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The Seoul Statement Seoul International Consultation on Revitalizing Ecumenical Movement November 13~15, 2008, Seoul, Korea 1. We affirm the prophetic ministry of the WCC. The WCC has defined itself as a fellowship of churches and a frontier movement. As such, at critical times, it has been called upon to make appropriate statements and take decisive actions to lead the churches. In exercising its prophetic ministry, we ask whether the consensus method for making decisions, as currently exercised, is the most appropriate. Has it not blunted the prophetic ministry of the WCC? 2. We affirm the AGAPE (Alternative Globalization addressing people & earth) document and its call to prophetic resistance. We regret that the Porto Alegre Assembly of WCC did not make room in its programme for a serious debate of this document and heed its call to resistance to totalizing systems, particularly neoliberal globalization and empire. The process has gone on to include the challenge of ecological debt. The whole issue needs to be linked to the work of the Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV) so that the economic, ecological and military violence of empire is at the heart of DOV. 3. We affirm the WCC as a fellowship of churches. Intrinsic to this fellowship is clear communication between the WCC and its member churches. This requires transparency and reciprocity. We have often been confused by the interpretative accounts of the WCC that have appeared in the Ecumenical News International (ENI) and other third party publications and fail to hear what the WCC itself is saying and how it is receiving communications from churches about their concerns. 4. We affirm the financial integrity of the WCC. Market forces and the demands of donor agencies seem to vitiate the financial integrity of the WCC, making it sway to market forces and the desires of funding agencies so that it is not permitted to act independently. Previous experiences with the Programme to Combat Racism (PCR) and the Commission of the Churches Participation in Development (CCPD) have shown that timely and controversial action rather than diminishing financial support has in fact brought in fresh financial resources. To cite recent examples we have the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) and the ‘living letters’ solidarity visits. Our consultation is also a case in point in that we have received from local congregations and individual Christians all the financial resources needed. 5. We affirm the need for renewed ecumenical formation. Ecumenism as a perspective at local, national, regional and global levels needs to be strengthened. At this time, ecumenism is more than the narrow concern of churches and Christians. There is a wider ecumenism emerging with inter-religious conversations and joint actions for justice, peace and the integrity of creation. Ecumenical formation with this wider consciousness is required at all levels. 6. We affirm local ecumenical organizations and actions. Global ecumenism needs the support of local ecumenical bodies and ventures. It is these that translate global concerns such as globalization, market forces and the reality of Empire to the people who are most affected. Global bodies such as the WCC need their support in a common prophetic ministry and to draw the churches to affirm this ministry. We offer these affirmations with the prayer that they may contribute to a refreshing of the ecumenical vision for our time. Appendix I GROUP REPORTS I. Prophetic Ministry of WCC and Role of Consensus 1. We affirm and encourage the essential prophetic voice and ministry of the WCC for the spiritual health of the ecumenical movement and solidarity with the suffering of the world. 2. We affirm the need to respond to the call of the Spirit through discernment enabled by the consensus method of decision making. We underline that consensus seeks to respond to the call of the Spirit. It is not a response to the consensus between church leadership. 