Mandate

 

The tasks of the Policy Reference Committee I will be to:

1.     
Discuss the following reports and forward
its comments and observations to the Committees which will co-ordinate their
reporting to the Central Committee:

-        
Report of the Officers

-        
Report of the Moderator

-        
Report of the General Secretary

-        
Harare to Porto Alegre Report

-        
Report on the Pre-Assembly Programme
Evaluation

-        
Moving to Consensus Method

-        
Membership Issues

2.     
Discuss the following reports and bring
recommendations to the Central Committee:

-        
Eighth Report of the Joint Working
Group

-        
Relations with the Roman Catholic
Church

-        
Relations with the Pentecostals

-        
Forum of Christian Churches

3.     
Receive input from Policy Reference
Committee III and prepare an appropriate recommendation for adoption by the
Central Committee on Ecumenism in the 21st Century.

4.     
Receive progress reports on:

-        
Relations with Regional Ecumenical
Organizations

-        
Relations with Christian World
Communions

-        
Ecumenical Officers

-        
Reports of the Steering Committee of the
Special Commission and the Inter-Orthodox Pre-Assembly Meeting, Rhodes, Greece, January 2005

-        
Visits and Visitors

Proposed Annotated Agenda




Thursday,
17 February

16.00 - 17.30
            
Session 1


    


Introduction to
the work of the Committee:

-        
Welcome and introductions

-        
Procedures (drafting and
reporting)

-        
Adoption of the agenda (Doc. GEN
19
)

Reports of the Moderator,
the General Secretary and the Officers to the Central Committee
(Doc.
GEN 2, GEN 3 and GEN 1)
:

The Committee is asked to discuss the reports and to forward its
comments and observations to the Policy Reference III Committee which will
co-ordinate the reporting to the Central Committee).

Harare to Porto Alegre Report (Doc. GEN
7)
:

The Central
Committee, through its sub-committees, oversees the programmes and their budgets
within the framework of the policies set by the Assembly, and identify emerging
issues.
 This report to the Ninth
Assembly presents in broad strokes the life and work of the WCC as overseen by
the Central Committee since the Harare Assembly.

The Committee
is invited to discuss the report and forward its comments to the Programme
Committee.

17.45 - 18.45            
Session 2

Report on the Pre-Assembly
Programme Evaluation
(Doc. GEN 8):

The WCC has
engaged for the first time in its history in a major assessment of its
programmatic work.  At the request
of the Programme Committee in 2001 an evaluation process started, focusing on
institutional concerns based primarily on the internal evaluation (mid-term
evaluation).  The present report
responds to this recommendation and focuses on the content of the programmes and
assesses them from the perspective of the constituency.

The Committee
is invited to discuss the report and forward its comments to the Programme
Committee.

Friday,
18 February

 

16.00 - 17.30            
Session 3

        

Statement
on Ecclesiology
(Doc.
GEN 13):

Drafted
by the Faith and Order Standing Commission at the request of the Central
Committee, this document will be presented to the Ninth Assembly for final
reception.

The
Committee is invited to discuss the statement.  Comments will be included in its report
to the Central Committee, which will then be forwarded to the Faith and Order
Standing Commission for follow-up.

 

Membership Issues (Doc. GEN 9, Applications for
Membership)
:

The Committee will receive an update on new
members, membership issues and revision of the Constitution and by-laws.

 

 

17.45 - 18.45            
Session 4

        

Report of the Steering Committee of the Special Commission
(Doc.
GEN 10)
and

Report of the
Inter-Orthodox Pre-Assembly Meeting, 10-17 January 2005, Rhodes, Greece
(Doc. POL I.5 and Doc. GEN
10.1):

The Committee will receive these
reports and the recommendations, and it will discuss and comment
them.

Moving to Consensus
Method
(Doc. GEN 4, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3,
4.4
):

The
Central Committee had authorised that the Draft Rule XVI be shared with member
churches and members of the Central Committee for their information and eventual
comment.

Four documents will be submitted to
the Central Committee for consideration and action:

-        
Revised Rule XVI: Conduct of
Meetings
(Document GEN 4.1):

The
Central Committee will be invited to implement the consensus method according to
this new Rule on an experimental basis and, towards the end of its meeting, it
will adopt the new Rule XVI.

