New blogs by Disciples

Just wanted to note a couple of recently-launched weblogs by Disciples. Rev. Robert Cornwall of Santa Barbara, Calif. just sent me a link to his new blog, "Ponderings on a Faith Journey." Particulary interesting to me is his second post, about the evolution vs. intelligent design debate and why he and his congregation observed "Evolution Sunday" a couple of weeks ago.

Another Disciples pastor who started blogging last fall is Nathan Day Wilson, pastor of Clintonville Christian Church in Ky. Nathan is a doctoral student and young adult Disciple who is involved in the Lilly-funded First Parish Project. One interesting post on his site is about Martin Luther King's "Christmas Sermon on Peace."

Nathan writes: However, I think that in addition to hearing “I Have a Dream” each January, we should also hear this sermon. I say that because in this sermon King talks about how and when the dream King expressed in his “I Have a Dream” speech turned to a nightmare.

Thanks, Robert and Nathan, for letting us know about your Weblogs. Check them out!

On my way home

I leave the World Council of Churches (WCC) 9th Assembly today to head home to Indianapolis. I will miss some of the excitement of the last day -- the election of a new moderator, the closing worship service. But I have experienced so much here; I have learned so much. I take home a wealth of information, ideas, and hope for the ecumencial movement.

You'll see a few more stories about the assembly on the DisciplesWorld website, a very brief news wrap-up in the April issue of DisciplesWorld, and then a feature story in the May issue.

I am thankful for the opportunity to have been here at this moment of change in the ecumenical movement, and to witness Disciples right in the midst of it.

Photos of young adult stewards' protest at WCC Assembly

Young adult stewards at the WCC 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil, tied their bandannas over their mouths in silent protest. One steward held aloft a hand-made sign on one of the voting placards. Blue placards are used to express dissent. Photos: DisciplesWorld.

Young adults launch resistance effort at WCC assembly

Okay, so this has to be a blog for now because this story is unfolding so quickly. It changes every minute, it seems. And I haven't tracked it all down. But it’s a great story.

So, the last time I wrote about the young adults here at the World Council of Churches 9th Assembly in Brazil, I commended the assembly planners for trying so very hard to include young people in the life of the assembly and in the life of the ecumenical movement itself. But I wondered if it was going to work because, well…there really isn’t any mechanism for the young adults to have concrete input into the assembly.

Today, they revolted. Or I should say, the young adult stewards revolted. The young adult delegates, though upset, were not in on the action.

This is what unfolded: While touting this assembly as the Youth Assembly (a bit insulting to 28 year olds, by the way) leaders of the World Council of Church (WCC) made a bold and broad proclamation that they would like young adults elected to 25 percent of the positions on the central committee (a body of 150 that makes all the decisions of the WCC between assemblies). So that’s what the young adults were expecting, of course.

Also, a formal representative group of young adults brought a recommendation to Sam Kobia, general secretary of the WCC, last night proposing a special commission to study and implement more young adult participation in the leadership of WCC.

Apparently at that meeting last night, Kobia said that everyone who was not a delegate had to leave. All the stewards — those who have been working extremely long hours and not getting much recognition — were, understandably angry.

So, the stewards boycotted this “agreement” made between the young adult delegates and Kobia and staged their own protest today on the floor of the plenary. The protest occured after the nominating committee made a report that they could not fill 25 percent of the positions on central committee because they didn’t get the right number of nominations from all the regions of the WCC (Latin America and the Middle East proposed no young adult delegates at all).

The protest was kind of cool. The stewards came in and sat together with their bandanas tied around their mouths and placards saying that they had been silenced. Tomorrow, if they don’t get 25 percent of the central committee nominations, the stewards say they will go on strike. Believe me, this assembly will come to a screeching halt if the stewards aren’t there to help everyone do everything.

