Preamble

  1. By the grace of God,
    we have gathered here from the 10th to the 17th of
    January 2005 on the apostolic island of Rhodes to prepare ourselves for the
    journey to the ninth assembly of the World Council of Churches, meeting under
    the theme, "God, in your grace, transform the world".  We have felt extraordinarily blessed
    in our encounter with one another.

  1. The purpose of this
    meeting has been to reflect on the assembly theme, to consider the work and
    recommendations of the Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the
    WCC, and to seek ways in which our churches can strengthen their engagement in
    the movement for the unity of divided
    Christians.

  1. The gathering was
    graciously hosted by Metropolitan Kyrillos of Rhodes on behalf of the
    Ecumenical Patriarch, His All Holiness Bartholemew I, to whom we express our
    profound thanks.  During the days
    of our stay we experienced the true philoxenia (hospitality) of the Church
    and its monasteries, the civil authorities, and the people of Rhodes, who
    welcomed us into their communities. We witnessed the traces - ancient and
    modern - of the extraordinary encounter of cultures, faiths, and histories in
    this place.

  1. Our meeting brought
    together more than fifty Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox participants,
    theologians, hierarchs, priests, laypersons, young theologians and two
    representatives from other member churches.  Leadership was provided by His
    Eminence Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima (Ecumenical Patriarchate), and His
    Eminence Metropolitan Bishoy of Damiette (Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of
    Alexandria).  (See appended list
    of participants.)

  1. We met in the context
    of daily prayer and fellowship. 
    Our deliberations took the form of meditations on the scriptural
    passages chosen for the assembly, of papers prepared especially for this
    meeting (see appended list of papers), and of plenary and group
    discussions.  During our time
    together we elaborated our theological and spiritual understanding of the
    assembly theme, we explored the implications of the forthcoming changes to the
    life and work of the WCC, and we reviewed the practical preparations for the
    ninth assembly.

I.  Living in a changing
world

  1. We met at a time when
    the world was in deep pain about the tsunami disaster that struck down more
    than 160,000 of our brothers and sisters in Asia and elsewhere, orphaned tens
    of thousands of children and rendered millions homeless.  Keeping in our hearts and our prayers
    all those who suffer in this tragedy, mindful also of the pain of the people
    in all our contexts, and in particular the continued conflict in the Middle
    East, we together pray to the compassionate Father and Creator of all: God, in your grace, transform the
    world.  It was in this context
    that we began our reflection on the main theme of the assembly.  Our reflections focused on the
    transforming grace of God, operating at the various levels of persons,
    churches, societies, and creation at large.  The spirit of prayer undergirding the
    theme prompted us to reflect along liturgical lines, drawing inspiration from
    such aspects of the liturgy as offering, invocation of the Holy Spirit, and
    commissioning - the sending out into the
    world.

  1. Our intercessory
    offering of the world in praise and thanksgiving helps us to present before
    the Creator God the misery and conflict, injustice and violence experienced by
    the vast majority of our brothers and sisters in today's world.  This leads many to pose the perplexing
    and painful question of human suffering: what does it mean to believe in a
    loving and compassionate God when millions of people perish or suffer in
    natural calamities?  Although we
    cannot comprehend the inscrutable God, we know that God will ultimately
    sustain His creation in His infinite compassion.  We also felt that human violence and
    war and other man-made disasters of various sorts, were infinitely more brutal
    and pervasive than natural disasters. 
    We are convinced that in offering the world to God in a liturgical
    sense involves our deep desire and determination to transform the world,
    liberating it from all grief and violence.

  1. In the midst of
    terrible violence imposed on the Latin American people, on the peoples of the
    so-called Third World in general, strength is given to mobilize, to gather
    together in solidarity.  In the
    context of tremendous social and economic hardship, these people have been
    strengthened by God in their witness to His transforming
    power.

  1. In calling upon the
    Holy Spirit of God to indwell and transfigure our lives, our churches, and our
    earth, we trust in the Spirit, "who perfects everything that is and that is to
    be" (Anaphora, Liturgy of St James). 
    In this work of the Holy Spirit, in continuing to bring to completion
    all that is created, we are called to join synergetically as fellow-workers (1
    Cor 3,9).  Thus, our prayer to the
    Holy Spirit expresses our commitment to exercise our freedom in cooperating
    with the grace of God for the transfiguration of the
    world.

