In my humble opinion, the World Council of Churches long ago ceased being a Christian organization, and morphed into a political lobbying agency to which no one listens. To wit, there’s this from WCC’s own press organ, the Ecumenical News Service:
The future of the World Council of Churches lies in playing to its strength of giving those less fortunate in the world a voice, a former Dutch church leader has told a gathering in Amsterdam to commemorate the WCC’s 60th anniversary.
The gathering, which featured a forum discussion, took place on 22 August in Amsterdam’s Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) to mark the founding of the ecumenical body 60 years ago, during a special assembly on 23 August 1948 aimed at forging Christian unity. A Dutchman, Willem Visser ‘t Hooft, served as the council’s first general secretary from 1948 until 1966.
The WCC must radically change, said Albert van den Heuvel, who was active in the council from 1959 to 1980, and is a former general secretary of the Netherlands Reformed Church, then the country’s largest Protestant denomination. He said the council should reduce its staff, studies and conferences, and that it should close down its secretariat in Geneva and replace it with offices in each of the continents.
The council’s strength does not lie in the pursuit of big buildings, power and influence, said Van den Heuvel. Rather, its strength lies in telling the stories of victims of injustice, war and violence. “Give them a voice,” he urged. “That is when the council is at its absolute best.”
In the forum discussion, former Dutch foreign affairs minister Peter Kooijmans argued for an official body to identify areas in the world where tensions could quickly escalate into armed conflict.
That body should help the churches in those areas work out how they can fulfil their mandate of peacemaking, so that violence can be averted. Churches often ally themselves so closely with rulers that they cannot then help bring about reconciliation, said Kooijmans.
So what’s missing there? God, Christ, Holy Spirit–in fact, anything that would mark the WCC as any different from Amnesty International or any of the various agencies carrying out the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. They also think the WCC should be more like the UN Security Council, which isn’t exactly a high standard to which to aspire. The fact is that the WCC is a pointless waste of money and other resources that ought to be defunded by its ecclesiastical supporters.
August 27, 2008 at 3:57 pm
“The fact is that the WCC is a pointless waste of money and other resources that ought to be defunded by its ecclesiastical supporters.”
Unfortunately, the same description applies to many of their supporting corporations (i.e. mainline denominations) – these are the ones who give the WCC is aberrant direction.
August 27, 2008 at 4:58 pm
“The council’s strength does not lie in the pursuit of big buildings….”
“He said the council should reduce its staff, studies, conferences….”
Follow the money.
The WCC is broke because the denominations that have been supporting it financially for the last 60 years are likewise on life support since they have chased away their membership over the last 50 years by pushing a radical, left wing agenda.
Only an organization on the verge of bankruptcy and liquidation of assets would make such statements.
August 28, 2008 at 9:18 am
In my humble opinion, the World Council of Churches long ago ceased being a Christian organization, and morphed into a political lobbying agency to which no one listens.
Definitely not a religious organization, probably never was. A harbinger of communist influence in our churches schools and government – beginning as the Federal Council of Churches – dissolved and reorganized when the world recognized who they were. They are morphing again.
That no one listens may be what they want many Christians and others to believe. Not so.
They graciously supply statements, documents and literature with their objectives masterfully scripted in with familiar sounding phrases homogenized into nonsensical language that is a hodgepodges of ambiguity.
Their careful wordsmithed statements provided to Government and Church Leaders as talking points and foundational guidelines for their dissemination find their way into committee statements and synod resolutions.
They speak – we listen and obey. The trick is we don’t even know it!
August 29, 2008 at 2:04 pm
“So what’s missing there? God, Christ, Holy Spirit–in fact, anything that would mark the WCC as any different from Amnesty International or any of the various agencies carrying out the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. ”
David,
Looking over your blog articles, I see the same lack of reference to God, Christ, and Holy Spirit, so how are you any different, and what qualifies you to judge?
Arthur
August 29, 2008 at 2:28 pm
How am I different? You’re kidding, right? I’m a blogger commenting on news items, not a world-wide quasi-ecclesiastical organization seeking to define my mission.
August 29, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Oh, I’m sorry. I must have been confused by the banner of your blog. You know, the one that reads: “The Reformed Pastor Daily thoughts on Christian faith and life”…
One might be lead to think they might find references to God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. No?
August 29, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Wow, Arthur, now that you’ve criticized David’s blog, I can already see the light and recognize the Christian-centered organization the WCC actually is. It changes EVERYTHING. Thanks.
August 29, 2008 at 7:44 pm
When change-the-subject is the only argument you’ve got, I guess you’ve got to run with it….