Meeting with heads of churches in Latvia


Address by Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia
29 May 2007 

Greetings in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ! 

As I was preparing for this visit – the first official visit by a WCC general secretary since 1991 when Latvia regained its independence – I took as my inspiration the section on Latvia in the ecumenical prayer cycle – In God’s Hands – newly revised and updated just this year. Using this ecumenical prayer resource the fellowship of WCC member churches around the world remember you and your churches and pray with you at the same time every year. 

One of the prayers in this cycle says “we give thanks for the new life which has emerged from the ashes of communism.” This struck me as I was reading. The last century in the life of your country was not your own. With the exception of a brief period of independence early on, for most of the 20th century you were not governed by your own people and your Christian mission was lived out under foreign occupation. 

These years under the Soviet time were characterized by strong attempts to root atheism in society, make people leave the church, encourage the idea that Christianity is out dated and old fashioned and therefore no longer needed. But what happened later was the opposite: the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ was not replaced by the atheistic propaganda. When the communist regimes and parties collapsed, churches remained and started to grow in their membership and active role in society. However, the collapse of a totalitarian state system did not save churches from other kinds of challenges, including secularism, religious relativism and consumerism.  

The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour according to the scriptures and therefore seek to fulfil together their common calling to the glory of the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The WCC brings together more than 340 churches, representing some 550 million Christians and including most of the world's Orthodox churches, scores of denominations from such historic traditions of the Protestant Reformation as Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed, as well as many united and independent churches. While the bulk of the WCC's founding churches were European and North American, today most are in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East and the Pacific. As you can see, my sisters and brother accompanying me on this trip only give a glimpse of the breadth and diversity of the fellowship. 

The primary purpose of this fellowship of churches is to call one another to visible unity in one faith and in one eucharistic fellowship, expressed in worship and common life in Christ, through witness and service to the world, and to advance towards that unity in order that the world may believe.  

In seeking koinonia in faith and life, witness and service, the churches through the Council:

  • promotes the prayerful search for forgiveness and reconciliation in a spirit of mutual accountability, the development of deeper relationships through theological dialogue, and the sharing of human, spiritual and material resources with one another;

  • facilitates common witness in each place and in all places, and support each other in their work for mission and evangelism;

  • expresses their commitment to diakonia in serving human need, breaking down barriers between people, promoting one human family in justice and peace, and upholding the integrity of creation, so that all may experience the fullness of life;

  • nurtures the growth of an ecumenical consciousness through processes of education and a vision of life in community rooted in each particular cultural context;

  • assists each other in their relationships to and with people of other faith communities;

  • fosters renewal and growth in unity, worship, mission and service.  

In order to strengthen the one ecumenical movement, the Council:

  • nurtures relations with and among churches, especially within but also beyond its membership;

  • establishes and maintains relations with national councils, regional conferences of churches, organizations of Christian world communions and other ecumenical bodies;

  • supports ecumenical initiatives at regional, national and local levels;

  • facilitates the creation of networks among ecumenical organizations;

  • works towards maintaining the coherence of the one ecumenical movement in its diverse manifestations. 

Just as we continue to give thanks for the independence you gained shortly before the 21st century, we also give God thanks for the churches here and the new vitality they are experiencing among the people. 

Before coming here my staff briefed me on the political situation and the church realities here in Latvia. But what is even more joyful is to be sitting here with you, meeting all together, despite our confessional differences, and have the opportunity to listen to you. I look forward to hearing about your experiences – what you have learned from the past. More importantly, however, I am eager to hear how you are working together as churches for the future as you live out Christ’s witness here in Latvia. 

Thank you. 

Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia
General Secretary
World Council of Churches