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Central committee members will choose between three potential sites for the 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, to be held in 2013: Busan, South Korea; Damascus, Syria; and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
“Selecting a venue for the next assembly is among the most important decisions that will be taken at this meeting of the central committee,” vice-moderator Rev. Dr Margaretha Hendriks-Ririmasse said in introductory remarks on 27 August. “The location of the next assembly and the involvement of the hosting churches will help to shape the theme of the assembly, the particular witness of the assembly and the message that the assembly will offer to the world.”
The National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) issued the invitation for the Busan site on behalf of all NCCK member churches, including four who are WCC members (Anglican Church of Korea, Korean Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church of Korea and Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea); Patriarch Ignatius IV of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East made the invitation for Damascus on behalf of a broad group of Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches in Syria; and Abune Paulos, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, issued the invitation for the Addis Ababa site, with the support of numerous other Ethiopian churches.
“Each location is capable of hosting a great assembly,” said Rev. Rui Bernhard of Brazil, who served as national coordinator of the 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre. Bernhard was called as a special consultant to visit the venues along with WCC staff.
He said churches in each location were “eager to welcome” the assembly, and had strong levels of ecumenical commitment. Each site also presents some “logistical challenges”, he added, noting that these concerns could be addressed in the planning.
The central committee is discussing other aspects of the assembly, as well, particularly the call from the 2006 gathering in Porto Alegre to create an “expanded space” for broader ecumenical activity at the next assembly. An Assembly Discernment Committee has met twice to address this concern and is bringing 10 recommendations to the central committee.
The central committee’s Policy Reference Committee is reviewing the recommendations on the venue and the recommendations of the discernment committee. It will bring proposals for consideration by the full central committee next Tuesday, 1 September.
