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Attending the Central Committee meeting of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Trondheim is Peder Borgen, who was part of the First Assembly of the WCC in Amsterdam in 1948.
”I think I am the only one still alive of all the delegates who were present in Amsterdam,” says Borgen, who in spite of his 88 years is still going strong. The former Methodist pastor and professor of New Testament at one of the most prominent universities in Norway can still clearly remember the meeting in Amsterdam.
Borgen was a youth delegate there. Although he did not have money to finance his trip from Norway to the Netherlands, he solved the problem by contacting newspapers.
”The First Assembly was a big event, and several newspapers were sending journalists. One newspaper had not yet decided, so I asked to be their correspondent. They accepted, and my fee was enough to cover my travel,” Borgen remembers.
When the WCC came into being at the First Assembly in 1948, it included 147 member churches. Gathering in postwar Europe, the assembly’s theme was “Man’s Disorder and God’s Design.” Today member churches of the World Council of Churches number 345, representing about 550 million Christians worldwide. Over the years, Mr. Borgen has continued to play an ecumenical role, both as a professor and within several international church bodies.
In Trondheim, Peder Borgen was able to meet up with the WCC General Secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.
“It is really good to be here and to meet church leaders from all over the world. This is so important for the future,” says Borgen.
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