  1. Our service to
    humanity and the wider creation is a direct expression of our service to
    God.  Our churches recognize the
    increasingly multicultural, religiously pluralistic, and secularized contexts
    in which our faithful live.  This
    recognition of the new situation requires appropriate pastoral and theological
    response.  While we know that
    transformation is a continuous process, our responsibility to discern the will
    of God in the ambiguity of history is also an ongoing task.  Our repentance as believers, and as
    churches, is essential for this discernment.  Our sense of being sent out to the
    world to announce the good news of salvation and to heal its wounds provides
    the motivation and orientation for our gathering, prayers, and reflections on
    the theme: God, in your grace,
    transform the world.

II.  The Assembly
Theme

  1. The assembly theme
    provided the inspiration for reflection on many levels.  We took note of the importance of each
    key word in the theme: God, grace, transformation, and world, and sought to give orientation
    so that these words might be properly understood in the context of the
    theme.

a.  Transformation in
Scripture

  1. Our reflection drew
    its first inspiration from the Bible. 
    The scriptural account of Christ's transfiguration has a significance
    that is both existential and eschatological (cf. Rev 1,14).  That which is promised to the
    righteous in the age to come (1 Cor <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
    "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /?>15,5 f.) happened to Jesus already in
    this world.  Jesus is the one who
    brings the new creation.  Before
    the eyes of his most intimate disciples, the human appearance of Jesus was for
    a moment changed into that of a heavenly being in the transfigured world.  This is the anticipation and the hope
    of the final salvation for all human beings.

  1. In this sense the
    transformation of the world means first of all our own transfiguration.  St Paul speaks about Christian people
    as the "new creation".  For his
    understanding of transformation (metaschematizo), or transfiguration,
    (metamorphosis) (2 Cor 3,18; Rom
    12,2) refers to a process, which begins to take place already during the life
    of this age.  Scripture
    consistently shows how the transformation of the world is a process by which
    the transcendent eschatological reality of salvation works in the earthly
    lives of Christians.  The signs we
    are shown of the new creation, which is the grace of Christ's Spirit, leads to
    the imperative of our response, and points to the world's
    transfiguration.

b.  Grace

  1. Grace, like
    everything referring to God, is Trinitarian.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
    the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit - all is
    grace.  By Grace we are justified,
    by grace we are healed.  Yet grace
    is not only the power of justification. 
    Grace is revealed in all the operations, the energies (energeia) of God, His actions that are
    of His own free will, i.e., out of love.

  1. Grace refers to God's
    free-will,  God creates the world
    out of nothing, as an act of grace rather than necessity, and he also
    recreates it - he transforms it through His Son Jesus Christ - by His grace,
    rather than out of necessity.  We
    do not exist without God's grace, His love, and His constant sustaining of the
    world by His Holy Spirit "by which we live and move and have our being" (cf.
    Acts 17,28).

  1. Furthermore it is by
    grace that God gives us the Church, in which we are called to live in unity in
    Christ.  Unity in the Church is
    unity-in-plurality, as modelled by the Holy Trinity.  Our partaking of that unity here and
    now is a foretaste of our partaking of the divine nature - our calling to
    holiness, and deification (theosis).

c.
The transformation of our lives

  1. We believe in God who
    sent His Only-Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and through him reconciled the world
    to himself, and by the Holy Spirit offers new and eternal life to all.  Our Christian life is sustained by the
    power of the Holy Spirit in the vivifying and sanctifying fountain of grace.
    The ultimate vocation and supreme goal of all human person is theosis (2 Pet
    1,4).  As St Athanasius the Great
    has said, "God became human in order that we may become divine".

