The newly elected Moderator of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Dr. Walter Altman, thought it was important for everyone in attendance to know where he theologically draws his inspiration. No, he did not say the Bible. Rather it is from Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer! Both of whom have long been identified with neo-orthodoxy, liberalism and apostasy.
Altman is a part of the Evangelical Church of Lutheran Confession in Brazil and will serve as moderator for the next seven years. With what could be considered as "good news and then bad news" the Moderator took time to update the 150 member Central Committee, along with the others who were present in Geneva. The "good news" was that for the very first time young adults (under 30) had been appointed to strengthen active involvement of youth in the life and work of the WCC. Another part of the "good news" was that the WCC had increased its collaboration with the Roman Catholic Church, even though the Roman Catholic Church is not yet a member of the WCC. (However, it is a member of 70 Regionals of the WCC.)
With a heaviness of heart the Moderator shared the "bad news." Five months after the 9th Assembly in Brazil, the Brazilian Methodist Church voted to withdraw from "organizations that maintained a positive relationship with the Roman Catholic Church and non-Christian groups." While the Brazilian Methodists took this action to withdraw from the WCC, Methodist delegates attending the World Methodist Council Meeting did not agree with the churches in Brazil. Instead the World Methodist Council, meeting in Korea in July 2006, passed a resolution "authorizing further dialogue with the Catholic Church, with the aim of full communion in faith, mission and sacramental life."
Dr. Altman also included information about other changes taking place in Latin America and the Caribbean. He said that for many years the Roman Catholic Church increased in membership and demonstrated great power. Now that region is defined by religious pluralism. The Roman Catholic Church has decreased from 83% of the population to 75.5% while Evangelicals/Pentecostals increased from 9% to 15%.
Raising his voice to emphasize this point, the Moderator said, "The WCC is surrounded by religious fragmentation on the one side and religious fundamentalism on the other side and I reject both positions!"
An interesting conclusion was given by Dr. Altman because he was openly critical of evangelical pastors who demonstrate an "anti-Catholic sentiment where they even use such words as 'idolatry,' 'syncretism' and 'witchcraft' when referring to other churches."
The next major speaker was Dr. Samuel Kobia, WCC General Secretary. He began by urging his listeners to "take risks to welcome strangers. Migration is now a global issue affecting societies around the world. For example South Africa deported more than 50,000 illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe."
Dr. Kobia related he had witnessed inhuman situations in Australia and added, "I believe it is even worse in Guantanamo Bay." This was just one of the many snide remarks against the USA made during those days in Geneva. For example he said, "To this day the consequences of slavery and racism in the USA keep many churches from uniting with us in the WCC."
Kobia did acknowledge that many migrants "gravitate toward the more conservative evangelical churches and thereby ecumenical initiatives are weakened."
The Central Committee spent several days dealing with the political controversy in the Middle East. During the discussion time the top leader of the Church of Pakistan not only congratulated Dr. Kobia for his appeal to welcome the strangers, but went on to say, "It is now time for us to act and that means we go home and put much pressure on our leaders to strive for peace." Another person went so far as to wonder if the WCC may sometime need to get involved in sending money to buy weapons as the Council did years ago in South Africa.
Except for one Greek Orthodox leader from Jerusalem, all of the others openly blamed Israel (of course, along with the United States) as the troublemaker. They expressed sorrow that those in Lebanon were the ones suffering from Israel's unjustified attacks.
The General Secretary even likened the situation in the Middle East as similar to Iraq being under US command and US troops bringing destruction and suffering on an immense scale upon innocent citizens. The conclusion by this leader was, "The WCC is the one organization that can show we can be an honest broker between Jews and Muslims."
Granted a private interview with Dr. Kobia, a question was asked regarding the Middle East situation. The question was "Dr. Kobia, when has the WCC invited a high-level leader from Israel to attend a Central Committee meeting as you have done here by having Lebanon's minister of culture to speak to the Central Committee?"
With great care the General Secretary acknowledged that it was not being done. However, a few Rabbis came to the General Assembly in Brazil and their participation was very limited. But Dr. Mitri, minister of Culture from Lebanon, came to Geneva and declared, "There is evidence to accuse Israel of war crimes, including the use of prohibited arms against civilians."
There was absolutely no strong condemnation of Hezbollah's action in raining down many rockets upon innocent people in Israel. In the midst of this discussion one person complained that evangelicals "continue to help Israel and they are contributing to the conflict. We must demand that all of the Evangelical's efforts supporting Israel immediately cease."
