UCZ Synod United Church of Zambia
GENEVA,– SWITZERLAND: 21/06/2023– The World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee has today begun its seven day long meeting in Geneva Switzerland, with a call for member Churches globally to be prophetic and actively involved in helping end human sufferings.
The Committee meeting which is expected to come to a close on 27th June, 2023 is the first sitting ever since the new Central Committee was elected at the 11th WCC Assembly which took take place in Karlsruhe, Germany, from 31 August to 8 September 2022, under the theme “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity“
World Council of Churches Moderator, Dr. Heinrich Bedford-Strohm said the ecumenical body is a better place to proclaim healing to a broken world, provided members churches contribute their resources to the best of their ability.
Bishop Dr. Bedford-Strohm cited climate emergency, political, social and religious polarisation to be among the issues that continue to cause human suffering globally
“We think, of course, of the horrific and costly armed violence in Ukraine, Syria, Sudan, or its perennial threat to erupt in Korea and Palestine – Israel. But our world is also plagued by the daily and increasing violence in our streets and homes and by the continuing scourge of gender violence and attacks against ethnic and sexual minorities,” he said.
Bishop Dr. Bedford-Strohm added that the ecumenical Church’s spiritual and diaconal support to the victims in the various crises must always be accompanied by a political advocacy, which addresses the roots of all this human suffering.
“Speaking up prophetically in one country might cause not more than some poisoned comments on Facebook or some counter critique from the realm of politics. Doing the same in another country can put you to prison or even endanger your life. While we have to take these differences into account and support each other in a brotherly and sisterly way, there cannot be any doubt that we all have the task of doing everything we can to overcome violence, stop the killing and struggle for a just peace based on the dignity of every human being created in the image of God.”he said
And WCC General Secretary, Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay has challenged the Member Churches to be an embodiment Christ’s love, justice, reconciliation and unity in a broken world as affirmed in the 11th WCC Assembly theme ‘Christ`s love moves us to justice, reconciliation and unity’ which form the foundational basis for the WCC 2023-2030 Strategic Plan
“The church should not perpetuate human divisions based on race, ethnicity, gender, etc. Rather, it ought to strive toward justice, reconciliation, and unity,’ Rev. Prof. Dr .Pillay said
He said for the past seventy-five years of its existence, the WCC has lived its vision through its commitment to stay, pray, move and act together as a fellowship of churches seeking visible unity and common witness.
DOWNLOAD THE REPORT OF THE GENERAL SECRETARY HERE: https://uczsynod.org/wcc-report-of-the-general-secretary/
DOWNLOAD THE MODERATOR’S ADDRESS: https://uczsynod.org/wcc-moderators-address/