What will happen? Who knows. We’ll have to wait and see. But it exemplifies a couple of things for me: 1) the WCC structure is incapable of being responsive to demands that don’t fit; 2) the talk about a Youth Assembly, though well intentioned, was not well conceived; 3) it may actually be true that the young people are here just for show; and 4) who at the WCC is going to figure out how to work with young people?!!!

So, that’s my unofficial report on what’s happening to the young adult voice at the 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches. Hopefully, I’ll get you an official report on the DisciplesWorld website soon.

Where the heart is

Maybe it's the way my brain works, or should I say, the way my heart works. By far, the most moving moments of the 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Brazil have been in music, personal testimony, drama, and dance. Those are places where I am being convicted anew.

Tom Yonker is a young Disciple who has been on an internship with the WCC Faith and Order Commission. I haven't yet met Tom, but I'm told he worked very closely with the worship committee to organize the music and other non-verbal acts of worship. I'm impressed.

The assembly choir fills the front of the worship tent and is equally comfortable with Latin American tunes as they are with Orthodox chants. Worshippers sing throughout the services as well. Worship begins and ends every day, by the way. This morning we sang and prayed that some day we might be able to celebrate the Lord's Supper together.

Music, drama and dance fill the plenary sessions as well. On Saturday, after a particularly moving testimony from Olara Otunnu of Uganda, a dance troupe from New York's Riverside Church performed the most incredible modern dance interpretation of the struggle of African Americans I have ever seen. And the Latin American plenary yesterday featured music from folk to salsa to indigenous to rock, all performed beatifully on the theme of the Assembly -- God, in your grace, transform the world.

The high profile visitors are also leaving a mark on my heart -- Nora de Cortinas who helped found the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo in Argentina spoke yesterday. Desmond Tutu of South Africa speaks today. I was even moved by the deeply theological presentation of Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Cantebury.

The most tears flowed, though when Otunnu testified to the atrocities occuring in his homeland of northern Uganda. 1,000 babies die every day in refugee camps. Soldiers terrorize children and rape women. The two Disciples delegates from Congo weeped. The atrocities in their country are even worse. Stopping poverty and war in Africa must become a priority for the world churches. I hope and pray that the assembly will make such a decision before they leave on Friday.

I've off to see Tutu. But have updates on the youth voice and the recommendation for common date for Easter, so...more later.

Mission is at the heart of WCC

We are starting to get into the service and mission work of the World Council of Churches (WCC) here at its 9th Assembly in Brazil. Christian identity and religious pluralism was the theme yesterday, a topic that necessarily has to do with peace-making in our world today. Economic justice was the theme on Thursday. One of the Disciples here is writing a story about globalization and poverty, and the WCC initiative known as the the AGAPE Call. That will be posted soon.

Today we review the work of the program initiative known as the Decade to Overcome Violence. In that plenary session, the US Conference for the WCC will issue a statement about the war in Iraq among other things. The Public Issues Committee is preparing reports and the Program Guidelines Committee is preparing the agenda for the Council's work in the next decade.

The culmulation of workshops and plenaries on issues of justice and peace is overwhelming, and exciting. Here on this world stage, Christian churches are coming together to find ways to alleviate suffering, improve human rights, influence global trends and world leaders.

It's not all talk about institutional ecumenism and whether the Council itself is expanding its ecumencial table broadly enough. It's not all talk about consensus models and elections to the Council's highest positions, and whether we call our evening gathering worship or prayer.

It's mostly about what I believe Christianity is all about: the church of Jesus Christ at work in the world on behalf of the world, making the world a better place, a place of peace and human flourishing.

Watch the DisciplesWorld website, www.disciplesworld.com, for stories on the decisions made here about how to address issues like global poverty and war in the Middle East. Also watch for the stories of real people coming together from very different backgrounds to share in mission and love.

Is the young adult voice being heard?

I have been pleased to witness the presence of so many young people here at the World Council of Churches' (WCC) 9th Assembly in Brazil. The WCC made a concerted effort to turn this into a "youth assembly." Everyone agrees that the future of the ecumencial movement depends on the increased particaption and leadership of young people.

