and ignorance of the full meaning of being one. We are called to be one as churches, as followers of Christ.” Greetings to the WCC 11th Assembly by bishop Olav Fykse Tveit, presiding bishop of the Church of Norway 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

WCC NEWS: Church of Norway consecrates Olav Fykse Tveit as presiding bishop

In historic Nidaros Cathedral, the ancient shrine and pilgrimage destination of medieval Trondheim, the Church of Norway on Sunday, 10 May 2020, consecrated the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit as bishop of the Diocese of Nidaros and installed him as Preses or presiding bishop of its Bishops’ Conference.

In observance of restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, the cathedral service was held with minimal attendance but live-streamed internationally. As presiding bishop, Tveit succeeds Bishop Helga Haugland Byfuglien, who was the first woman to hold the post and who has led the church through the reframing of its position in national life.

At the service, Dr Tveit preached on the gospel text from John 15:1-9, on Jesus as the true vine, cultivating his disciples to bear much fruit, namely, faith, hope, and love.

“This is the church’s task in this world,” he said, “to preach and demonstrate God’s love, so that we can get the strength and will and ability to love others. It can and should demand something from us, for it concerns the most important thing of all. We can do this because we have been inserted into a relation with Christ.”

Noting the unique and tumultuous circumstances of a global pandemic while congratulating the former general secretary on his new ministry, WCC moderator Dr Agnes Abuom and acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca voiced their prayers for Tveit and “the people’s church” that he will lead, saying, “We earnestly pray that, with your leadership, the Church of Norway will seize this time to strengthen faith, encourage participation, cultivate community, and foster dedication to the care of the people of Norway and the service of the whole human family.”

Echoing Tveit’s own hopes and their confidence in him, Abuom and Sauca said, “We look to a new birth of the church through the continued presence of the Risen Lord among us. May the Church of Norway be and become, as you have phrased it, ‘a fellowship of hope,’ a haven always safe yet never comfortable, a herald and true beacon of hope for all humanity.”

For his work in ecumenical peacemaking, Dr Tveit has received several honours, most recently just last week, when he was awarded the Dongbaek Medal of the Order of Civil Merit from the president and prime minister of the Republic of Korea for his dedicated and persistent work over ten years toward peace and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula.

Consecration of Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, Nidaros Cathedral Sunday 10 May at 11am CET Follow online, see "Høymesse med vigsling av preses" Read the new bishop’s inaugural sermon (English) Sermon in Norwegian Read congratulations from the WCC moderator and acting general secretary WCC Photo review with quotes by Rev. Dr Tveit Video greeting from the WCC moderator See a brief history of the Church of Norway Nidaros Cathedral Learn more about the awarding of the Dongbaek Medal

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 350 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. 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

WCC NEWS: WCC’s work for peace receives highest Korean honour

Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, presiding bishop of the Church
of Norway and former general secretary of the World
Council of Churches. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC

For many decades, the World Council of Churches (WCC) has worked to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula. From bringing people from both sides of the divided country together, to building an international ecumenical network to support them, the WCC has a history of formulating and promoting a vision for peace.

This unique role hinges on relationships that have been built up over time in a region that has suffered not only from conflict but also from a long history of division, mutual suspicion and distrust which has affected not only the people of the Korean Peninsula but the entire world.

On 5 May former WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, who will be consecrated as presiding bishop of the Church of Norway on 10 May, will receive the Dongbaek Medal of the Order of Civil Merit, during a ceremony at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Oslo, Norway.

The award will be presented on behalf of Moon Jae-in, president of the Republic of Korea, as well as prime minister Chung Sye-kyun.

Below, Tveit reflects on the WCC’s history of working for peace, in remarkable and diverse ways, on the Korean Peninsula. An early encounter and reconciliation process between North and South Korea was launched by the WCC at the ‘Tozanso Consultation’ in Japan in 1984. Since then, the WCC and its member churches have continuously supported the churches and Christian communities of North and South Korea in promoting peace and reconciliation.

Tveit served as WCC general secretary for a decade, beginning in 2010. Below, he reflects on his experiences, particularly of ecumenical efforts for peace on the Korean Peninsula, from that time of service.

