World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee moderator Bishop Prof. Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, in his report to the WCC governing body, addressed how to share hope in a world beset by dramatically increasing suffering and violence. “Not only specific violent conflicts continue to raise deep concern,” he said. “The world order as a whole has been shaken.”
He said that the remaining five years of their tenure as central committee until the 12th WCC Assembly will be a special moment in history for the church. “A special challenge for the church,” he said. “One of the most important items in the equipment we need is unity.”
Unfortunately, he noted, churches have way too often been part of the problem instead of part of the solution.
“We are called to pray, to do justice, and to wait for God’s time,” Bedford-Strohm said.
“If our prayer is really a prayer of the heart, it will show in doing and advocating justice.”
Waiting for God’s time means trusting that this world is not moving towards a dark hole, Bedford-Strohm continued. “Why is this still happening? When will this end? What is God doing? When is God’s time coming?” he asked. “Dear sisters and brothers, waiting is much easier when you are in company.”
Bedford-Strohm emphasized how he finds it miraculous how the WCC governing bodies can find consensus even in very difficult questions. “Only the love of Christ can make such miracles possible,” he said. “As central committee members elected by the assembly, we have a great responsibility.”
The urged the members of the central committee to encourage each other in their trust in God. “Let us remind each other that we do not have to despair because we know that our God is there, that our God is acting, that our God will make visible the justice, the reconciliation, the unity that has come though Christ’s death and resurrection and that we as the church are called to witness it already now,” Bedford-Strohm said.
The WCC central committee is convening 18-24 June in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Source: oikoumene.org