  1. God's divine
    unconditional graceful love draws us to him (Rom 5,15), because humans are not
    only created by God but they are created for God.  In God we entirely find the purpose of
    our lives restored and transformed by His gracious presence (2 Pet 1,3).  In this respect it is our universal
    priestly vocation to bring the whole world to God - through ethical choices in
    a community bound together in faith and worship (Jn 4,23).  We act in a fellowship of sharing and
    service as our response to the emerging political and social challenges.  The genuine Christian faith is a
    practised faith in words and deeds as witness and mission.

d.  Transformation in the
churches

  1. Jesus Christ, who is
    "the same, yesterday, today, and forever," (Heb 13,8), is the head of the
    Church, which is his Body, sustained by the Holy Spirit, and in this sense the
    Church cannot sin.  Therefore we
    do not ask for the "transformation of the Church".  However if we are referring to "the
    churches" specifically in the sense of communities of believers in history, we
    know full well that believers sometimes fail to actualize the true being of
    the Church.  It is we sinners,
    personally and in community, who require transformation.  The transformation in the churches is
    a transformation that we must live out in our lives personally and as
    communities.

  1. The word koinonia, which has seen
    ever-increasing use in ecumenical circles, is another concept that admits
    several meanings.  In its fullest
    sense it describes a communion which has its centre in the Holy Trinity, and
    sacramentally in the Holy Eucharist. 
    In this case one cannot describe the fellowship of the churches within
    the WCC as koinonia.  On the other
    hand the fellowship of the churches in the WCC confessing together Jesus
    Christ as Lord and Saviour in the love of the Father and the fellowship of the
    Holy Spirit, does have a spiritual quality, a deep Christian content, in ways
    which still need to be explored and spelled
    out.

e.  The transformation of our
societies

  1. Again and again in
    our reflections on transformation we returned to the transfiguration of
    Christ, which has clear implications for the transfiguration of humanity and
    of the whole creation.  The
    transfiguration of Christ, which shows God's ultimate intention for the world,
    has been used as a paradigm for a call to a renewed and transforming
    missionary ethos and commitment in the Orthodox churches.  As members of Christ's Body, the
    Church, filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, who is a witnessing Spirit
    (Mk 13,11; Jn 16,13), we are called by an inner compulsion (Acts 4,20) to be
    His witnesses to the end of the world, to be the "little leaven which leavens
    the whole loaf" (Gal 5,9), and His co-workers (I Cor 3,9) until Christ gathers
    all things in Him, and the whole of creation is being transformed into a new
    heaven and a new earth.

  1. Transfiguration has
    also become a key reference point in the Orthodox tradition for
    theological-ethical reflection: ours is a transfigurative ethic.  Our ethics entail rediscovering our
    true humanity created in God's image, particularly in the face of contemporary
    attempts to manipulate and cheapen human nature.  The injustice, violence, and
    immorality that reign in our world disfigure the true form of God's
    world.  The process of the
    transfiguration of our socio-economic order and human relations involves our
    personal and communal repentance, and our commitment to struggle against the
    global vicious circle of evil in our world and replace it by the chain of
    good.  Healing, hospitality,
    "holistic localness" and communion are some of the key elements in
    transfigurative ethics.  This
    requires a renewed attention and practical follow-up on the part of Orthodox
    churches.

f.  The transformation of the whole
creation

  1. Orthodox theology of
    creation is clear about the responsibility of humankind towards the creation
    of God, where the human persons are called to become its guardians, as sons
    and daughters of God.  In the
    Orthodox Church we constantly pray for God's creation - for seasonable
    weather, for the abundance of the fruits of the earth.  Furthermore we experience the
    sanctifying character of our sacramental acts, such as the blessing of the
    waters, and the blessing of bread, of oil, of the physical elements of
    creation.  This is because we
    recognize that with us and through us, creation has fallen away from its
    glory, and "groans in travail" awaiting transformation.  In one of our vesperal hymns (Tone 7,
    Monday) we sing: 

I have become an object polluting
the earth, air and water,

for I have stained my body, soul
and mind with deceptionsÂ….

Since we human beings are created
as a "microcosm," encompassing both the physical and the spiritual, what we do
and how we act has a profound bearing on the whole of creation.  Both the fall and the transformation of
creation takes place in us and through us.

  1. We are therefore all
    the more challenged to respond to the ecological and environmental problems of
    our world today, in the light of our theology and liturgical life, with
    concrete and practical actions. It is in this spirit, and with this sense of
    our own personal and communal responsibility, that we ask God, in His grace,
    to transform the whole creation.