We have young adult delegates, and some from the youth and young adult pre-assembly event will make a presentation to the assembly delegates, I think. Something called Bate-papo (chat in Portuguese) pairs young ecumenists with ecumenical dignitaries to allow the younger ones to "grill" the older ones on the future (and past) of ecumenism. And the young people just seem to be everywhere (no, I don't count as one anymore)!

But I wonder how well the assembly will listen to them, and how well the assembly will integrate their concerns into its agenda for the next decade. It is possible, in this institutional structure of the WCC, to go through this whole assembly and ignore the young people. There is not a plenary on the youth and young adult voice. There are workshops, but those are outside of the work of the delegates. I don't think there are any business items related to youth and young adults directly. I may be wrong about that. The young people are networking tremendously, but it is happening on some other horizon, even as they are physically in the midst of the delegates.

Truth be told, when the young adult representative spoke to the press core, she did not articulate well the particular concerns of the young folks other than the problem of violence against women and children. So the agenda and needs of young people in the ecumenical movement may not be very clear. That makes it hard to hear.

But it is also true that sometimes the way in which the older ecumenists talk to the younger ones is a bit condescending. As if they want the young people around only to learn the ways of their elders and replicate their structures and practices, not change them. They still seem to be miles apart.

So the effort is valiant; probably the best I've seen in a church body for a long time. But I get the sense that the young people might have to pry apart the hands that lead the WCC if they are ever going to have an authentic and genuine role to play in the whole business of ecumenism.

Or, as is happening all over the world, they might just go form their own network and leave this one behind. I hope not.

Disciples are giants

I've known about the Disciples' passion for Christian unity forever. It's hard to be a Disciple and not have learned this at some point in one's church life. The movement that became the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) was founded on the principles of Christian unity--that the Body of Christ, the church, belongs to God, not to institutions. And God called the church into oneness, unity, "that we all may be one," says Jesus in John's gospel. The fracturing of the Body of Christ is not what God intended, so Disciples have always sought the visible unity of Christians.

I've known this. I've read the books, heard the stories, said the slogans. I also learned in my adulthood about the Disciples' involvement in the World Council of Churches, perhaps the most influential institution in the whole of the ecumencial movement searching for visible Christian unity. I've even known those who do this work -- Robert Welsh, Paul Crow, Jr.

But here at the 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, I get to see it in action.

We are big shots here. Little 'ole Disciples of Christ, dwarfed in the United States by the larger and more influential Protestant churches: the Methodists and Presbyterians, the Episcopalians. Here at the assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC), everyone knows about Disciples. We helped found the WCC, helped provide the basis for its work. We have always been involved even as the ecumenical movement and the institutions have changed. We have a reputation for passion, commitment, even theological contribution. It hasn't been lost on me that the Disciples delegates sit at the front of the plenary hall, at the first table behind the moderators. We may not have as many delegates as the United Methodists, but we matter.

Certainly there are problems in the whole movement and I'll get to those later. But for now, wow, is what I want to say.

Somehow, congreations, local church folks, Disciples "at large" have lost pride in our contribution to the ecumencial movement world wide. I'm not sure why. Probably has a lot to do with the overall changes occuring in the movement and in the institutions of the movement.

Peter Heltzel, who teaches religious studies at New York Theological Seminary, said yesterday, part of why he is here is because the ecumencial movement has defined Disciples theology as much as Disciples have shaped ecumenism. He wants to get at the heart of Disciples theology and its relationship to this movement for Christian unity. It's in our DNA, Christian unity is. (That's one of those slogans that is taking on new meaning for me).

There's more to say, but for now, just know that on this world stage, Disciples have a strong voice, something of which we can all be proud.

Worship vs. prayer service

I'll try to get at this issue more precisely in a news story for www.disciplesworld.com. For now, let me ponder.

