First report of the Nominations Committee (as adopted)

The following report was presented to and received by the Assembly.
Its resolution was proposed by the Nominations Committee and approved by the Assembly through consensus

Review of the nominations process

1. The Nominations Committee is mandated to nominate the eight presidents of the WCC, and to prepare a list of 145 nominees to the next central committee from among the member churches and 5 nominees from among the churches not fulfilling the criterion of size.

2. The Committee brings to the attention of the assembly the rules governing its work (WCC Rules IV.4), which are set out on pages 49-50 of the Programme Book, and the "Guidelines for the Conduct of Meetings" relating to the election process, on pages 35-36 of the Programme Book. At the same time, and in order to accomplish its tasks, the Committee has taken into consideration discussions at meetings of the central committee and decisions taken thereby. In particular, the Committee calls the attention of the assembly to the letter sent by the WCC general secretary in October 2005 to all member churches, in which he quotes the following decision of the central committee:

Prior to the assembly, member churches are invited to nominate candidates for the central committee from amongst assembly delegates. Consultation between churches is encouraged, such that a name supported by more than one church will carry more weight for the Nominations Committee.

3. The Committee has received proposals for nominations from individual churches and from national, sub-regional and regional gatherings, and is taking these into consideration. Furthermore, the Committee is giving due consideration to the wishes of the nominating churches, while acknowledging that it may not be possible to accept all recommendations.

4. The Committee expresses its gratitude to those churches which took seriously the general secretary's request and submitted their nominations through national, sub-regional or regional groupings, keeping in mind the desired balances and representation for the next central committee. It would like to draw the assembly's attention, however, to the fact that with the increasing number of member churches and the decreased number of delegates to the 9^th Assembly, it has become more difficult to fulfil the mandated WCC goals for representation and balances. The Committee may consider bringing appropriate recommendations to the new central committee regarding this concern in relation to the 10^th Assembly.

5. Concerning the regional and confessional balances for the new central committee, the Committee recognizes the representation decided by the central committee for the allocation of seats to the Assembly itself.

6. Concerning the Orthodox churches, the Committee has considered the procedures and understandings which have developed over the years through dialogues and negotiations. In light of these procedures and understandings, the Committee has maintained and applied the principle of 25% Orthodox representation in the next central committee.

7. The Committee has also taken into consideration the other mandated balances: gender (50% women), youth (25%) and lay/ordained (50% lay). It has been informed that at this 9th Assembly the percentage of women delegates registered is 36%, youth 15% and lay 39%. The Committee will also give consideration to appropriate participation of persons with disabilities, indigenous people and persons of racial and ethnic minorities.

8. To date the Nominations Committee has received proposed nominations from about 115 of the 348 member churches (some of which are consensus nominations from a group of churches). The Committee would like to encourage all remaining churches to respond - reminding them of the central committee's request that where a church is represented at the assembly by more than one delegate, a prioritized list of nominations be submitted rather than just a single name. The churches are also reminded that names supported by more than one church will carry more weight for the Nominations Committee.   

Resolution:

The Ninth Assembly confirms the direction in which the Nominating Committee is going, as presented in this document.