-        
A
new Rule III.6: The Permanent Committee on Consensus and Collaboration
(Document GEN
4.2)
:

After
careful consideration and in the light of the way the members of the Steering
Committee of the Special Commission have described the role of the "Permanent
Committee", the drafters concluded that a reference to this Committee in the
Rules would rather be necessary and helpful.

(The language of this new Rule is borrowed directly
from the final Report of the Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the
WCC as adopted by the Central Committee.)

 

The
Central Committee will be invited to adopt this new Rule.

-        
The Constitution and Rules of the WCC (Doc. GEN
4.3):

The proposed version introduces into the Constitution and Rules the
necessary changes in the light of the new rules on the conduct of meetings.

It is
suggested that the Central Committee comments on the work accomplished so far
and authorises the Executive Committee to receive the final version of the
Constitution and Rules before their mailing to the delegates to the Ninth
Assembly.

-        
Manual for Conduct of Meeting of the WCC (Document GEN
4.4)
:

This is a document intending to help delegates at the assembly,
Central Committee members, and participants in WCC consultative bodies' meetings
to become familiar with the consensus method.

The
Central Committee is invited to study the Manual and authorise its publication
for distribution to the assembly delegates/participants.

The Committee
is invited to discuss the report and forward its comments to the Policy
Reference III Committee.

Saturday,
19 February

 

09.00 - 10.30            
Session 5

 

Relations with the
Roman Catholic Church:

Eighth Report of the Joint Working
Group (Doc. GEN 12), progress report
on relations with the Roman Catholic Church (Doc. POL I.6) and evaluation of the
mandate of the JWG.

The Committee is invited to discuss the report, the mandate of the
Joint Working Group and future relations, and to propose actions to be taken by
the Central Committee in view of the assembly and the post/assembly
period.

 

 

11.00 - 12.30            
Session 6

           

Relations with the Roman
Catholic Church
(continued).

 

Relations with the
Pentecostals:

Interim Report (annotated content) of the Future Final Report of the
Joint Consultative Group WCC-Pentecostals to the Assembly (outcome of the
Johannesburg Meeting, September 2004) (Doc. POL
I.7)
.

The Committee is invited to discuss relations and co-operation with
Pentecostals, to review the report, to comment, advise and propose actions to be
taken by Central Committee, if
any.

14.00 - 15.30            
Session 7

Ecumenism in the
21st Century:

Statement of the Consultation on ‘Ecumenism in the 21st
Century' (Doc.
GEN 11).

The Committee is invited to discuss and comment
on the statement of the second meeting held in Chavannes-de-Bogis, near
Geneva (Switzerland), 29 November - 3
December 2004.

Global Christian Forum
(Doc. POL I.8):

Global
Christian Forum and Continuation Committee Meeting, Asia Consultation,
Hong Kong,
China, 30 April -
4 May 2004.  The Continuation
Committee will meet in conjunction with the Africa consultation, August 2005.

 

The
Committee is invited to assess the process outlined in the report covering the
period 2004 to 2007 and to propose actions to be taken by Central Committee,
particularly in view of the assembly and the post-assembly period.

 

 

16.00 - 17.30            
Session 8

        

Relations with Regional
Ecumenical Organizations:

Minutes of the annual meeting of the Group of General Secretaries of
the REOs and the WCC, 
Kenya, Nairobi, 2-4 September
2004 (Doc. POL
I.9)
.

The Committee will receive the document for information and
comments.

Relations with Christian
World Communions
(Doc. POL I.10):

The
Committee will receive the
Progress report on recent
relationships with CWCs

and comment.

Ecumenical Officers
(Doc. POL
I.11
):

The Committee
will receive the report of the Ecumenical Officers' Meeting, 4-8 June 2004,
Geneva, Switzerland for information and
comment.

Visits and Visitors
(Doc. POL I.12):

The Committee will receive the Progress
Report on visits and visitors f
or
information.

17.45 - 18.45  Session
9

 

Final report to the Central
Committee:

Final discussion and approval of the report of Policy Reference
Committee I to the Central Committee.