I am attending the World Council of Churches (WCC) 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Last night occured the opening prayer service. Not worship. Prayer service. This is because apparently the word "worship" is too loaded for this amazingly diverse group of churches that come together to form the WCC. For many of the Orthodox churches, "worship" means something particular about THE CHURCH celebrating the eucharist, and since we cannot all share the eucharist together, (much less can we all be THE CHURCH), we must call worship something else -- prayer.

Sound like hair-splitting? Yes, I think so. It is this kind of ultra-subtle theological negotiating that makes it difficult for many to understand (or care about) what the WCC is doing.

BUT I do also think an issue like this is hugely important to understanding our brothers and sisters in Christ from around the world, Christians who have widely divergent histories, ecclesiologies, and understandings and practicies of worship. If we are to be one in Christ, we must find ways to make it possible, including expanding our minds and experiences.

But as one reporter (not me!) asked in press conference this morning, if we experience the prayer service as the worship of the church, why ought not we call that. Perhaps some readers of this blog will help me as a prepare a news story.

DisciplesWorld at WCC, 9th Assembly, Brazil

by Verity A. Jones

Thousands of people have traveled thousands of miles to Porto Alegre, Brazil to attend the 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches. It took my little group of four almost 24 hours to get here from Indianapolis. We met up with the rest of the Disciples upon arrival. All in all, we have 30 Disciples here. Only three are delegates, plus one advisor, one press (me!), and one rep from the Disciples in Canada. All the others are visitors, ranging in age from 22 to 80. It's quite a display of Disciples diversity.

Actually, it might be better to say that this group of Disciples represents a hopeful future for the church--half of the group is under the age of 30. Ah, that half of all Disciples in the US and Canada were under the age of 30! In any case, they are great fun to hang out with.

The assembly officially got underway this morning, though the four pre-events--on women, youth, indigenous peoples, and people with disabilies--were quite something, I'm told. I will be send news stories for posting on www.disciplesworld.com beginning this evening. Hopefully, I can keep up. This pastor turned journalist is still learning things like press room etiquette and how to be agressive enough to get an interview with some of the major personalities.

The major issues to watch will be how the WCC is addressing globalization, poverty, interfaith dialogue, and how the WCC is expanding its table to include more Christian communions from around the world. The mutiroa, which is the visitors program of workshops and celebrations, will be very interesting (more so than plenary sessions, I'm sure!). Of course, elections will be exciting... And at this meeting the WCC will set its program agenda for the next seven to eight years.

The city of Porto Alegre is beautiful, the weather is perfect, the music is outstanding. Already the assembly is enjoying the sounds of Brazil and Africa. And you can't beat the slower pace of life in South America. More later....

Help send Bill O'Reilly to Darfur

The feud between NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and Fox's Bill O'Reilly continues. Kristof was among the first mainstream journalists to cover the situation in Darfur - he earned his cred by spending about a week there two years ago, interviewing women who had been raped and seen family members killed by Janjaweed militias, and putting a face on the genocide.
While I'm not sure who started the feud, Kristof raised the stakes by challenging O'Reilly to actually go to Darfur and channel his outrage toward changing the situation there. He even started a fundraising drive to pay the O'Reilly's way. You can write to sponsorbill@gmail.com. Kristof said he'd put up the first $1,000 himself.

Humane Borders' Hoover leaves Tucker Carlson in the dust

During the recent flap over Humane Borders warning posters, Rev. Robin Hoover, the group's founder and president (and a Disciples pastor) appeared on Tucker Carlson's "Situation Room". Hoover promptly schooled Bow-tie Boy, then spanked him and sent him to bed without any supper. click here to watch.

About the whole map matter, Hoover wrote in his church newsletter: "Mexico is our neighbor, and we are our brother's keeper. As to any questions you might have concerning the data that might help a bad guy [a reference to US Secretary of State Michael Chertoff's characterization of the warning posters], worry about something else. The information that is available from the Tucson Tourist Bureau is better for navigating than what we have."