June 2004
In this issue:
Religion, power and violence: an inter-religious consultation
Samuel Kobia to attend church merger in the Netherlands
Special Commission on Orthodox Participation
Samuel Kobia to visit the Evangelical Church in Germany
Religion, power and violence: an inter-religious consultation for peace-building
8-13 June 2004, Céligny, Switzerland
The WCC and Bossey Ecumenical Institute have invited thirty participants from Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and Indigenous traditions to explore the relationship between religion, power and violence at the 6th Visser ’t Hooft memorial consultation. Participants will seek to define responsible ways of exercising power and identify models, resources and networks for inter-religious peace-building. They are expected to choose topics for a forthcoming academic inter-religious and interdisciplinary study on this theme.
The Visser ’t Hooft memorial consultation was initiated in 1993 in memory of Dr Willem A. Visser ’t Hooft, WCC co-founder and its first general secretary. This year’s inter-religious consultation builds on the 2002 Visser ’t Hooft memorial consultation, which initiated an interfaith dialogue on religion and violence.
More information on Bossey seminars
www.wcc-coe.org/bossey/seminars-e.html
Decade to Overcome Violence
Visser ’t Hooft memorial Ecumenical Leadership Foundation
www.jaysquare.com/resources/index.htm
Samuel Kobia joins celebrations as churches unite in the Netherlands
12 June, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
The WCC general secretary Samuel Kobia will take part in a ceremony marking the union of three Protestant churches in the Netherlands. The all-day ceremony uniting the Netherlands Reformed Church, the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands will feature an address by Rev. Dr Kobia, a special liturgy and several workshops.
More information in Dutch:
Media contact: Wisse Hettinga +31 (0) 30 880 1456
Special Commission on Orthodox Participation: Steering Committee to meet
15-19 June 2004, Minsk, Belarus
The Steering Committee of the Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the WCC will meet to review the follow-up of the recommendations made by the Commission, and begin preparations for the ninth WCC assembly, taking place in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2006. Items for discussion include the methodology of consensus decision-making, which will replace traditional voting beginning with the assembly; membership issues, some of which will involve constitutional changes; ecclesiology, focusing mainly on a statement prepared by Faith and Order, to be presented to the assembly. The Committee will receive information about the ongoing work of the Council, especially the preparations for the assembly, and consider particularly matters related to Orthodox participation in the life and work of the Council.
Special Commission on Orthodox Participation
wcc-coe.org/wcc/who/special-01-e.html
Samuel Kobia to visit the Evangelical Church in Germany
28 June - 2 July, Hanover, Germany
WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia will visit the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), meeting with Bishop Dr Wolfgang Huber and other representatives of the Council of EKD. During his visit, Dr Kobia will also meet members and students of the Ecumenical Institute at the University of Heidelberg. The programme of the visit also includes an encounter with leaders of several regional churches and EKD members involved, among other activities, in WCC work.
Evangelical Church in Germany
Media Contact: Silke Fauzi +49 511 27 96 267, silke.fauzi@ekd.de