3. We recognize that while consensus decision making can be prophetic, frequently it is vulnerable to a veto or manipulation as it is still operated within a parliamentary system. The consequence of this is a diminished prophetic voice of the WCC in the world today.4. Recognizing that the prophetic voice of the WCC is valued in certain contexts even over against the voice of the church leadership, we call on the WCC to continue to discern the prophetic voice of the Spirit. II. Communication 1. Positive ecumenical communication both creates and relies upon our sense of connection in the one body of Christ and our common humanity. The WCC plays a leadership role within the ecumenical movement, along with many companion groups and organizations (explicitly Christian and otherwise). For us the primary communication remains personal, as in the Living Letters program. We need to continue to highlight the voices of the primary communicators within the ecumenical movement, the leaders and those who bring messages of truth and of hope. The voice of ecumenical leaders needs to be heard by local congregations as well as by national churches and councils. We continue to be constrained by translation needs and by appropriate media (audio as well as print and electronic). 2. For communication with the wider world, we need interfaces which assist credibility. ENI may play a role in this respect for church-based and even secular media. There is a similar role to be played, for example, by ECHOS, the youth committee accompanying the WCC Central Committee and communicating ‘in the language of today’. 3. We conclude that the priority for communications should be the building up of the solidarity of the ecumenical movement as a diverse community of suffering, struggle and hope. III. Financial Life of Ecumenical Movement Whereas we realize that our churches in their financial life are deeply implicated and accommodated to the regime of neo-liberal global market, Whereas we discern that the current financial crisis impacts seriously our churches, missions and ecumenical institutions in their financial life as well as the people in the world, Whereas financial resources for ecumenical institutions are reduced due to church tax reduction among European churches and due to “fragmented localism” of church support for missions, and due to further weakening of financial life, It is proposed to take radical steps: 1. To free from the ecumenical movement to be independent of financial powers and structures that dominate the movement and to distort its priorities of the ecumenical movement. 2. To intensify church to church sharing as an ecumenical discipline, intensifying ecumenical communication, to use communication technology to strengthen ecumenical communication for connecting churches with one another and for financing the ecumenical movement, and to restore the movement character of ecumenism to broaden the basis for financial support. 3. To launch the ecumenical tithing on all levels, individual, local churches and national churches. 4. To study new and alternative ways to support ecumenical movement and to set up an appropriate infrastructure for mutual and interactive communication. IV. Ecumenical formation 1. We are convinced that ecumenical formation is at the heart of the revitalization of the ecumenical movement. In the course of the reorganizations that took place in response to financial constrains some of thee key concerns like Laity, Congregational Renewal, Youth Concerns etc. have not received the importance they deserve. It is therefore necessary to create programs that remedy the need for formation. 2. In order to have an effective program of formation we should have a clear vision of the movement’s goals and challenging and relevant program priorities that become the vehicles of ormation. 3. Formation is needed at all levels: Church leaders, clergy, Laity, Youth etc. Each group calls for different approach to the issue. 4. One of the most important areas of formation is theological education. We need to work with Associations of Theological Schools, Institutes and Seminaries to find ways to incorporate ecumenism, ecumenical concerns and ecumenical theology into theological curriculum. 5. We must use the modern media towards the formation of young people. We suggest that a well prepared youth consultation be called of young people to explore how the internet could be used to bring about ecumenical formation, and towards communication and net-working. 