Could you describe how the WCC 10th Assembly, held in Busan, South Korea in 2013, re-energized churches’ initiatives for peace on the Korean Peninsula?

Rev. Dr Tveit: Several thousand participants attended the Assembly in Busan, representing member churches and ecumenical partners from all around the world. It was an occasion for all of these people, and their churches and organizations to renew their awareness and engagement regarding the continuing division of the Korean people, the unresolved Korean War, the urgent need for dialogue instead of confrontation, and the significance of the ecumenical role in seeking a just peace in this context. It was my duty as WCC general secretary to support and identify how I could help revitalise the dialogue for peace on the Korean Peninsula, which during this time was not very proactive. The assembly gave us a very strong mandate to do this. I promised our counterparts in both the National Council of Churches in the Republic of Korea and the Korean Christian Federation in the DPRK that I would do what I could. And during the period since then, we have worked together intensively, through a period of some of the most dangerous geopolitical tensions, and some of the highest hopes for peaceful transformation.

Describe the process and the work with the Ecumenical Forum for Korea (EFK).

Rev. Dr Tveit: Yes, the Ecumenical Forum for Korea – or to give it its original full name, the Ecumenical Forum for Peace, Reunification & Development Cooperation on the Korean Peninsula – has been a very important instrument in this process. The EFK was created in 2006, building upon the experience of churches and ecumenical partners engaged in humanitarian response to the North Korean famine in the 1990s. Since the Busan Assembly we have been widening the circle of ecumenical partners engaged in this forum. Among other significant initiatives undertaken through this instrument, in October 2015 a 12-person international ecumenical delegation - comprised of EFK members and observers - visited the DPRK. During the delegation visit a formal EFK meeting was convened in Pyongyang on 28 October 2015, the first time an international ecumenical gathering was able to meet anywhere on Korean soil – North or South – with the official participation of both the KCF and the NCCK.

Then you met with Moon Jae-In, the president of South Korea, shortly after he was elected in 2017.

Rev. Dr Tveit: Yes. The president confirmed the vision and role of the WCC as being something he wanted to support. He encouraged us to continue the work and saw a great value in the churches’ involvement in initiatives for peace in the region. We were honoured to have been received by him so soon after his inauguration as president.

How do you feel about receiving this award?

Rev. Dr Tveit: It has been a special privilege to have been involved in this work as the general secretary of the WCC. I am very honoured to receive this affirmation of my role in this regard. The award is primarily a recognition of the work of the WCC and all the people who have been involved in the process during these years, and during the preceding decades. I also think that the award inspires us to recognize the important contribution of the churches in the peace process.

How is the WCC’s role unique?

Rev. Dr Tveit: Working for peace is the WCC’s calling; it is what the WCC has to do. It is also a call from Jesus Christ to the church, and from people’s own longing for peace. All people are affected by this unresolved conflict on the Korean Peninsula. It is therefore very important for the ecumenical movement to continue to give this priority, to take new initiatives and continue to be the faithful partner for peace. The WCC has a potential that goes beyond what others can do for promoting peace in the region, because of the nature and source of its calling. Peace is possible, but it takes all the skills, both of diplomacy and of political creativity. Another thing I have learned, is that the exceptional and unprecedented sanctions, even if decided by the UN, are making things worse rather than better. They do not lead to positive change but bring a lot of suffering to ordinary North Koreans. How can you motivate people to work for peace with all the suffering and division caused by sanctions and confrontation? It makes a huge difference and I think it is part of the conflict rather than part of the solution.

Over your decade as WCC general secretary, is there progress for which you are grateful?

Rev. Dr Tveit: It has really been a blessing to work with the Korean partners and to understand both their deepest wishes and prayers for peace, and that they don’t give up. They also inspire us not to give up. I am deeply grateful for this experience. The support of others is extremely important during times of war and conflict. The deepest way of supporting is by praying. Both North and South Koreans need the spiritual support of others, and the support by churches all over the world is important. It is our task to believe in peace and cultivate a deep commitment nurtured by hope.

by Anne Casparsson is a freelance journalist who focuses on peace and justice.

