"We will find a strength to act from a unity founded in Christ’s
love, for it enables us to learn the things that make for peace, to
transform division into reconciliation, and to work for the healing of
our living planet,” delegates stated in their message, titled “A Call to Act Together.”
The 31 August to 8 September gathering
brought together 660 delegates and more than 2,000 other participants
from all regions of the world around the theme “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity.”
In their message, delegates warned of the manifestation in today’s world of the forces of human suffering – war, death, disease, and famine – described in the biblical book of Revelation.
“In
their wake come injustice and discrimination, where those who have
power often use it to oppress others rather than to build inclusion,
justice, and peace,” the message stated.
The message warns of catastrophes arising
directly from an irresponsible and broken relationship with creation and
that has led to ecological injustice and climate crisis.
“As
the climate emergency accelerates, so does the suffering experienced by
impoverished and marginalized people,” the message continues.
Referring to the assembly theme, delegates stated that Christ’s love, “in answer to the cries of those who are suffering, compels us to come to him in solidarity and to respond and act for justice.”
They continued: “We are summoned to be reconciled in God’s love, and to witness to that love revealed in Christ.”
Nevertheless, Christians, and the structures
that they have built, have also been complicit in the abuse of others,
and must repent and join the movement of reconciliation, the delegates
stated in the message.
In the message, delegates joined their voices with previous WCC assemblies in Amsterdam (1948) that “war is contrary to the will of God,” and in Nairobi (1975) that “racism is a sin against God,” and lamented that they had to repeat these statements.
“Yet
continuing our pilgrimage together as an assembly of the World Council
of Churches, our mood has been one of anticipation and hope, and even
joy, because through the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ´s invitation
remains open to everyone, in fact to the whole of creation,” the
delegates stated.
“In our assembly, we have used many words,
but from these we have fashioned a new resolve. Now we ask God’s
assistance to transform our commitments into action,” they said.
“We will find a strength to act from a unity founded in Christ’s
love, for it enables us to learn the things that make for peace, to
transform division into reconciliation, and to work for the healing of
our living planet,” they asserted. “Christ’s love will sustain all of us in the task of embracing everyone and overcoming exclusion.”
Delegates said they longed for a wider movement, the reconciliation and unity of all humanity, and indeed of the entire cosmos.
“This
would be a unity in which God establishes justice, an equal place for
all, through which creation may be renewed and strengthened,” they
stated.
Delegates committed themselves to working with all people of good will and invited all to become pilgrims together.
“For
in Christ, all things will be made new. His love which is open to all,
including the last, the least, and the lost, and is offered to all, can
move and empower us in a pilgrimage of justice, reconciliation, and
unity.”
Read the WCC 11th Assembly message “A Call to Act Together”
11th Assembly message: Photo gallery
Livestream of the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany
Photos of the WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany
WCC 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany
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