World Council of Churches prepares to celebrate 50 years By Paula R. Kincaid The Presbyterian Layman Friday, September 11, 1998  The
World Council of Churches (WCC) will celebrate its 50th anniversary Dec.
3- 14 at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare. Approximately 4,000
people representing the 330 member denominations of the WCC, as well as
official observers and representatives from ecumenical bodies and 2,000
accredited visitors, are expected to attend the Eighth Assembly. In addition to 50th anniversary celebrations, the Assembly will feature a recommitment to an ecumenical vision for the future; Padare, a four-day event featuring ecumenical and social issues; hearings on the WCC’s work over the past seven years; and plenaries on the Ecumenical Decade of the Churches in Solidarity with Women. Controversy in Zimbabwe Controversy has erupted over the WCC’s plans to hold its Assembly in Zimbabwe where homosexual behavior is illegal. Before agreeing to locate the Assembly at Harare, WCC officials negotiated a “memorandum of understanding” with the Zimbabwean government, guaranteeing protection for the rights of homosexual delegates. President Robert Mugabe signed the memorandum, but subsequently criticized the WCC when he learned that it intends to showcase the issue of homosexuality during its assembly meeting. “The World Council of Churches is even coming here to debate homosexuality, even though it’s known internationally that Zimbabwe is opposed to it,” he said. Mugabe’s remarks came after reports appeared in the Zimbabwe press that the WCC had given Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) accreditation to promote their cause at the Padare. Gay/lesbian organizations, particularly in the United States, are encouraging their members to join forces with GALZ in the Padare demonstrations. “The only people who will be able to change African perceptions on this issue are church people,” Chipo Machida, a prominent Zimbabwean gay activist, said during a 1997 trip to the United States. She said the presence of American gay and lesbian Christians and their supporters at the 1998 Assembly could force many Zimbabwean Christians to re-examine their opposition to gay and lesbian rights. Offending indigenous people Government officials in Harare have said Mugabe might refuse to open the WCC Assembly if homosexuality becomes an issue. “It would be self-contradictory of him to address a meeting that will deliberate on matters he has very strong views against,” said one senior official. Many African Christians find it unthinkable that liberal church leaders, primarily from the West, would export values associated with the homosexual lifestyle to their land, particularly in light of the fact that they themselves have criticized evangelical missionaries for exporting their Western values to “indigenous people.” The Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ), an umbrella organization with a membership of more than 2.5 million Zimbabwean Christians, including 150 denominations, parachurches and interdenominational organizations, has condemned the WCC, claiming the Assembly will be used to promote offensive behavior. “All the member churches, bodies and individuals in the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe are alarmed at the efforts of the WCC, which should be a body upholding biblical standards, to negate true Christian faith by making the forthcoming WCC conference a forum for homosexuals and lesbians,” said EFZ President Andrew Wutawunashe. “We roundly condemn such a blatant perversion of the Christian faith and we cry ‘shame’ that it should be sanctioned by a body claiming to represent Christians.” A Christian beginning The WCC was founded in Amsterdam in 1948 by representatives of 147 churches, mostly from Europe and North America. Since then, the number of member churches has grown to 330 from approximately 100 countries all over the world. The basis of the WCC, a brief statement upon which all member churches agree, states, “The World Council of Churches 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, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” Funding terrorism Within 20 years, however, the early promise of the WCC became mired in controversy. In 1969, the WCC established its Program to Combat Racism (PCR), whose objectives included financial aid to “organizations of oppressed racial groups or organizations supporting victims of racial injustice whose purposes are not inconsonant with the general purposes of the World Council.” On August 10, 1978, an $85,000 PCR grant was given to the Patriotic Front, guerrillas who were seeking to overthrow the interracial interim regime in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The grant was controversial because the Front had murdered innocent missionaries – including seven Roman Catholics slain in February 1977 – and other Christians, including a June 1978 attack on a Pentecostal missionary post during which three men, five women and four children were killed. In 1978 guerrillas shot down a civilian Air Rhodesia plane, an act that resulted in the death of 38 of the 56 passengers. According to a Newsweek account, a group of survivors, confronted by a band of guerrillas, pleaded for mercy, “The blacks opened fire with their Soviet-made Kalashnikov rifles. The next day, when Rhodesian paratroops dropped into the area, they found ten bodies, including those of seven women and two young girls, scattered across the bloodsodden field.” The Front’s goal was to replace