August 26, 2009

Rev. Dr Walter Altmann, in his moderator's address at the start of the World Council of Churches central committee meeting in Geneva on 26 August, said that the WCC – as well as the world at large – stands "at a crossroads in the present."

Altmann touched on a variety of events marking milestones this year and next, including the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin, the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the upcoming centennial of the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh.

He tied those episodes to some challenges of the present, including the shift of Christianity's "centre of gravity" to the global south, the need for the WCC's constituency to be more representative, the problems of poverty and "climate injustice" and the openness to change required for radical discipleship.

"Our reality is very complex and multi-layered," said Altmann, president of the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil and moderator of the WCC central committee since 2006. He said the current time may offer a "particular opportunity" to respond creatively to the need for inspiring vision, one that addresses the realities of the day and the journey ahead.

"The new framework of the ecumenical landscape is in front of our eyes, being experienced in the daily lives of our churches and their relationships and networks," Altmann said, "but yet we still seem not able to describe and/or define it."

He named three decisions to be made at these meetings that would hold "particular importance for the life of the WCC" as it goes forward: the election of a new general secretary, the location for the next WCC Assembly, to be held in 2013; and directions related to the report of the working group on governance, accountability, and staff policy.

"It is not our cause which is at stake, but God's plan," he said.

Full text of the report by Rev. Dr Walter Altmann: http://www.oikoumene.org/en/events-sections/cc2009/documents.html.

More information on the central committee meeting: http://www.oikoumene.org/cc2009/.

Remodelled meeting space honours "transformational figure"

The newly remodelled main meeting hall at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva is now officially W.A. Visser ‘t Hooft Hall, following a dedication service at the opening of this week's World Council of Churches central committee meeting. Willem A. Visser ‘t Hooft was an ecumenical leader and first general secretary of the WCC from 1948 to 1966.

WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia led delegates, guests and staff in a litany of praise that began with the words of Psalm 127:1: "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain."

Kobia and WCC central committee moderator Rev. Dr Walter Altmann unveiled a plaque above the hall bearing the new name. The hall was modified this past year with windows, new carpet, and rows of flowing white paper lined with metal across the ceiling, creating a much brighter and more welcoming meeting space.

World Council of Churches