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Address by Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, WCC general secretary, at the international conference of the International Council of Christians and Jews, Chicago, 24-27 July 2005

These questions and answers explain the background of the Minute on Economic Measures for Peace in Israel/Palestine adopted by the WCC Central Committee in February 2005.

As part of the WCC's work on the Decade , this theological consultation, organized by WCC Faith and Order in Kigali, Rwanda (4-9 December 2004), was an attempt to discern what human dignity, rights of peoples and the integrity of creation mean for churches and the ecumenical movement as they attempt to counter the reality of massive abuse and destruction of life and its legitimization in the world today. It was also an attempt to do theology informed by the perspectives and experiences of the victims of violence.

A group of 20 theologians and peace activists from regions which have come to be known for violent conflict arising from the aggressive assertion of identities - Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Philippines, DR Congo, Nigeria, Middle East, Eastern Europe - participated in this consultation in June 2005. They attempted to identify the problems in, and prospects for, realizing mutuality and interdependence in contexts of diverse identities in an effort to challenge the churches to consider this as a contribution to the wider movement for peace during the Decade Overcome Violence.

I have been asked to share in this Conference, on the eve of Pentecost, some experiences and reflections of a participant in the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) of the World Council of Churches.

I will do this with regards to:

Whether and how our current discourse on and quest for reconciliation in many societies around the world can be related to the situation in Palestine-Israel. As well as an interpretation of the ministry of the EAPPI in the light of concerns for reconciliation.

This paper offers reflections on mission as ministry of reconciliation from an ecumenical point of view and is shared by the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) of the World Council of Churches as a document for reflection and study in preparation for the world mission conference in Athens in May 2005.

The Conference "Mission in the 21st Century. Mission as Evangelism in Tension with Mission as Development", was held from 25 March to 1 April 2004 and was organised by the United Theological College of Zambia (UTCZ).

The purpose of the Conference was to explore and examine the commonalities and tensions between mission as evangelism and mission as development as it has been, and is being, experienced in many of the once politically colonised and the presently economically colonised countries of the south.

The goals were to understand and appreciate the gift of mission as evangelism and the gift of mission as development from a variety of contexts; to identify, and begin to understand and grapple with the complexities of the issues that we face as a world church; to hear from each of the continents, and begin to understand their focus for mission as evangelism, as we discern the relevance of this understanding for our own work and to interact with a wide variety of people and understandings of mission as evangelism.

Expressing alarm about new political developments which adversely affect the status of Jerusalem, the director of the WCC's Commission of the Churches on International Affairs issued an open letter reiterating the position of its member churches and calling for "an open and inclusive Jerusalem, a city of shared sovereignty and citizenship, a city of two peoples and three faiths, of Christians, Muslims and Jews".

Presentation by Peter Weiderud, Director, CCIA, at the Advocacy Days of the churches in the United States, Washington D.C.