6. In view of the current situation further exploration needs to be made as to how the ecumenical institute in Bossey could do more innovative programs towards formation of the churches. 7. We recommend the mobilization of local churches to fund formation programs in their own counties like, ecumenical pastors conferences, lay leadership conferences etc. V. AGAPE, Empire and DOV Reaffirming the biblical imperative of prophetic resistance to all forces of oppression; and seriously taking note of the ecumenical movement’s ambiguity and lack of prophetic clarity on critical issues like neoliberal globalisation and empire, we propose the following: 1. that WCC create, fund and facilitate a new network of local groups engaged in struggles for justice, peace and life, linking other ecumenical organisations, different faith communities and social movements in order to broaden the resistance against the destructive forces of neoliberal globalisation and empire as well as looking for alternatives; that; in addition, WCC provide a platform for these groups and networks to challenge and upport each other at the international level; 2. that WCC exercise its prophetic ministry by unequivocally facing controversial issues and working them out – particularly the conflict around the issue of empire, ecological debt and the document on Alternative Globalisation Addressing People and Earth(AGAPE) that has divided our churches and ecumenical organisations largely along North and South fault-lines; 3. that WCC make sure that the Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV) gives priority to resistance against both the structural violence of the global economy and the direct violence of imperial wars, especially the war on terror; 4. that WCC ensure work in all the above programs include the deep dimensions of a new life-giving civilisation, including the gifts of non-Western cultures like Ubuntu (an expression of human relations lived in community and in harmony with the whole of creation), Sangsaeng (an ancient Asian concept of a sharing community and economy which allows all to flourish together) and indigenous traditions, in order to overcome socially, ecologically and psychologically destructive dominating systems. 5. That WCC reclaim its integrity and the right to set its own ecumenical agenda by resisting pressures from those who have control over the funding. We cannot and must not allow the availability or absence of funds to determine what we can and cannot do.',1,0,381,32,NULL,NULL,NULL),(866,'67-1039730950',1,0,'76.237.109.23',1228324187,0,'Participants At the Seoul International Consultation for Revitalization of Ecumenical Movement International Participants 1. Dr. Soritua Albert Ernst Nababan, President, WCC, Indonesia 2. Pasteur Simon Kossi Dossou, President, WCC , Benin 3. Bishop George Mathew, Chairperson, WCC-CWME, India 4. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, President, WARC, USA 5. Rev. Dr. Setri Nyomi, General Secretary, WARC, Ghana 6. Dr. Preman Niles, Former General Secretary, CWM, Sri Lanka 7. Prof. Ulrich Duchrow, Professor,Heidelberg University, Germany 8. Rev. Gabriel Habib, Former General Secretary, Middle East Council of Churches, Lebanon 9. Dr. Ninan Koshy, Former Director, WCC-CCIA, India 10. Mrs. Susan Ninan, India 11. Ms. Lydia Siahaan, Member, Executive Committee, LWF, Indonesia 12. Ms Carmencita Karagdag, Central Committee Member, WCC, the Philippines 13. Rev. Igor Vyzhanov, Central Committee Member,WCC, Russian Orthodox Church, Interchurch Relations, Russia 14. Rev. Graham Gerald McGeoch, Central Committee Member, WCC, United Kingdom 15. Bishop Dr Owdenburgh Moses Mdegella, Central Committee Member, WCC, Tanzania 16. Prof. Wesley Ariarajah, Professor at Drew Universiy, Former Director, WCC-Interfaith relations, Sri Lanka 17. Rev. Sandy Yule, Professor at Melborne University, Australia 18. Rev. Larry Pickens, Central Committee Member, WCC, USA Korean Participants 19. Dr. Kang Moon-Kyu, Former President, WCC, Chairperson, Global Sharing NGO 20. Rev. Kim Joon-Young, Former Central Committee Member, WCC 21. Rev. Park Sang-Jung, Former Executive Secretary, WCC-CWME, Former General Secretary, CCA, Chairperson of the