An entire day was spent dealing with the HIV/AIDS issue. Everyone was told of a conference in Toronto, Canada that just preceded the Central Committee Meeting in Geneva. More than 20,000 came to Toronto under the banner of the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance. This Alliance is based there in Geneva and provides overall coordination and support for faith-based participation. Ms. Linda Hartke serves as coordinator of the Alliance
While Dr. Kobia, General Secretary of the WCC, was unable to attend the Toronto Conference, a number of WCC leaders were present. Among the speakers was Bishop Mark Hanson, president of the Lutheran World Federation and also the bishop of the liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Others participating in Toronto were Dr. Rick Warren and his wife Kay from the Saddleback church in California.
Juan Michael, WCC Chief Press Officer, was in Toronto and related that Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Church, began his address in a very unusual way. Warren related when he awakened one morning it suddenly dawned on him that he was a multi-millionaire. He felt led to link up with the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance since they were the largest group helping those who were living with HIV. Dr. Warren and his wife, along with others like Bill Gates, wanted not only themselves to give large amounts of money, but also to challenge the US government to do more to help those living with HIV/AIDS.
Another leader in the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, Kevin Osborne, declared the only way to have successful HIV prevention was by the distribution of certain objects and also to have governmental sponsored needle exchange programs for those who are using drugs.
Three WCC experts spoke at a Press Briefing on the Ecumenical HIV/AIDS Initiative in Africa (EHAIA.).The panel included three men and one woman. One of the men, Dr. Nanoj Kurian, was a medical doctor. The panel suggested that pastors and other Christian leaders follow the recommendations of Kevin Osborne for positive prevention of HIV/AIDS.
A 38-page booklet was distributed to the press in which evangelicals are urged to come alongside the programs of the WCC in dealing with HIV/AIDS. What this means includes "a new theology of life on issues of equality between men and women's sexuality and to support groups like the International Planned Parenthood Federation." (No one mentioned that Planned Parenthood was one of the strongest promoters of abortions and had been for many years.)
The panel became almost speechless when a question was asked at the Press Briefing to find out if they agreed with what a WCC leader declared in Porto Alegre at the workshop on Human Sexuality - "any sexual act that is done with an attitude of love and respect is morally legitimate- it does not matter whether you are married or not. After all, sexual rights are also human rights."
Without giving the panel an opportunity to verbalize a response, the press officer announced that press briefing was over. It was interesting that this panel in Geneva did refer just one time to abstinence as a part of a solution but only in a minor way.
It should be mentioned and clearly understood and underlined that there are those who suffer with HIV/AIDS who never practiced a promiscuous life style. Compassion must always mark the path that God's own must travel. However, can we agree with and support the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance which promotes Planned Parenthood and ignores the word "sin" and what God's Word declares about a holy lifestyle? Absolutely not!
The WCC continues to honor the late Pope John Paul II. One leader said that Pope John Paul II demonstrated "a relentless effort to make the Gospel of Christ a living reality in the life of people." Such a statement only reveals a lack of understanding of what "the Gospel of Christ" really is.
Two months earlier the WCC sponsored a "Critical Movement Conference" with more than 130 Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Christian and Hindu participants. The Conference issued a call to strengthen a commitment to a worldwide fellowship of churches.
Observations by this Reporter:
- Dr. Kobia was asked what the highlights were since he was elected General Secretary a few years ago. He responded that his visit with Pope Benedict XVI certainly was one. He also desires greater contact with Evangelicals and Pentecostals. He added he would be pleased to meet Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California.
- A much greater emphasis was seen at this Central Committee Meeting upon building a "visible one-world church."
- One church body that was accepted into membership was the Lao Evangelical Church(LEC) from the Indo-China area. This group, now with 300 churches, was started by Christian and Missionary Alliance Missionaries. Now it joins the WCC. Faithful missionaries as well as pastors must inform and warn those to whom they minister of the apostasy represented by the WCC.
- The WCC will be doing much more in an attempt to bring peace in the Middle East. They want each church to bring pressure upon their governmental leaders to not only stop the conflict involving Israel, but also the war in Iraq.
- Numerous times were the words of our Saviour, as recorded in John 17:21, misused. Jesus Christ prayed, "that they all may be one..."and the WCC teaches this proves the Lord wants a "visible one world church." They ignore the proper understanding of that text as referring to the spiritual unity that is ours when we are born again and become a member of God's family by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Someone recently suggested to me that God's own ought to forget the WCC and completely ignore them because the battle for truth with such groups is now over. My response to such a suggestion is that that is exactly what the liberal religious leaders would desire. It is when the light of truth as recorded in the Word of God is shined upon them that their real goals and agenda can be seen.
- Dr Konrad Reiser, former General Secretary of the WCC, was a speaker at the meeting in Geneva. Reiser said, "In fact there are really only two religious groups in the world - the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches. We are the only ecumenical organization that has been the mainstay of the ecumenical movement."
- While we acknowledge that the WCC is the moving force for the ecumenical movement, thank God there are those who remain faithful to the Word of God and refuse to participate or to identify with the liberals, as well as those who cooperate with them as represented by the New Evangelical Movement.
