last post

I'm on my way home, waiting bleary-eyed for 5 ½ hours in Vancouver for my next connecting flight home. Bed will be so good!

Due to difficulties connecting with the internet, I was not able to post as many blogs while in Korea as I would have liked. However, I do hope that you've enjoyed a wee taste of the WCC Assembly within the Korean context.

Stories of Challenge

Dr. Wedad Abbas Tawfik, Professor of Coptic Studies:
The Arab Spring has generated violence and instability, but she wants us to know that most Muslims in Egypt (and elsewhere) are not extremists. Violence violates the Muslim belief in justice and peace. After the bombing of a church in Alexandria in 2011, Muslims guarded all of the churches at Christmas while the Christians were praying inside.

Mother Antonia and Prof. Tawfik

Mark MacDonald, National Indigenous Bishop of the Anglican Church of Canada:

Father Baraga worked amongst the Objibways on the shore of Lake Superior. One day, he was paddled to the north side of the lake by Ojibways who were not Christian. During their trip, a strong wind came up. He was amazed to see the paddlers stop, place their paddles on their laps and sing a Christian hymn. The wind abated, but more miraculously was Father Baraga's ability to recognize the Spirit of God at work amongst non-Christians. Mark asked us to look for God in the places we least expect. 

Martin Hkor, Executive Director of the South Centre in Malaysia, noted that the countries of the south are not allowed to subsidize their agricultural products due to the International Monetary Fund's restrictions, while the countries of the north heavily subsidize theirs. As a result, cheaper agricultural products flood the poorer countries, who cannot compete with subsidies. And then--the richer countries send in food aid.

Leymah Gbowee told her story of leading a non-violent movement of Christian and Muslim women that played a pivotal role in ending Liberia's civil war in 2003. She had a tremendous amount of anger as she saw children turned into brutal killers and women violated. It was not until after she had worked on her own personal healing that she was able to turn the power of her anger into constructive peace-building. Her challenge to the churches today is not to be co-opted by governments. If churches refuse to take a stand against violence and injustice, they might as well be joining those who shoot people.

Stanley Noffsinger, General Secretary of the Church of the Brethren, recalled a famous bumper sticker: "When Jesus said, "Love your enemies," I think he probably meant "Don't kill them."

Michael Lapsley, the Anglican priest who was working against apartheid in South Africa, lost his hands and an eye when he opened a letter bomb in 1990. He had just finished preaching during our final prayer service, when a protestor leaped onto the stage and began throwing raw eggs. He was quickly tackled by under cover police officers, who had been alerted that something might happen that day. The participants were concerned more with the manner in which the police handled the protestor, than with the protestor's actions. I think I agree, although I was a bit shaken. Michael later told me that the constant presence of protestors at this Assembly must mean that we are doing something right. He should know.

Michael Lapsley preaching

police tackling the protestor

Pilgrimage of Prayer

Today is the closing day of the Assembly. As part of the Worship Committee, I have helped to plan and organize the morning prayers, as well as the opening & closing prayers. Our morning prayers have been built around the theme of pilgrimage.

Each day took us to a new stage, where we received sustenance for our ecumenical journey with symbols relating to the day's theme.

The first day's travels brought us to the tree of life, where we celebrated the overall theme of God of life, lead us to justice and peace. 

Note the IV bags dripping into the tree,
trying to sustain it throughout the Assembly.
The Tree of Life must connect with the fragility of nature.

The following day took us through Asia, where the drum symbolized the cultural adaptation of the gospel within its Asian context. Also mentioned was reference to the drum used in indigenous churches around the world, including Canada's First Nations communities.

The third day took many of the delegates on literal journeys. Some travelled to the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea as they prayed for the reunification of Korea. Others travelled to churches and NGO's working on social justice. One of the groups went to an old cemetery, on top of which some marginalized people in Korea were forced to build their homes.

Upon return from the weekend travels, the morning prayer greeted delegates with the refreshment of water. We were reminded of our baptism, as evergreen branches were used to sprinkle the participants, while we considered a radically new approach to mission.

An Orthodox icon depicting the fire and wind of Pentecost guided our prayers for unity on the following day.

Our next stage on the journey took us to the stage of justice, where a basket of fruit and rice sheaves, together with a bowl of soil, reminded us of our responsibility to care for the earth and all its creatures--indeed, all of the cosmos.

The following day's platform of peace, symbolized by wildflowers, included some of the soil and rice sheaves of the previous platform of justice. Peace cannot be separated from justice.



The final morning prayer emphasized humility as prominent, senior WCC leaders washed the feet of younger delegates.

Sites of Interest

We had one free day when a few of us caught a bus to a replica of an ancient village.

On the way home we stopped at the Bridge of Dreams, where tiled children's drawings of their future hopes and dreams line the inside of the bridge. Pictures of birds, with their taped songs, are interspersed amongst the tiles. Some of the tiles include pictures from Canadian children.

