In a private interview Dr. Kobia underlined, “The World Council is doing everything in its power to establish and maintain a very positive relationship with Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Charismatics and, of course, the Roman Catholic Church.”

As proof, Kobia referred to the work of the Global Christian Forum where WCC leaders along with Evangelicals and others spend several days in discussion to find a new ecumenical engagement. At least one of the Forum meetings was held on the campus of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA.

In addition to the Global Christian Forum, it was announced that a major conference on World Mission and Evangelism is scheduled for May 9-16, 2005, in Athens, Greece. More than 500 representatives from all continents and all major churches and denominations will be in attendance. The Roman Catholic Church as well as Pentecostals and Evangelicals are invited.

At a press conference where this meeting in Greece was promoted, Dr. George Nathan Nalunnakkel, an Orthodox theologian from India and a member of the WCC’s Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, gave additional details. He emphasized that while Evangelicals and Pentecostals are invited, only those who are “sympathetic to the WCC and none can be militants” will be there. He related that there will be 40 Roman Catholics and at least 50 Evangelicals in attendance.

This conference is very important because it will be held in a venue where the Orthodox Church is prominent and even because of the very title (World Mission and Evangelism) chosen. The subject of proselytism comes to the forefront often at WCC meetings. This is mainly because many Orthodox church bodies strongly resent missionaries or evangelists coming to their area. One leader declared, “They come to our land and not only seek to win our members to Christ, but they then urge our members to leave Orthodox churches.”

Dr. Kobia explained that the only requirement for church groups seeking membership in the WCC is baptism. He added, “When you are baptized then you are a Christian.” He completely ignored the need of being born again by receiving Jesus Christ as personal Savior—it was baptism that made one a Christian!

Eight churches from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean region were received into membership. The WCC now has 347 denominations in its membership. One of the denominations received was the Protestant Evangelical Church of Guinea. This group came out of the work of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. In their application statement it said, “We belong to the evangelical tradition but we are aware that our church needs a broader understanding of the gospel. Along with the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church, we have formed the Christian Council of Guinea and now are seeking to be a member church of the WCC.”

This meeting of the Central Committee was significant because it was the first for Dr. Kobia since his election as General Secretary in August 2003. The meeting was also the final one for the Moderator, His Holiness ARAM I of Lebanon. Aram had served two terms as Moderator of the WCC. Another item on the agenda in Geneva was to fine tune the program for the WCC’s Ninth Assembly, which will be held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, February 14-22, 2006.

This will be the first Assembly to take place in Latin America. It is intended to be the platform which the ecumenical journey of the WCC, Evangelical, Pentecostal and Roman Catholic churches will take to bring about new heights of cooperation. The theme for the Assembly is “God in your grace, transform the world.”

During this meeting the Central Committee sent a special greeting to the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) as it will celebrate its centennial world congress July 27-31, 2005, in Birmingham, England. Rev. Ruth Anne Bottoms, a Baptist minister who moderates the Council of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, told the Central Committee that the president of the BWA is a friend and strong supporter of the WCC. She also related that the BWA requested the WCC send a representative to their congress in Birmingham.

The Central Committee of the WCC is composed of the President or Presidents of the WCC and is not to be larger than 150 members. The Central Committee maintains the power base while determining programs, policies, budgets, and hiring and firing employees, while at the same time initiating the priorities of the WCC.

This particular meeting was unusual because of a change in the way business was conducted. The WCC has now begun settling issues not by a majority vote, but rather by “consensus.” To understand this, one needs to review what transpired in Harare, Zimbabwe, Africa in 1998 at the WCC’s Eighth Assembly. The relations between the Orthodox and Protestants had reached a boiling point. At least two Orthodox church bodies withdrew from WCC membership and others threatened to do the same.

The Orthodox were outnumbered and their concerns, such as women preaching at WCC functions, were ignored for the most part. Since the balance was about 75% Protestant and 25% Orthodox when business was presented which was opposed by the Orthodox, the majority would determine the outcome. Now all of this is different since the WCC has changed to a procedure of consensus decision making.

