WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES Central Committee Minutes of the Forty-Seventh Meeting Geneva, Switzerland 12-20 September 1996 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from World Council of Churches https://archive.org/details/fortyseventhmeetOOunse Central Committee of the World Council of Churches Minutes of the Forty-Seventh Meeting Geneva, Switzerland 12-20 September 1996 World Council of Churches 150, route de Feraey P.O. Box 2100 1211 Geneva 2 ISBN 2-8254-1218-X ® 1996 by the World Council of Churches LIST OF CONTENTS OPENING ACTIONS I Worship. 1 II Call to Order. 1 III Roll Call and Seating of Substitutes. 1 IV In Memoriam . 2 V Agenda and Timetable. 3 VI Minutes of Previous Meeting. 3 VII Appointment of Committees. 3 Vm New Members of Central Committee. 3 IX Applications for Membership. 4 X Public Issues. 4 XI Stewards . 5 REPORTS OF THE GENERAL SECRETARY AND THE MODERATOR I Report of the General Secretary; Discussion. 5 II Report of the Moderator; Discussion.18 III Response by the Central Committee.27 PRELIMINARY REPORT OF FINANCE COMMITTEE MODERATOR.29 PUBLIC ISSUES.34 I Statement on Burundi /.37 II Statement on the Intensified US Sanctions against Cuba and their Assertion of Extra-Territoriality.39 III Minute on US Attacks on Iraq.40 IV Note on the Contemporary Role of the Church in International Affairs. 41 DELIBERATIVE SESSIONS I Ecclesiology and Ethics .44 II HIV/AIDS .47 II TOWARDS A COMMON UNDERSTANDING AND VISION OF THE WCC I Presentation of CUV Document and Discussion ..51 II Action by the Central Committee .60 EIGHTH ASSEMBLY I Deliberative Session on Report of Assembly Planning Committee (APC).63 II Report of the Assembly Planning Committee .69 III Action by the Central Committee.80 REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES Committee on the General Secretariat.82 Committee on Unit I: Unity and Renewal .89 Committee on Unit II: Churches in Mission: Health, Education and Witness.98 Committee on Unit III: Justice, Peace and Creation.104 Committee on Unit IV: Sharing and Service.114 Finance Committee.122 STAFFING REPORT I Staffing: Appointments, Contract Extensions, Information.132 II Re-election of the General Secretary .139 DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS .141 CLOSING ACTIONS 141 Ill APPENDICES I Attendance: List of Participants .143 II Membership of Unit Committees, the Committee on the General Secretariat, the Committee on Public Issues, and the Finance Committee.154 III The Impact of HIV/AIDS and the Churches’ Response: A Statement proposed for adoption by the Central Committee on the basis of the WCC Consultative Group on AIDS Study Process .161 IV Note on the Contemporary Role of the Church in International Affairs .174 V The Meaning of Membership (revised text) .184 VI Eighth Assembly: Memorandum of Understanding between the WCC and the Government of Zimbabwe .188 VII Investment Policy Guidelines.191 VIII Revised Budgets: 1997 Budget: General; Activities; Units . 194 Eighth Assembly - Fifth Draft Budget .202 IX List of Documents Available on Request.204 . ' OPENING ACTIONS I. Worship Daily morning worship took place in the Chapel of the Ecumenical Centre, under the overall theme "Called to One Hope". On Sunday 15 September, participants were invited to attend worship with local congregations in the Geneva area. At the Opening Worship on the morning of 12 September, Dr Marion Best preached on the text "You will be my witnesses". n. Call to Order The Moderator, His Holiness Aram I, called to order the forty-seventh meeting of the Central Committee at 9.15 on Thursday, 12 September 1996. After welcoming participants, he reminded them that the past year had been a difficult one in the life and witness of the World Council, when new challenges and concerns had to be faced. This was a decisive moment in the history of the Council, and we were being called by God and by our churches to act responsibly and in a committed way. Some of the difficulties faced by the Council would be outlined in his report and that of the General Secretary, and members of Central Committee would be asked to deliberate how best the challenges could be wrestled with and a new vision of the ecumenical movement identified for the coming years. HL Roll Call and Seating of Substitutes The General Secretary called the roll of Officers, Presidents and members. Apologies had been received from Mr Ajalat, Mr Anggui, Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Peristerion, Dr Patelos, Mr Moukouyou-Kibouala; also from those whose churches had recommended substitutes: Mr Akhura, Dr Csiha, Metropolitan Daniel, Ms Davies-Izard, Frau Engel, Bishop Engelhardt, Ms Malpas, Ms Szabo-Matrai, and Mr Vailaau. The seating of substitutes was agreed as follows: - Prof. Ion Bria for Metr. Daniel of Moldavia and Bukovina - Dr Dizideriu Bustya for Bishop Dr Kalman Csiha 2 - Rev. David Gill for Ms Jan Malpas - Ato Wossen Seged Gebre Amlak for Ato Yayneshate Gebre Selassie - Mr Gabriel Habib for Dr Charles Ajalat (15-20 September) - Bishop Rolf Koppe for Prof. Dr Klaus Engelhardt - OKR Tim Kuschnerus for Frau Edeltraud Engel - Dr Gyula Nagy for Rev. Marianne Szabo-Matrai - Rev. John Reardon for Ms Rosey Davies-Izard - Rev. Dr Bruce Robbins for Mr Ari Carvalho (18-20 September) - Rev. Kuatemane Ulutui for Rev. Nove Vailaau - Mr Stig Utnem for Dr Anne Tveter( 18-20 September) The General Secretary then called the names of Delegated Representatives and Delegated Observers, and invited them together with Advisers and Observers to stand and be recognised. At a later session, the Moderator drew attention to the presence of former General Secretary, Rev. Dr Emilio Castro, who attended some of the plenary sessions. TV. In Memoriam The Moderator called for a moment of silent prayer in memory of a number of people who had been close to the life of the WCC and the ecumenical who had passed away since the last meeting: - Patriarch Parthenios III, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, a President of the World Council of Churches; - Rev. Arvind Nirmal, Dalit theologian; - Rev. Harry F.J. Daniel, former WCC staff member (CWM-UIM) and Asian ecumenical leader; - Rev. Ans van der Bent, first Librarian of the WCC Library; - Dr Theodore Bachmann, former WCC staff member; - Dr Hendrikus Berkhof, a delegate to the First Assembly at Amsterdam and member of Central Committee from 1954-1975; - Dame R. Nita Barrow, Governor General of Barbados, former representative of Barbados at the UN, former WCC staff member (CMC) 1971-1981; a WCC President 1983-1991; - Ms Madeleine Barot, early WCC staff member (Cooperation of Women and Men in the Church), retired staff member of CIMADE, France; - Dr Jean Sindab, former WCC staff member (PCR); - Sadao Watanabe, Japanese Christian artist; - Mr Anders Mielke, general secretary of the Danish Missionary Society; - Rev. K.J. John, Dalit leader, member of the Church of South India;