Tiles seem to be rather popular here--complete with a tiled beach, where the Friday evening entertainment seems to include a picnic with any type of beverage that affords the best view of fireworks.

Why the protests?

One of you has asked me why there are protests against the World Council of Churches. It is primarily related to interfaith. The WCC has long recognized the importance of interfaith dialogue. During this assembly it has released a radically new approach to missions that recognizes the Holy Spirit at work in other faiths and in social justice groups that may not be Christian. This is threatening to conservative Christian groups which believe that Jesus is the only way. There is also some mention in the protestor's material of sexuality. During this assembly, I have been surprised at how often sexuality has come up in plenary discussions. By the show of delegate cards (orange means agreement, blue means disagreement), sentiment seems to be fairly evenly split between those who believe homosexuality to be a sin and those who believe the church needs to be welcoming of lgbti (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex) people. This is a marked change from even 5 years ago, when only a handful of people were open to discussions of sexuality.

one day of protests

Coptic Connections

As I was rehearsing for worship with the Coptic Orthodox, I told them that my congregation back home was praying for them as they struggled to survive the terror of church burnings and killings. An Orthodox woman who teaches theology in Cairo told us that she feared for the safety of her daughters and granddaughters. However, she also said that the leaders were very clear and passionate in their insistence that the Coptic Christians not respond to violence with more violence. When their churches were burned down, they went into the ruins to still pray and spray-painted on the remains of their walls: "We love our Muslim brothers and pray for them."

As they chanted the scripture readings, some of them were spilling over with joy. I can't understand this, but in the midst of fear & angst, they found hope. What an inspiration.

Gathering Worship

Our gathering worship was led by a Korean choir in traditional dress accompanied by traditional instruments.

Laments were read from various regions as a Philippino youth group dramatized the lament. In the prayer below a woman from the Pacific Islands is lamenting the rising sea and climate change as it threatens their very survival. The actor is pouring ashes over her body in agony.

Now which button would you push?

Life can become so complicated, even with the most basics of life's necessities. I eyed the buttons with some concern, but it was the only cubicle free. The heat-warmer seat was an unexpected bonus. Luckily, I made sure that I was decent before I guessed which button was the flush. Out popped a fountain-like spray & I jumped out of the cubicle with a few yelps, watching helplessly as the spray began flooding the floor. The poor cleaner just shook her head, as she must have done a number of times, at us unsophisticated foreigners.

God of life, lead us to justice and peace

The title of this blog is the theme of this 10th Assembly of the WCC. Each day will be dedicated to a different aspect of this theme in morning prayer, Bible studies, plenary sessions and meetings.

These past two days have been filled with planning, rehearsing for opening worship and setting up the hall for worship. I will including pictures of the opening worship tomorrow.

Today was the day of demonstration against the WCC. The demonstration was peaceful and no one threatened us as we walked through their midst. However, we found out later that there was a bomb threat. The SWAT team was called in with their dogs to search the conference centre--just to add a bit of excitement. It is sad how people supposedly committed to the same faith can be so adamantly opposed to one another. The United Church of Canada was one of their targets, as was Namibia. I just happened to be walking through the crowd with Nangula, the Moderator of our Worship Planning Committee, who was from Namibia. Fortunately, the crowd was none the wiser.

Kari, from Norway, Nangula from Namibia and myself

Truly our prayer is: God of life, lead us to justice and peace.

What is the World Council of Churches?

Immediately after World War II, the World Council of Churches was formed at its first assembly in Amsterdam in 1948. It is "the most diverse Christian gathering of its size in the world. It is a unique opportunity for the churches to deepen their commitment to visible unity and common wittiness so that the world may believe." http://wcc2013.info/en/about-the-assembly

I have served for over 10 years on the Plenary Commission of Faith and Order (the body which produces theological statements). These documents have included the interpretation of scripture, the common meaning of baptism and eucharist and the nature and purpose of the church, and human sexuality. One might think that these are wonderful meetings of commonality and joy. That would be nice. In reality, these have been quite contentious as Christian denominations including Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Anglican, Pentecostal, Baptist, etc. all contribute their own interpretations. It is a miracle that we have been able to produce any documents at all--but we have. And therein is hope.

I am sitting in the Calgary airport writing this latest post. I just read that there will be a demonstration against the assembly on Oct. 29 by "anti-ecumenical" groups. We are told not to worry.

D-Day approaching

The countdown is on. In 2 1/2 days, I'll be on the plane, heading for the Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Korea.  I'm part of the Worship Planning Committee and have been assigned to rehearse the participants in each day of our creative prayers. Our Planning Team has met twice--once in Armenia and once in Korea to view the site where we'll be meeting. We'll be setting up one of the fanciest conference centres in the world to resemble a tent. We are, after all, Christian pilgrims on a journey. The juxtaposition of tented travellers within a state of the art building will perhaps represent our diversity of class & culture as Christians gather from all around the world.