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Why is this General Assembly
Different?
The year 2010 will
mark the one hundredth anniversary of the Edinburgh World
Mission Conference, an event that is often regarded as the
symbolic beginning of the modern ecumenical movement.
With this
in mind, the boards of the National Council of Churches and
Church World Service have called for their 2010 General
Assembly – November 9-11 in
New Orleans
– to be a gathering of the movement, not simply an assembly
of these two organizations.
Leaders of various partner
bodies - in this effort to realize a visible unity of faith,
witness, and service - have indicated their strong interest
in participating in this centennial assembly, including the
National Association of Ecumenical and Interreligious Staff
(NAEIS), the organization of State Ecumenical Executives
(SEE), the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Canadian
Council of Churches, the Caribbean Council of Churches, the
World Student Christian Federation, and the U.S. Conference
of the World Council of Churches.
Representatives from several of
these are serving on the Centennial Assembly planning
committee, further signifying the distinctive character of
this gathering.
 The theme for the
Centennial Assembly will be “Witnesses of These Things:
Ecumenical Engagement in a New
Era.”
The theme is taken from Luke
24:48 which is the scriptural theme text for the 2010 Week
of Prayer for Christian Unity – an additional reminder that
there is one, multi-faceted ecumenical movement.
In one
sense, this event will be a “celebration” of modern
ecumenism, but also a time for assessing the churches’
failure to receive God’s gift of unity, for anticipating new
directions for ecumenism in the 21st Century, and for
recommitting ourselves and our churches to the ecumenical
calling.
The process of preparing for the
Centennial Assembly includes five study groups dealing with
crucial themes of our era:
- Christian Understanding of Unity in
an Age of Radical Diversity
- Christian
Understanding of
Mission
in an Age of Interfaith Relations
- Christian Understanding of War in an
Age of Terrorism
- Christian Understanding of the
Economy in an Age of Growing Inequality
- Christian Understanding of Creation
in an Age of Environmental Crisis
The study groups
are preparing brief papers that will 1) assess the current
state of ecumenical thought and action on each topic, and 2)
suggest future directions for common, life, witness, and
mission.
Their drafts will be shared with
wider circles of colleagues in order to involve diverse
networks in preparation for the gathering in November.
The assembly
itself will be a combination of worship, bold public
witness, and small group discussion of the papers.
(One session will also be set
aside for the business of Church World Service and the
National Council of Churches.)
Various high-profile speakers, including President Obama,
have been or will soon be invited; but much of the event
will involve participants speaking with one another about
the future of the ecumenical movement in
North America.
Considerable attention will be paid to the setting in
New Orleans,
five years after Katrina.
And the
gathering will be enriched by the visible presence of
interfaith partners, as well as ecumenical friends from
outside the United States.
The assembly’s
basic agenda will fit in the 2 ½ days normally allotted for
the NCC-CWS General Assembly (Tuesday noon through Thursday
evening).
Other groups are encouraged,
however, to meet around the Centennial Assembly (e.g., on
Monday or Friday) in order to take full advantage of this
unique gathering.
Michael Kinnamon
General Secretary
National Council of Churches
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