Diversity, Resilience and Communion are Trinitarian ecological principles that come alive at the World Council of Churches (WCC) – Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) Pre-Assembly Mission Event happening in Manila, Philippines from March 22 – 27, 2012. The Welcome message of the CWME Coordinator says : “ Affirming life in all its fullness” is God’s ultimate concern and mission. However, we are living in a world where God-given life is threatened and destroyed by human greed. Into such a world God invites us into the life-giving mission of the Triune God and empowers us to bear witness to the vision of abundant life for all in the new heaven and earth. Therefore, we journey “ Together Towards Life: Called To Live out the Hope in Christ”
A total of 220 participants have gathered together to this event as delegates, advisors, guests, observers and stewards “ with our ecumenical heart and commitment to discern and learn together what God’s mission is today”. One of the major contributions from this Pre-Assembly Mission Event is to enrich through our mission experiences in our communities as we share their stories, struggles and hopes for life- a new ecumenical affirmation on mission and evangelism at the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea in 2013.
A total of 15 participants/delegates come from the Catholic Church which is one of the 54 CWME affiliated bodies. The Archbishop of Manila, Most Reverend Luis Antonio Tagle graced the occasion by welcoming the different Churches and spoke in behalf of the Pontifical Commission on the Promotion of Church Unity (PCPCU) by declaring the gathering as a “conference of love” and saying that “ a person who is deeply in love – is ready and willing to give up one’s life for another”. This is the heart of mission.
Together, the gathering hopes to work on the final draft of WCC’s new affirmation on mission and evangelism; give impetus for ecumenical mission and evangelism work; make mission and evangelism central to WCC reflection and work; prepare for the reception of the Statement for the Busan Assembly.
The Keynote speech by Reverend Dr. Roderick Hewitt , from the United Church of Jamaica and Cayman Islands (from the Reformed Churches Tradition) - University of Kwazulu-Natal presented the challenge of “Re-articulating Christian Mission and Evangelism” which provides the significant content and context of the new WCC affirmation in Mission and Evangelism- Draft document.
A special highlight of this Manila event is the presentation of the Philippine Church Delegation Statement : “Incarnation of Faith: Voices from the East, Voices of the Oppressed rising – Set my people free!” The articulation concretizes the ecumenical affirmation of the CWME document based on present Philippine context and current social realities as prophetic voices from the poor and marginalized peoples.
The concluding statement of the Draft Document provides the summary and spirit of the ecumenical gathering (as it also deeply resonates with the aspirations of the Good Shepherd congregation in the Philippines):
“ The Triune God invites the whole Creation to the Feast of Life, through Jesus Christ, who came “that they may have life, may have it in all its fullness” (Jn. 10:10), through the Holy Spirit who affirms the vision of the reign of God, “ Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth”. We commit ourselves together in humility and hope to the mission of God, who recreates all and reconciles all. And we pray, “God of life, lead us into justice and peace”.
As shared by Sr. Maureen Catabian, RGS
March 23, 2012
( The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of Churches which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Savior according to the scriptures and therefore seek to fulfill together their common calling to the glory of the one God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is an inter-denominational movement, inviting and expecting all its members to take seriously the factors that divide them, and to work constructively with and on those.
Member churches of the WCC must be ready to bring their differences into discussion in the fellowship; this sometimes makes for tensions, even conflicts, but it also ensures that the fellowship has to wrestle with those divisions and can grow from doing so. At their Founding Assembly in Amsterdam in 1948 representatives from 147 Churches constituted the World Council. Since then, the number has grown to more that 340 Churches from over 100 countries. )
Please read related story: http://mb.com.ph/node/355108/church-gathering-providential