100 nations and most Christian traditions anticipated a new mission era Tuesday, May 17, after they closed their weeklong Conference on World Mission and Evangelism, on the site where Apostle Paul allegedly preached, organizers suggested.
"The conference participants recognized that divisions among Christians persist, but that changes affecting the world in the new millennium form an unprecedented challenge to Christian mission and witness, and call the churches to repentance and reconciliation," the Would Council of Churches (WCC) said in a statement to BosNewsLife News Center.
There have been theological differences and tensions between different denominations over how to tackle social issues, including the spread of AIDS around the world, with some Protestant churches supporting anti-conception programs, while the Vatican strongly opposes this approach.
However in what organizers apparently saw as an encouraging sign, "for the first time a significant number of Pentecostal and evangelical churches not belonging to the WCC were present," at a WCC conference.
CATHOLICS PARTICIPATE
In addition "a substantial delegation of 42 representatives from the Roman Catholic Church came not as observers but full members. For many, the conference was characterized primarily by its "expanding participation"," the WCC said.
WCC member churches present included Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican, Baptist, Independent, United, African Instituted and Pentecostal traditions.
The conference, held from May 9 till May 16, ended with a "sending service" in central Athens, on the site where Apostle Paul is believed to have given his sermon to the Athenians, said the World Council of Churches (WCC) in a statement to BosNewsLife News Center.
"UNIVERSAL SIGNIFICANCE"
WCC Secretary General Samuel Kobia added that Paul acknowledged the local context of the philosophers of Athens but also proclaimed "the universal significance" of the Gospel. Standing on the Areopagus, or "Mars hill", Paul taught that God had created all nations
"so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for Him and find Him – though indeed He is not far from each one of us, for in Him we live, move and have our being," Kobia said.
The 13th Conference on World Mission and Evangelism on the Aegean shore east of Athens,
was "a testimony to the diversity of the worldwide religion that grew from the apostolic message," the WCC said.
"While discovering many signs of unity in their midst, the 650 participants also sought to address the world’s divisions when discussing the conference theme, ‘Come Holy Spirit, heal and reconcile! Called in Christ to be healing and reconciling communities’", the organization recalled.
MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS
"The atmosphere" of the conference differed from many ecumenical assemblies, allowing considerable time "for common prayer, Bible study and small group discussion of matters relating to the themes of reconciliation and healing," the WCC said.
"Plenaries explored sub-themes such as building community, overcoming violence, confronting HIV/AIDS and promoting a church that is open to people of every physical and spiritual condition. Marketplaces of ideas and experience, bearing the Greek name "synaxeis", gave further opportunities to examine issues not on the formal agenda."
A "message", or formal letter from the conference to the churches, drafted by participants during the week, was referred to the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism for completion.
"STRIKING SYMBOL"
One "striking symbol of the life of the conference" was a five-meter (15 feet) standing cross, a gift of the Christian churches of Jerusalem, the WCC said. At the closing plenary, Rev. Ruth Bottoms, the moderator of the conference, announced that the cross will be taken to Porto Alegre, Brazil for the WCC’s 9th Assembly in February 2006.
There, "it will aid in telling the story of the mission conference, and of those who suffer in the land of Christ’s birth. Afterwards, it will be returned to Athens to be preserved by the churches in Greece," the WCC explained.
The WCC says it brings together more than 340 churches, denominations and church fellowships in over 100 countries and territories throughout the world, representing some 400 million Christians. (With BosNewsLife Research, Stefan J. Bos and reports from Greece)