Board, Beautiful Foundation 22. Dr. Ahn Jae-Woong, Former General Secretary, CCA, Executive Director, Foundation for Working Together 23. Prof. Dr Park Kyung-Seo, Former Asia Secretary, WCC, Professor at Ewha Women’s University 24. Dr. Samuel Lee, Former Executive Committee member, WCC, Former General Secretary, Korea UNESCO Commission 25. Dr. Kim Yong-Bock, Former Vice Moderator, WCC-CCPD, Former Moderator, Department of Theology, WARC, President, Asia Pacific Graduate School for Integral Study of Life 26. Prof. Dr. Park Seong-Won, Professor at YoungNam Presbyterian Theological University, Central Committee Member, WCC 27. Dr. Oh Jae-Shik, Former Director, WCC-JPIC, Director, Asian Education Center 28. Prof. Chang Yoon-Jae, Ewha Women’s University 29. Rev. Cho Hun-Jung, Hyangrin Presbyterian Church 30. Rev. Kim Oh-Sung, General Secretary, KSCF 31. Rev. Dr Kim Won-Bae, Mokpo Yewon Presbyterian Church 32. Prof. Han Gook-Il, Professor at Presbyterian Theological University and Seminary 33. Rev. Byun Chang-Bae, Coordinator, Seoul International Consultation 34. Prof. Dr. Jung Byung-Jun, Visiting Professor at Han Nam University 35. Mr. Yoon Shin-Young, Executive Secretary, People Making True Peace Foundation 36. Rev. Cheon Young-Cheol, Advanced Institute for Integral Study of Life Contributors by papers and letters 37. Prof. Ofelia Ortega, President, WCC, Vice-President, WARC, Cuba 38. Prof. Philip Wickeri, Professor at San Francisco Theological Seminary, USA 39. Rev Wolfgang Schmidt, former President, Basel Mission; Former Executive Secretary, WCC-CCPD, Germany 40. Prof. Damayanthi M. A. Niles, Professor at Eden Theological Seminary, USA. 41. Prof. Volker Kuester, Professor at Theological University of Kampen, Netherlands 42. Prof. James Noel, Professor at San Francisco Theological Seminary, USA. 43. Prof. Rev. Carmen Lansdowne, Central Committee Member, WCC, United Church of Canada, Canada 44. Rev. Dr. Matthew V. Johnson, National Executive Director, Every Church A Peace Church, Atlanta, GA, USA. 45. Rev. Philip Wood, Council for World Mission, United Kingdom Appendix III Supporters and Visitors to the Seoul International Consultation 46.Rt. Rev. Kim Sam-Hwan, President, KNCC, Moderator, Presbyterian Church of Korea 47. Rev. Cho Sung-Gi, General Secretary, Presbyterian Church in Korea 48.Rev. Kwon Oh-Sung, General Secretary, KNCC. 44. Rev. Jung Ji-Kang, President, The Christian Literature Society of Korea 45. Rev. Kimm Bo-Hyun, Kidokgongbo (PCK Weekly Newspaper) 46. Mr. Lee Sung-Han, Kukmin Ilbo (daily newspaper) 47. Rev. Lee Keun-Bock, KNCC 48. Ms. Chung Hae-Sun, KNCC, Central Committee Member, WCC 49. Rev. Bae Kyung-Im, KNCC 50. Rev. Kim Kyung-In, Ecumenical Relations, Presbyterian Church in Korea 51. Rev. Son In-Woong, President, Korea Pastors’ Association 52. Rev. Bae Tae-Duck, General Secretary, Korea Pastors’ Association 53. Rev. Ahn Ki-Sung, Changham Presbyterian Church 54. Rev. Jung Kang-Gil, Korea Pastors’ Association 55. Rev. Jung Byung-Hwa, Korea Pastors’ Association 56. Rev. Kim Il-Jae, Ahchundong Church 57. Rev. Han Kyung-Kyun, Missionary in Philippines 58. Rev. Ryu Tae-Sun, Yongsan Presbyterian Church 59. Rev. Kim Jong-Saeng, Korea Churches Social Service 60. Rev. Jung Min-Cheol, Ilsan Kwangsung Presbyterian Church 61. Rev. Bak Nam-Woong, Hyojadong Presbyterian Church 62. Rev. Han Hong-Suk, Yonsei Church 63. Rev. Choi Won-Tak, Hyunam Church 64. Rev. Kim Dong-Mun, Wansan Church 65. Rev. Shin Jung-Ho, Dongshin Chruch 66. Rev. Jeon Jung-Shik, Sandol Church 67. Rev. Hae Yang-Soo, Daesung Church 68. Rev. Lee Kwang-Ik 69. Rev. Kang Bock-Keun, Chonju Somang Church 70. Rev. Lee Jong-Yun, Busanjin Churuch 71. Rev. Kim Min-Shik, Dongkwang Church 72. Rev. Cha Jong-Sun, President, Honam Theological Seminary 73. Prof. Kim Hyung-Min, Honam Theological Seminary 74. Prof. Jung Jong-Hun, Yonsei University 75. Rev. Dr Song Jae-Shik, Seorim Church 76. Rev. Kim Young-Cheol, Seminjok Church 77. Rev. Ahn Kwang-Duck, Seongsanpo Church 78. Prof. Kim Byum-Tak, Ahjoo University Staffs 79. Rev. Dr Kim Dong-Sung, Saemunan Presbyterian Church 80. Mr. Kim Sam-Jin, Youngnam Theological Seminary 81. Ms. Kim Nam-Kyung, Youngnam Theological Seminary 82. Rev. Choi Sung-Shin, Volunteer 83. Ms. Joo So-Ra, Mokmin Foundation< |