  1. Our reflection on the
    theme consistently relies on our understanding of our own personal and
    communal responsibility for the fall of creation, and expresses the personal
    and ethical dimension of the transformation that we beg of God.  Our prayer to God that he transform
    the world is not a plea that he would change things to be better, that we
    might wake up one day to find ourselves in a renewed world.  It is a plea that he would work in us
    and through us, call us to receive, realize, and enact that transformation
    which he has already wrought in His Son, Our Lord, God, and Saviour Jesus
    Christ.

III.
The Special Commission

a.  Looking towards the
future

  1. We reflected on the
    work, the ethos, and the report of the Special Commission on Orthodox
    Participation in the WCC.  We wish
    to begin here by expressing our profound gratitude to all the churches in the
    WCC, and most especially to those who participated in the Commission, to those
    who have engaged with it.  The
    creation and work of the Commission was justified - indeed it was long
    overdue.  Yet we deeply appreciate
    the patience and care with which our partners listened to us.

  1. The Special
    Commission was created by the eighth assembly at Harare in December,
    1998.  This was a response to the
    crisis in Orthodox relations with the WCC in the 1990's.  Regrettably, two Orthodox churches had
    left the Council, and in other Orthodox churches there was a growing sense of
    alienation.  Although the crisis
    in Orthodox participation had become acute and inescapable during the last
    decade of the 20th century, there had been difficulties and
    tensions from the beginning of the WCC's
    journey.

  1. The theological
    presuppositions, organizational structure, and ethos of the WCC issued largely
    from the experience of Western Christianity.  It was this Western perspective which
    became the "ecumenical norm".  The
    Orthodox convictions and perspectives were inevitably heard as critiques
    coming from a minority, usually respected or at least tolerated, but not
    affecting or changing the normative approach of the
    majority.

  1. The response of the
    WCC came at the Harare assembly in the form of the creation of the Special
    Commission, whose mandate was to assess and discuss the WCC's "structure,
    style, and ethos," with a view towards making proposals for overcoming the
    crisis.

  1. The Special
    Commission was begun with great enthusiasm and expectations.  One might say that the outcome of the
    Commission was more "ecumenical" than "Orthodox," and this has required the
    adjustment of our expectations. 
    But we realize that this will mean a more lasting and a more genuine
    solution for the Council as a whole. 
    Indeed, we affirm without reservation the work and recommendations of
    the Special Commission, its report in all its
    aspects.

  1. At our meeting we
    gave particular space to two aspects of the report: matters of ecclesiology
    and the change in process of the conduct of meetings to consensus.  However we also took careful note of
    the report's other major sections. 
    Regarding social and ethical issues as addressed by the Commission, we
    are hopeful that shift to consensus discernment will offer to the Council a
    highly promising way to grapple with such issues.  Regarding common prayer, we are
    pleased that the Council has already been implementing the proposed framework,
    and commit to continue to work together towards a common prayer life that is
    reflective of ecumenical realities. 
    Recommendations for adjustments to the current policies for membership
    were heard with appreciation, particularly the introduction of theological
    criteria for new applicants for membership and the addition of a new mode of
    relating to the Council.

  1. Although the Special
    commission no longer meets, its recommendations, adopted by the Central
    Committee (August 2002), have only just begun to be put into practice, and
    will truly begin at the ninth assembly. 
    We have every confidence that these recommendations bear great promise
    for the whole fellowship, as long as they are given a real chance to
    work.  We appreciate that
    attention to these issues will continue in the life of the WCC through the Permanent Committee on Consensus and
    Collaboration, so that the Orthodox churches will no longer experience the
    kinds of frustrations that led to the formation of the Special
    Commission.

  1. Naturally, we have a
    lot at stake in the results of the Special Commission.  We hope that our insistence on its
    recommendations is understood properly: it reflects a concern for the
    ecumenical movement and for the WCC that is its privileged instrument.  As former WCC general secretary Konrad
    Raiser has put it, "The action adopted by the Central Committee is by no means
    a matter of either Orthodox or Protestant churches gaining an upper hand". It
    reflects serious frustrations and dissatisfactions, yes, but it also arises
    from a commitment to the fellowship, and therefore the desire to find better
    ways to work together.  We hope to
    continue to make credible expressions of that commitment in the character of
    our participation at every level, including, where possible, our increased
    financial contribution.

b. 
Ecclesiology

  1. We were pleased by
    the Special Commission's attention to matters of ecclesiology.  The report is justified in seeing
    ecclesiology as central to the different understandings of Christian division
    and Christian unity, and therefore the key to our different approaches to the
    WCC.

