Archbishop Carey recalls WCC's founding purpose 'In mission the church found its unity' By Parker T. Williamson The Presbyterian Layman Monday, December 14, 1998 Rev. George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury HARARE, Zimbabwe - Preaching to an overflow crowd at Harare's Anglican Cathedral, Rt. Rev. George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury, declared the words of Isaiah, "Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord." That journey, he said will take the WCC directly to the throne of Jesus Christ, the center from which anything the WCC says or does must flow. In a sermon titled "Crisis or Christ," Carey reminded the WCC that in the biblical sense, crisis is not a word of doom but a moment of decision. He challenged the WCC on its 50th anniversary "to seek unity in the service of Christian mission to the whole world." Carey said that if the organization grounds its work on any other basis than Christ's mission, it will sink. Born in mission Recalling that the WCC emerged from the worldwide missionary movement, Carey honored the organization and its founders. "In mission the church found its unity," he said. "But now there is a crisis," he said. "In some ways the splits [in the Christian community] are wider now. The Roman Catholic Church is still outside the WCC. The Orthodox are nervous about their continued participation in the WCC, the church in the West is in serious decline, and the future of the WCC is in doubt. This is a time, said Carey, for the WCC to remember that the only reason for its existence, and the only hope it has for continuing to exist, lies in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ the heartbeat "The resurrection," said Carey, "is the heart of faith. We must confess with our lips that Jesus Christ is Lord … We must place all that we do, all of our concerns, all of our ideals, all of our hopes in the context of our faith in Jesus Christ." Carey recognized that the WCC has chosen to confront many vexing issues, from homosexuality to the Third-World debt crisis. These issues, he said, "must not be the all to end all … they must be addressed only in the light of the Gospel and our determination to take the Gospel everywhere. … If there is no God, there is no final justice, no peace … nothing beyond this life. Christ must be the heartbeat of our living, preaching, and work for justice and peace." 'Jesus shall reign where'er the sun …' The worship service into which Carey was welcomed proved a fascinating blend of high church Anglican and drum-beating African. Priests in gilded robes processed along the center aisle swinging incense pots on the ends of sterling silver chains, while lively Shona voices transformed stone walls into sounding boards, accompanied by drums, rattles and gourds. African passion and Anglo precision contributed to a rich and colorful litany while, suspended above the chancel, a huge crucifix carved by African sculptor Job Kakana from a single piece of Jacaranda wood, gave the worship area a focus that was as distinctly Christian as it was distinctly African. Wearing orange banners, black and white Zimbabwean ushers stood in pairs to assist their guests. Sung by this multi-cultural congregation in Shona and English, the final hymn spoke to the power of the Gospel to reach the very ends of the earth: "Jesus shall reign where'er the sun does his successive journeys run; His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, till moons shall wax and wane no more."

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