Full address of the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit at the Award ceremony Greetings to the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit from WCC and NCCK leadership Photo highlights from the WCC work towards peace in Korean peninsula "Light of Peace", WCC Global prayer campaign for peace in Korea WCC delegation meets with Korean prime minister (WCC press release 18 November 2019) National Council of Churches in Korea honors WCC leaders (WCC press release 18 November 2019)

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 350 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway.

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

WCC NEWS: Rev. Dr Tveit receives South Korean Order of Civil Merit

Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, presiding bishop of the Church of Norway and

former general secretary of the WCC, has received the Dongbaek Medal 

of the Order of  Civil Merit of the Republic of Korea.  Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC

On 5 May, former World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit received the Dongbaek Medal of the Order of Civil Merit of the Republic of Korea, during a ceremony at the Korean Embassy in Oslo, Norway.

The award was presented by Dr. Nam Young-Sook, the Korean Ambassador to the Kingdom of Norway, on behalf of President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea. Their message read: “In accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, you will be awarded the following medal, recognizing your great contribution to the development of the Republic of Korea through the efforts of peace and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula.”

Dr Kyung-seo Park, former WCC president for Asia and current president of the Korean Red Cross, said it was a joy and honor to offer his greetings. “The WCC, represented by Olav, has been actively involved for advocacy work on the Korean Peninsula for peaceful co-existence without war and nuclear weapons starting in 1984 with the Tozanso process and highlighted at the 2013 WCC Busan Assembly,” he said. “As we continue our common journey, let me count on your solidarity and prayer.”

Rev. Dr Hong-Jung Lee, general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Korea, offered warm congratulations to Tveit. “The WCC has been deeply engaged in the Korean peace process, and as a prominent leader of the global religious civic society, Olav, you will bear abundant fruit in the Korean Peninsula,” said Lee. “As I have shared a common vision with you, Olav, I sincerely hope you will open a new gate for the Korean peace process by establishing a Nordic roundtable for peace on the Korean Peninsula.”

During the awards ceremony, which was held both online and via social distancing at the embassy, WCC moderator Dr Agnes Abuom recalled the historic moment when more than 800 participants in the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan in 2013 joined in a pilgrimage of justice and peace traveling to Mount Dora and Imjingak, expressing solidarity with the people of Korea and endorsing a worldwide call for the reunification of Korea.

“As general secretary of the WCC, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit inspired them to see themselves as a sign of the fulfilment of God’s promise,” said Abuom. “I appreciate, Rev. Tveit, your faithful leadership through which you have demonstrated what it means to transform Christian fellowship.”

WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca reflected that the WCC has a long history of working together with national, regional and international ecumenical partners for peace on the Korean Peninsula, particularly since the historic Tozanso Consultation of 1984.

“As general secretary of the WCC, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit did much more than simply carry forward this heritage,” said Sauca. “He made it a hallmark of this period of the WCC’s history, and personally played a prominent leadership role in this area of the WCC’s work through a period that has encompassed both some of the most perilous moments in the modern history of the region, and some of the highest hopes for transformative peaceful change.”

Bishop Atle Sommerfeldt, acting presiding bishop of the Church of Norway, said: “The Church of Norway is deeply committed to peace, justice and reconciliation, especially where war and political differences separate people and families. We pray and hope with the people of Korea for a reconciled future, healing the wounds of the past and present, with justice for all.”

Tveit, who will be consecrated as the presiding bishop of the Church of Norway on 10 May, expressed how deeply honored and thankful he was for the recognition of the WCC’s work over many years to promote and support the churches’ contribution to peace for the Korean Peninsula and the Korean people.

“To make peace is holy work,” said Tveit. "To make peace is hard work. It is a call to every human being, and particularly to those who have the responsibility to lead their nations.”

Tveit also prepared a special prayer for the day. “May, the God of life and peace, bless the people of Korea, in the South and the North, and give you peace. Amen,” he prayed.

Full address of the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit at the Award ceremony Greetings to the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit from WCC and NCCK leadership The Order of Civil Merit - award certificate text Interview with Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit Photo highlights from the WCC work towards peace in Korean peninsula "Light of Peace", WCC Global prayer campaign for peace in Korea WCC delegation meets with Korean prime minister (WCC press release 18 November 2019) National Council of Churches in Korea honors WCC leaders (WCC press release 18 November 2019)

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 350 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway.

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