August 12, 2003

"All our church traditions are the result of human efforts to witness to the faith in one and the same Lord." That was the view expressed by WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser in his sermon at the induction of Bishop Hamilton Mvume Dandala as general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC). The service took place on Sunday 10 August, at the Vista University in Soweto, South Africa.

In a sermon intended to highlight "the importance of the ecumenical fellowship for the churches at the local level," Raiser stressed that "no church can be truly the church of Christ without living in relationships of mutual trust and accountability with other churches in the same place." "The strength of our unity becomes manifest where we are able to 'speak the truth in love', recognizing that the truth never becomes our privileged possession," Raiser affirmed.

Emphasizing that "unity is the fruit of the praxis of bearing with one another in love," he highlighted that "a community of churches which are thus united at the center of their being can become an instrument of peace, a source of reconciliation within the wider community."

The full text of the sermon is available (in English) at: http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/kr-sermon.html.

World Council of Churches