World Council of Churches Delegation Visits ELCA, Other Churches

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A seven-member delegation of international church leaders from the World Council of Churches (WCC) met with United States church leaders at the churchwide offices of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) here Nov. 9-10. The WCC delegation was sent as a "living letter" of compassion to the churches and people of the United States in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
The WCC is a fellowship of 342 Christian churches in 120 countries, with offices in Geneva, Switzerland. The ELCA is a member of the WCC.
During meetings at the ELCA churchwide offices, members of the WCC delegation met with and addressed the ELCA Church Council, which was meeting simultaneously in the same building. The council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between its churchwide assemblies. Assemblies are held every other year; the next is Aug. 11-17, 2003, in Milwaukee.
"We are not here about ecumenical policies," said Bishop Mvume Dandala, presiding bishop of the Methodist Church of South Africa, in an address to the ELCA council. "We are here to speak from our hearts." Dandala, who is also moderator of the WCC Advisory Group on Regional Relations, led the delegation.
The WCC delegation highlighted the WCC's international emphasis on the "Decade to Overcome Violence: Churches Seeking Reconciliation and Peace." The WCC launched the Decade to Overcome Violence earlier this year in Berlin.
"I am conscious of the hundreds of thousands of South Africans who went to church Sept. 11 to weep for the people who perished at the Twin Towers and to express outrage at the violence of this callous act," he said. "My participation is a living symbol of those South Africans. I bring you the greetings of Christians who have been deeply, deeply touched and moved by what happened on Sept. 11."
When the WCC delegation visited New York, its members felt the pain of other Christians who openly shared their grief, he said.
"None of us were left dry-eyed when we stood with our heads bowed at 'Ground Zero' in New York," Dandala said. "Our prayer is that this nation ...will experience a therapy that can come only from Christ."
The WCC delegation has also heard from other Christians who are concerned about how the U.S. government is responding to the attacks with a bombing campaign in Afghanistan, Dandala said.
"America is a great country. Many nations take their cues from you," he said. "How you address this tragedy influences the rest of the world. Together our prayer is for a better world, where no one should feel unsafe, a world where children can grow up safe."
At a dinner recognizing the WCC delegation, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, said the ELCA and other churches appreciated the delegation's visit, which he termed "a living embodiment of hope."
"What an age in which we live that we would receive a 'living letter,'" he said. "The living Body of Christ is stronger than the forces of evil."
The WCC considers the ELCA to be a significant partner and that is one reason why the group came to the churchwide offices here, said the Rev. Jon S. Enslin, interim director of the ELCA Department for Ecumenical Affairs. The dialogue between the WCC members and U.S. church leaders was "fascinating, gracious and healing on one hand, and challenging on the other hand," Enslin said. The WCC representatives, many from nations impacted by violence, asked many questions about the Sept. 11 attacks and the response of the U.S. government, he said.
"They were quite clear in expressing to us that nothing justifies what happened," Enslin said. "They also challenged us to think about why (the Sept. 11 attacks) happened."
The delegation's visit was an important Christian witness, he added. "It is a powerful thing to have people from around the world stand with us in a moment of vulnerability," Enslin said.
Members of the WCC delegation were Dandala; Metropolitan Elias Audi, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, Beirut, Lebanon; Bishop Samuel Azariah, former moderator of the Church of Pakistan and currently diocesan Bishop of the Raiwand Diocese; the Rev. Fr. Vsevolod Chaplin, department of external affairs, Moscow Patriarchate, Russian Orthodox Church, and member of the WCC Commission on International Affairs; the Rev. Jean-Arnold de Clermont, president of the French Protestant Federation, Reformed Church of France; the Rev. Septemmy Lakawa, teacher at Jakarta Theological Seminary, Indonesia, and a member of the WCC Executive and Central Committees; and Jean Zaru, presiding clerk, Religious Society of Friends, Ramallah, The West Bank (Palestine).
Accompanying the delegation was the Rev. Kathryn Bannister, Bison, Kan., moderator of the WCC U.S. Conference and WCC President; Georges Lemopoulos, Geneva, WCC deputy general secretary; and Jean Stromberg, director of the U.S. office of the WCC, New York.
After the Chicago visit, the delegation traveled to Washington, D.C., and to Oakland, Calif., for the general assembly of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. The delegation began its U.S. visit by meeting with church leaders in New York and traveled to the World Trade Center site. ---
Information about the World Council of Churches is at http://www.wcc-coe.org on the Web.

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