  1. We took notice of the
    particular question posed to the Orthodox in the Special Commission report:
    "Is there space for other churches in Orthodox ecclesiology?  How would that space and its limits be
    described?"  This question follows
    naturally from our self-understanding - specifically in our
    self-identification with the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic
    Church.

  1. Orthodox theologians
    have begun to confront this question systematically mainly since the beginning
    of the twentieth century, influenced by the ecumenical movement - the new
    forms of bilateral dialogues, as well as the unprecedented multilateral
    encounter with other churches. 
    Since then, many have reflected and written on the subject, but have
    yet to find coherence in their conclusions.  Here in Rhodes we began a fruitful
    discussion on the question, and expressed the clear desire to pursue it
    carefully and systematically together. 
    The means of this study process is not yet clear.  While it could find a home in the
    ecclesiology work of the Faith and Order commission, as the Special Commission
    report suggests, we believe the process would best begin among ourselves.  We are convinced that such a study is
    necessary and timely, both in response to the respectful challenge posed us by
    the Special Commission, and also in order to achieve a greater clarity and
    consistency regarding this question among our own churches.  This is all the more vital, given the
    increasingly pluralistic context in which our churches live
    today.

c. 
Consensus

  1. We recognize that the
    shift in the process of making decisions from a parliamentary voting system
    that is based on "majority rule" to a system designed to discern consensus
    will be among the most visible results of the Special Commission.  This shift is designed to remedy the
    perennial problem of the Orthodox churches as a minority in the World Council
    of Churches, which is not reflective of church realities.  However the implications of the shift
    are far greater than redressing this historical imbalance.  Scripture itself illumines the way
    towards this model.  St Paul
    encouraged the Corinthians "Now, I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the
    name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement, and that there
    be no divisions among you, that you be united in the same mind and the same
    purpose" (I Cor 1:10).

  1. The premise of the
    composition of the Special Commission was that of parity or equal footing (50%
    Orthodox and 50% from the other churches of the fellowship) and some
    anticipated that this model would be recommended for all meetings and
    governing bodies.  In fact, the
    parity model has proven extremely helpful for the Special Commission itself,
    as well as for other committees and meetings, such as the meeting on Social
    and Ethical Issues (Morges, October 2003), and other meetings, and has been
    affirmed in the composition of the Permanent Committee on Consensus and
    Collaboration.

  1. Introduction of
    consensus as the primary method within the life and work of the WCC offers the
    Council a way to reflect the centrality of Holy Scripture in its life, and
    engage the work of the Council in an atmosphere of openness, trust, and
    humility, where the views of all churches will be encouraged and listened to
    with respect.  We trust that the
    change to consensus will enhance the potential for the Council to find its
    true prophetic voice, and may offer a model that invites to the Council
    churches of that vast Christian constituency not yet members of the Council
    (including the Roman Catholic Church).

  1. We emphasize our
    realization that undertaking the work of the Council through consensus
    discernment and decision-making will challenge all of us; it will require our
    learning new ways of being together. 
    It will entail a deep spiritual commitment that will challenge all
    member churches of the Council. 
    All participants will have to commit to being attentive and respectful
    listeners to the voices and positions of all churches, as this method
    privileges no one.  The consensus
    method is not an end in itself, but has emerged as the best way forward for
    discerning the direction of the Council and deepening the fellowship of the
    churches.  Understanding that
    return to the status quo is no longer tolerable, we welcome this new method of
    conducting the life of the Council with hope.

d.  The fellowship of churches and the
ecumenical movement in the 21st
century

  1. We were informed
    about new efforts to look at the ecumenical movement in the 21st
    century.  We are aware both of the
    structural and financial challenges the ecumenical movement is facing
    today.  However the ecumenical
    movement is reconfigured, the world will continue to need a council of
    churches, i.e., a council which brings together Christian bodies who
    understand themselves as churches.
    The world needs an instrument to serve the churches by bringing them into a
    space for dialogue, for shared work, for the mutual exchange of gifts and
    insights from our traditions, for prayer together, and to express our
    commitment to unity.

