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1. Introduction

 

The work of the nominations committee proceeded according to the agenda in Document GEN/NOM 01. Comments were submitted to other committees as requested.

2. Organizational structure of the WCC

 

The nominations committee received a detailed explanation of the Organizational Structure in the spirit of the mandate of the 9th Assembly. Questions of clarification were raised about specific differences between the old structure and the proposed one, financial implications, and possible changes in number of staff. The areas of the relationship of programme staff to their churches and communication were raised. Building relationships within regions was emphasized. Therefore:

 

The central committee endorses the organizational structure as described in Document GEN 04 and encourages the General Secretary to continue the direction described in the appendix to GEN 04.

 

 

3. Integrated re-organization of consultative bodies

 

The nominations committee received the document GEN/NOM 02 and discussed it carefully.

1) In relation to the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA)

The nominations committee affirms, together with the programme committee, the rationale of bringing four advisory groups into one under the name of CCIA. In the spirit of full representation and expertise, the nominations committee sees a need for reviewing the number of members of the CCIA. In relation to that, the possibility of forming smaller time-limited ad hoc working groups was raised. The central committee agrees to:

i) combine the four consultative bodies - the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), the Commission of the Churches on Diakonia and Development (CCDD), the Commission of the Churches on Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation (CJPC) and the Reference Group on Inter-religious Relations and Dialogue (IRRD) - to strengthen interactive, integrated and coherent witness; the advisory work would build on the strengths of each of these commissions;

ii) increase the number of members of the commission to 38 in order to accommodate concerns brought by the four areas of work combined and to ensure fuller representation and expertise;

iii) mandate the newly appointed commission under the name and title of "Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA)" to revise and/or amend its by-laws in light of the proposals made by the outgoing commissions and the programmes that it will accompany, and give consideration to a name that best reflects the work with which it is charged,, and present them to the next meeting of the central committee.

2) In relation to the Commission on Education and Ecumenical Formation (CEEF) and the Bossey Board

The central committee

i) confirms the proposal to integrate the work on ecumenical formation within the WCC;

ii) mandates the newly appointed commission under the name of "Commission on Education and Ecumenical Formation (CEEF)" to revise and/or amend its by-laws, and to reconsider the name of the Commission, and present them to the next meeting of the central committee.

3) In relation to the Commission of World Mission and Evangelism and the Joint Consultative Group with Pentecostals

The central committee:

i) confirms the proposal that the Joint Consultative Group should ensure clear links, collaboration and co-operation with all four WCC Commissions;

ii) mandates the newly appointed WCC membership of the Joint Consultative Group to implement a new, co-ordinated and interactive, working style.

 

 

4. Membership and moderatorship of consultative bodies

1. Standing Commission on Faith and Order

The central committee confirms the list for the Faith and Order Standing Commission as presented in document GEN/NOM 02.1 and elects Bishop Basilios Karayannis (Church of Cyprus, Eastern Orthodox) as Moderator of the Standing Commission on Faith and Order.

2. Plenary Commission on Faith and Order

The central committee refers the list of names for the Faith and Order Plenary Commission back to the Standing Commission for further consideration, noting in particular certain imbalances regarding women, youth, Indigenous Peoples, people with disabilities, the internal distribution of the Asian members, instances in which there are two people from the same church, and recently-submitted names from the churches.

The central committee empowers the executive committee (September 2007) to elect the F&O Plenary Commission.

3. Commission on World Mission and Evangelism

The central committee elects the members of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism and its moderator, as listed in document GEN/NOM 02.1 Rev. 2.

4. Commission of the Churches on International Affairs

The central committee elects the members of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs and its moderator, as listed in document GEN/NOM 02.1 Rev. 2.

5. Commission on Education and Ecumenical Formation

The central committee elects the members of the Commission on Education and Ecumenical Formation and its moderator, as listed in document GEN/NOM 02.1 Rev. 2.

6. Joint Working Group between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches

The central committee elects the WCC members of the Joint Working Group between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches and its co-moderator, as listed in document GEN/NOM 02.1 Rev. 2.

7. Joint Consultative Group between the Pentecostal Churches and the World Council of Churches

The the central committee elects the WCC members of the Joint Consultative Group between the Pentecostal Churches and the World Council of Churches and its co-moderator, as listed in document GEN/NOM 02.1 Rev. 2.

8. Joint Commission of Christian World Communions and the World Council of Churches

The central committee elects the WCC members of the Joint Commission of Christian World Communions and the World Council of Churches and its moderator, as listed in document GEN/NOM 02.1 Rev. 2.

The central committee authorizes the General Secretary to appoint no more than four members of the staff to accompany the work of the Joint Commission.

9. Permanent Committee on Consensus and Collaboration

The central committee elects the members of the Permanent Committee on Consensus and Collaboration as listed in document GEN/NOM 02.1 Rev. 2. The Committee will elect its own co-moderators.

10. Continuation Committee on Ecumenism in the 21st Century

The nominations committee received concerns from various individuals, churches and sub-committees of the central committee regarding balances in the composition of the Continuation Committee on Ecumenism in the 21st Century. However, the nominations committee recognized that the list of names were given for information only, the appointments having already been made according to the mandate given to the Officers by the central committee in 2005.

 

5. Applications for membership

 

The executive committee had studied membership applications carefully and referred them to the nominations committee of the central committee. After reviewing the Document GEN 07, the central committee:

a) receives the application for membership from the Lao Evangelical Church and, in accordance with Rule I.5, welcomes the church for an interim period until the next central committee meeting (February 2008) for "participation in the work of the WCC and interaction with the local fellowship of member churches". The central committee will then determine whether a consensus of the member churches has developed in favour of the application of the Lao Evangelical Church;

b) receives the application for membership from the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil and, in accordance with Rule I.5, welcomes the church for an interim period until the next central committee meeting (February 2008) for "participation in the work of the WCC and interaction with the local fellowship of member churches". The central committee will then determine whether a consensus of the member churches has developed in favour of the application of the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil;

c) recognizes the Ecumenical Church Loan Fund (ECLOF) as an international ecumenical organization in working relationship with the WCC in accordance with Rule XVIII;

d) recognizes the organizations listed in the document GEN 07 p. 4-5 as Specialized Ministries engaged in ecumenical relief and development in working relationship with the WCC in accordance with Rule XVII.

 

 

6. Youth Body

 

The central committee:

a) establishes a WCC Youth Body as proposed, and approves document GEN/NOM 02.2 rev. 1;

b) approves the composition of the so-called "WCC Youth Body" as outlined in the Document GEN/NOM 02.1 Rev. 2 and elects members of this body as per document GEN/NOM 02.1 Rev. 2;

c) empowers the "Youth Body" to bring a proposal after its first meeting in 2007 to the executive committee in September 2007 regarding the final name of the so-called "Youth Body".

d) approves that substitutions for any meeting of the Youth Body should come from the same category of participation (e.g. central committee member, Commission member, where it is applicable) and not necessarily from the same church or region.