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“We hope and pray every day for justice in our lives, not only for our families, our countrymen and those who share our opinion, but for all our fellow human beings.” With this affirmation the Central Committee meeting of the World Council of Churches (WCC) began yesterday.
Bishop Sofie Petersen from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark shared these words in a reflection at the service of common prayer opening the Central Committee meeting on 28 August. “Justice and peace is what our Lord Jesus Christ brought with him,” she said.
The meeting is currently taking place at the Orthodox Academy of Crete in Kolympari, Greece.
The WCC Central Committee, with its 150 members, is a governing body that meets every 18 months to reflect and deliberate on the present and future work of the council, reviewing its progress and celebrating its achievements.
The opening service focused on the theme of the upcoming WCC 10th Assembly, “God of life, lead us to justice and peace”. The assembly will take place in Busan, Republic of Korea in the autumn of 2013.
During the prayer service, the Rev. Dr Simon Kossi Dossou of the Protestant Methodist Church of Benin said that “there will be no true peace without justice. The world can be a happier place only if there is dignity for all.” He applied these reflections to the African context.
He called the meeting a right time to start praying the assembly theme. “It is true that God has endowed us with faculties to undertake things and act for the good. But allowing ourselves to be led will set us in that good direction which is in accord with God’s will,” he said.
The Central Committee meeting will continue till 5 September, addressing a wide range of themes including WCC programmatic activities, governance and preparations of the WCC's next assembly.
Download full text versions of the presentations:
More information on the Central Committee meeting
High resolution photos are available via photos.oikoumene.org