  1. We believe further
    that such a council, precisely as a fellowship of churches, will properly
    operate along exactly the kinds of recommendations made by the Special
    Commission report: it will account for the ecclesiological issue and respect
    ecclesiological neutrality, it will foster prayer that reflects the real
    situations and convictions of the churches, and will be theologically serious
    in every way, including the way in which it considers churches applying for
    membership, it will operate on consensus at every
    level.

IV.  A meditation

                              

O merciful
God,

by Your eternal Son and by Your
Holy Spirit,

You have created the world out of
nothing. 

You have brought all things from
non-existence into being,

not out of necessity, but in Your
free will,

out of Your own loving-kindness,
in Your grace. 

You have created the world in
which You were well pleased. 

As the crown and fulfilment of
creation, You made us, human beings,

whom You endowed with Your own
image, after Your own likeness,

to delight in the world and in
Your glory.

But we abused our freedom,

we have distorted Your image, and
became alienated from Your living presence. 

Through us and with us, the whole
of creation is also fallen. 

Yet You have not turned away from
the world which You love.

In Your own free will, in Your
mercy and loving-kindness,

You have sent Your Son to redeem
the world,

to transform the world,

to recreate the
world.

In Your Son, our Lord and God and
Saviour Jesus Christ, You have renewed us.

Yet we continue to deny this
gift.

We fall away, and need to be
called back in repentance. 

We have distanced ourselves from
You:

do not remember our sinfulness!

Call us again, so that we might be
return to You,

until You have brought us into
Your kingdom which is to come,

until You have made us to be
partakers of Your nature.

In Your grace, You have redeemed
us by Your Son in the Holy Spirit: 

O God, in Your grace, transform our
lives!

In Your Son and by Your Holy
Spirit,

You have granted us the Church -
the Body of Christ,

which You have made to be one,
holy, catholic, and apostolic. 

In Your Church we experience Your
kingdom which is to come.

In Your Church we experience the
redemption, transformation, recreation of the world. 

In Your Church we are healed and
reconciled.

By Your Holy Spirit, keep us
faithful to the unity, holiness, catholicity, and apostolicity of Your
Church.

Call us to repentance, to
transformation, that we may truly be Your Church.

In Your grace, You have given us
the holy Church:

O God, in Your grace, transform us for the sake
of Your Church!

In Your Son, who was transfigured
in front of his disciples,

You showed us the divine
brightness of the uncreated grace,

You showed us that the one who
would be crucified is life and light.

In Your Son, who emptied himself,
taking the form of a servant,

and went to his voluntary
life-giving death,

You have taught us that the way to
transfiguration is to love one another - even our enemies - as
ourselves,

to take up our cross
daily,

to be servants of one
another.

In our pettiness, our pride, and
our lust for power,

we demean each other's
dignity,

we lose sight of Your image in
each other,

we wound and break each other with
violence.

Call us to repentance, to witness
to the world, to transformation.

In Your grace, You have given us
all that we require to live in together in harmony and
justice,

O God, in Your grace, transform
us, for the sake of the world!

You have given us a world to
delight in,

the manifestation of Your own
uncreated glory,

and gave us the charge to till it
and keep it,

to exercise a responsible
stewardship over all living things and the whole
creation.

You have given us the examples of
Your saints,

whose relationship to the animals
and to nature prefigures the new life, when the lion shall lie down with the
lamb.

But in our callousness, we have
mistreated animals, and brought many to extinction.

In our greed and our
short-sightedness,

we have squandered the resources
of the world,

we have razed
forests,

we have poisoned the air and the
waters.

We threaten ourselves, each other,
and future generations,

and we offend Your
glory.

Because of our sin, the whole of
creation groans in travail, awaiting
transformation.

In Your grace, You have given us a
glorious world - in us it has fallen, in us let it be raised
again:

O God, in Your grace, transform the whole
creation!