December 7, 2004

"The table is big enough for all of us" said the World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia at a 30 November-3 December unprecedented meeting near Geneva, affirming the World Council of Churches' (WCC) role of "facilitating the further and deeper participation of all those involved in the ecumenical movement, including those that are not members of the WCC."

More than 100 participants from WCC member churches, from the Roman Catholic Church and from Pentecostal churches as well as from ecumenical organizations, Christian World Communions (CWCs) and church-related agencies came together to share their visions of ecumenism and to seek more effective ways for the churches to work together in today's changing global context.

"People are tired of institutional ecumenism. They are challenging the ecumenical movement to liberate itself from the narrow confines of institutions and to reaffirm itself as a future-oriented movement," said His Holiness Aram I, Moderator of the WCC, in his keynote speech, stressing that "an ecumenical vision for the 21st century must be Gospel-centered and mission-oriented."

The consultation's final statement emphasized the urgency of seeking new forms of ecumenism. It also underlined the WCC's role to provide a forum for "exchange and common advocacy against injustice," to "foster accountability in the quality of relationships among churches and partners" and to "provide space for the ecumenical movement to formulate a common ecumenical vision for the 21st century."

"WCC is willing to change," underlined Kobia, "but this process is not primarily about the WCC. It's about a new configuration of the whole ecumenical movement. I am pleased to see the willingness of all the participants at this consultation to change."

As further recommendations, the participants confirmed the importance of ecumenical formation and an enhanced collaboration between the WCC, CWCs and other members of the Christian family. The participants also identified the necessity to clarify the relationship between the WCC, Regional Ecumenical Organisations (REOs) and National Councils of Churches (NCCs) to achieve greater ecumenical coherence and to explore alternative ways of funding for greater financial stability. The church-related agencies present at the consultation made a move towards closer cooperation in order to clarify their role within the ecumenical movement.

The participants agreed to establish a continuation group for the reconfiguration process and to carry out a mapping study of the existing programmatic work of ecumenical and denominational bodies in 2005. The 15-people group will include representatives from WCC member churches and the Roman Catholic church, as well as representatives from Pentecostal churches, youth organizations, REOs, CWCs, NCCs, agencies and from the non-institutional part of the ecumenical movement (e.g. Iona or Taizé communities).

Bishop Mvume Dandala, general secretary of the All African Conference of Churches (AACC), praised the "sense of impatience and the purposefulness of the reconfiguration process." He feels "greatly inspired by the constant call that we have to go beyond the institutions, driven by clear visions of what the world can be." Although affirming that the "challenge does not address any single institution," he reaffirms the "pivotal role of the WCC as the catalyst that makes the ecumenical movement vibrant again."

The full texts of keynote speeches by the WCC moderator and general secretary are available on our website at, respectively: http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/who/aram-reconfiguration04.pdf and http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/who/kobia-reconfiguration04.pdf.

World Council of Churches