There now is a Permanent Committee on Consensus and Collaboration. The Orthodox select their seven members while the other members choose the other seven. Dr. Marion Best of the United Church of Canada served as the Vice-Moderator in Geneva. She instructed the members of the Central Committee to use different color cards to register their “vote”. (Keep in mind there was no vote but there was a vote!) The orange card held up indicated the person was in favor and the blue card meant they were in opposition. If the member held up both the orange and blue cards across each other, it meant they wanted to postpone the matter under discussion.

Seven pages of rules about consensus were distributed. An option of “Point of Order” was provided so a member may express their concern—even by interrupting another speaker. The moderator then asks the participant to state the Point of Order and then without discussion shall rule on it. If the moderator is challenged, then a vote is to be taken on the ruling.

It is obvious this is a game of semantics (word games). They reach consensus without a formal vote but they vote to reach consensus. The Orthodox are thrilled they now enjoy “equal status” on issues coming to the floor, since the majority no longer decide actions to be taken. The Orthodox members had often expressed their dissatisfaction over the way the WCC made decisions or celebrated worship.

For more than forty years the WCC has dealt with the issue of sexual orientation. The Gay and Lesbian Caucus had numerous meetings that came to a crisis in Harare back in 1998. This was one of the issues that the Orthodox groups strongly opposed and in order to find a mutual position, the WCC shifted the focus from sexual orientation to human sexuality. Articles were published on “The Beauty of the Body: The Sexual Abuse of Women and Children.” As the WCC looks toward the Ninth Assembly in 2006 they have agreed not to issue statements of condemnation, but to “celebrate the gift of life and human bodies instead of a narrow focus on guidelines.” The WCC recognizes the different church voices telling different stories and therefore there will be “a better understanding and higher level of mutual acceptability.” Thus, the leaders of the WCC evade the issue of homosexuality by providing space for everyone.

The former General Secretary of the WCC, Dr. Konrad Raiser, when challenged by a member of the press in Harare regarding the Bible’s condemnation of homosexuality, declared, “The World Council of Churches has no authority to agree or disagree with the Bible!” Thus much time is spent by the WCC condemning the abuse of women around the world, but not once will they acknowledge the terrible abuse and murder of the unborn--- because they defend abortion instead of condemning it. Their conclusion on the subject of human sexuality was “the best kind of theology is in real life experience rather than sacred traditional theology.” By so doing, they continue to exalt human experience above the Scriptures.

The final policy statement adopted in Geneva dealt with the war in Iraq. It said in part, “We firmly reject assertions of the so-called ‘global war on terrorism’ as justification for the war in Iraq. We stand in solidarity with churches that question the war.”

At the press conference following the approval of the policy statement, a reporter from Belgium reminded the leaders that both President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair held membership in WCC denominations. Dr. Bernice Powell-Jackson, one of the WCC presidents and a member of the United Church of Christ (USA), acknowledged that President Bush was not listening to the counsel of the United Methodist Church bishops.

Observations by this reporter:

1. Some Bible believers have suggested that there is no real need to be concerned about the liberal wing of Protestantism because they are not a threat anymore. “No [fundamentalists] need to fight theological liberalism within our movement today” wrote someone recently. That attitude is one of error because the giant National and World Councils of Churches are impacting our pastors and people in negative ways. The liberals are now taking the lead in “Mission and Evangelism” which sounds like they are returning to a more conservative position. Thus, they prepare the “table” for unsuspecting and untaught churches and individuals. These leaders of world communions, numbering more than 347, are communicating their message that to some appears to be very attractive. They are weaving a web that ensnares those who are uninformed.

2. Dr. Samuel Kobia, the new General Secretary of the WCC, is a man of vision and skill of leadership. He acknowledged the WCC must move to a more conservative stand because “in Kenya, young people by the thousands are leaving the Anglican, Methodist and Presbyterian churches because they could not find spiritual fulfillment in the mainline churches.” He declared there has to be greater cooperation with Independent churches around the world!

3. The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) has found a positive relationship with the WCC. This is an organization linked to the National Association of Evangelicals. The WEA is in 121 nations and claims to represent 335 million Christians. It says it is “rooted in historic biblical Christianity” but in practice it rejects separation from such liberal, apostate groups like the WCC.

4. A statement made several times in Geneva was “we intend to stay together on the ecumenical ship.” Their goal of “visible unity” in a oneworld church will see its climax as recorded in the last book of our Bible. Very clearly our God declares, “Come out of her my people, that ye be not partaker of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” (Revelation 18:4).

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