Rhodesia’s executive council, made up of Prime Minister Ian Smith and three black nationalist leaders, including Methodist bishop Abel Muzorewa and Congregationalist minister Ndabaningi Sithole. Though the Council professed a desire not to identify with any particular political party, Patriotic Front leaders described the grant as an “endorsement by the WCC of its armed struggle.” Supporting syncretism The contrast continues today. A meeting of high-level representatives of the 15 Eastern Orthodox self-governing churches held in Greece April 29-May 2, 1998 recommended that the Orthodox churches take part in the Assembly but “express their concerns” about the WCC by not joining in various aspects of the Assembly, including worship services and common prayers. A communique issued at the end of the meeting, states, “The delegates recommend that all the Orthodox churches send official delegates” to the Assembly; but it also calls on them to raise the Orthodox churches’ concerns during the gathering and to “not participate in ecumenical services, common prayers, worship and other religious ceremonies at the Assembly.” According to the Orthodox churches, the WCC’s activities, policies and worship too often reflect the preoccupations of its Protestant members. The use of “inclusive language” and the presence of women priests and pastors in WCC worship, the discussion of issues such as homosexuality, and “tendencies relating to religious syncretism,” are all singled out as aspects of WCC activities which the Orthodox churches have opposed in the past. The meeting “strongly suggested” a commission be set up after the Harare Assembly – including representatives of the Orthodox churches and of the WCC – to discuss “acceptable forms of Orthodox participation in the ecumenical movement and the radical restructuring of the WCC.” Promoting radical feminism The Assembly will also celebrate the end of its Ecumenical Decade of the Churches in Solidarity with Women. Launched at Easter 1988 to improve the position of women in the churches, this event gave birth to the 1993 ReImagining Conference in Minneapolis. During the ReImagining Conference, Aruna Gnanadason, director of the sub-unit on Women in the Church and Society of the WCC, condemned the Church as a patriarchal institution that “centered its faith around the cruel and violent death of Christ on the cross, sanctioning violence against the powerless in society.” Mary Ann Lundy, who lost her job at Presbyterian Church (USA) headquarters following her leadership of the conference, is now deputy director of the WCC. She spoke at the 1998 ReImagining revival held in St. Paul, Minn., encouraging members of the audience to develop alliances “to be ecumenical in the broadest sense of the word.” Specifically, she encouraged connections not only across lines of gender and geography, but those of “religion as well. We are learning that to be ecumenical is to move beyond the boundaries of Christianity. You see,” concluded Lundy, “yesterday’s heresies are becoming tomorrow’s Book of Order.” Facing a financial crisis The WCC is facing a serious financial crisis brought about by various factors, such as unfavorable exchange rates and reduced income from investments and contributing partners. Staff positions were reduced by 20 percent in 1996. Michael Davies, assistant general secretary for finances and administration, said he was concerned about the fact that the financial contributions of WCC member churches, when adjusted for inflation, showed “a steady decline in the support of churches and agencies for the work of the WCC” over the past 10 years. In a letter sent to WCC member churches in 1995, Davies warned that the WCC’s work faces “grave problems from 1996 onwards if income continues to come in at significantly lower than budget rates.” In Harare the WCC will act on a proposed policy statement that declares a “common understanding and vision” and asks member churches to restate their “ecumenical commitment.” The policy statement says the financial crisis has resulted from “weakening of ecumenical commitment, a growing distance between the WCC and its member churches, and a widespread perception among the young generation that the ecumenical movement has lost its vitality.” It also refers to the fact that some churches are experiencing “internal conflicts and even the threat of schism because of their participation in the ecumenical fellowship.” Unlike many of the WCC’s member denominations – and contrary to the desires of many Presbyterians – Presbyterian Church (USA) leaders have continued to funnel huge contributions to the WCC. PCUSA’s disproportionate funding In 1996, the PCUSA, whose membership is 2,665,276, gave $10,708,308 to the WCC ($4.01 per member), more than any other denomination in North America. Actually, the PCUSA contribution is even higher than that due to “double dipping.” The National Council of Churches gave the WCC $7,830,517 in 1996, and much of NCC’s revenue comes from the PCUSA. In contrast, the United Methodist Church, whose membership is 8,538,662, gave $7,143,066 to the WCC ($0.84 per member), the United Church of Christ with 1,472,213 members gave $1,844,803 ($1.25 per member), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, with 3,845,063 gave $2,635,893 ($0.68 per member), and the Episcopal Church with 1,585,930 gave $1,895,212 ($1.19 per member). All membership figures are from The Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches [Nashville: Abingdon, 1997]. |
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