Two Days at the 9th WCC General Assembly

Its really difficult to know where to start with this. I will apologize for not having posted earlier... long story with the travels, and its been pretty much non-stop since I've arrived.

Yesterday was orientation. We learned most of the ropes and discovered all that is available to the non-delegate participants (thats me). There are actually many many opportunites for workshops. There is a very rich list from which to choose. We also had our first community worship, called "Prayers." I was told that the name "prayers" is a concession made for the Orthodox communities. It was too long, but also not long enough. Can you imagine worshiping with 3800 Christians from over 300 communions and the seven populated regions of the world? It is an incredible experience. I will in no way do the experience justice, so I'll type out the two major geographically-oriented sections of the service.

GIFTS OF GRACE: Recieving the Gifts from the Regions (for the Table)

Gathered here as people from all the regions of the world we are thankful for the gifts of

Africa - represented in the symbol of a stone from Turkana which is the cradle of Humanity;
Asia - represented int he symbol of a bell;
Caribbean - represented in the symbol of sugar cane;
Europe - represented in the symbol of a reindeer calf skin;
Latin America - represented in the symbol of fruits and a Salvadorian cross;
Middle East - represented in the symbol of a Coptic icon "the Entry of the Lord to Egypt" ;
North America - represented in the symbol of grains of corn and wheat as well as a symbol of the First Nations;
Pacific - represneted in the symbol of "le Toga" (woven mat) from Samoa/Polynesia, a "Stick Chart" (map constructed with sticks of the ocean's currents) from the Marshall Islands/ Micronesia and "Tanoa" (traditional ceremonial bowl) from Fiji/Melanesia

Litany of Cries fro Transformation (abridged)

Voice One: O god of the East, the West, the Northa and the South, your love has conceived your creation, your Word has brought it into being and your Spirit has endowed it with your life. In the promise of your transforming grace we beseech you Lord, hear us and have mercy.

From Afria - We have come from the birth place of humanity, a land of rich cultural and spiritual heritage. We have come, a people divided artificially into many nationalities, a people torn apart by wars, greed and lust for power, a people whose very existence is today threatened by a plague without cure. We have come, a people not broken by centuries of exploitation, opression, enslavement, poverty, disease and misrule, but heald up by the great resilience, strength of spirit and mutual love with which you have so richly endowed us. We come, daring to trust in your transforming grace. We cry to you in faith: O that we may see our groaning transformed into joy, our contempt into the promise of your life. O God of love, hear us, we pray:

From Asia - We come from the home of ancient and enlightened civilizations and the habitaiton of half of humanity. We come from homeless children crying and begging on the streets of Colombo, Manila and Jakarta. We pray for the hundreds of child sex workers in the brothels in Cambodia, for the million or so internally displaced people in Sri Lanka and Myanmar...We cry for the tsunami and earthqake victims of the South and Southeast Asia...We cry for the vicitms of the long-standing division and rift in the Korean Peninsula and other tensions in Asia... We dare to hope and pray that those who struggle for dignity, justice and peace will harvest the fruits of your transforming grace! O righteous Lord, hear us, we pray:

From the Caribbean - We come from a land of natural beauty and serenity. We come bringing out cultural and religious diversity. We come with our frustrations and with our problems of pollution resulting from an exploitative tourism industry. We bring the cries of the victims of the trafficking and consumption of dreugs, of domestice violence and HIV/AIDS. Both our young and our old suffer the consequences of unemployment, corruption and migrations; but also we come with our dignity and hope in the God of Life, which strengthens our struggle for transformation. It is in that hope that we fervently pray to you, O all-gracious Lord, her us, we pray:

From Europe - We come from lands of great diversity and of many contadicitons. We come aware of our rich heritage of civilizations, culture, knowledge and spirituality - a tradition of life: liberty, democracy and human advancement; but also are fully aware that we carry a tradition of death: wars, conqests, exploitation, racism and genocide. Today as Europe struggles to be a better place for all people we come before you with the cry of those who are left behind by the increasing gap between rich and poor... we fervently pray: O All-faithful God, hear us, we pray:

From Latin America - We come from lands full of life and hope. We cry out for homes to call our own, shelter, food, health and respect for the rights of teh many children who lack them. We cry out for respect for the right to attend school and play during childhood... We cry out for an end of all forms of violence. violence which... is a response to foreign political and economic interests which pay no regard to our peoples' pain, suffering and rights... We cry out for independece to take our own decisions as peoples. We cry out for work for all, with fair wages and equal opportunities. WE cry out for life in abundance for all our people! O merciful God, hear us, we pray:

From the Middle East - We come form the humble land that bore the Christ, Jesus our Lord, prince of peace... We come bearing gifts of our cultures and traditions - gold, incense and myrrh - which signify well being, deep spirituality and pain. WE have been walking in the shadows of the valley of death for centuries... our hearts are heavy with the politcs of frustration, starvation, humiliation and dehumanization. But we are not broken. Out Lord, our Savior, our solace at this forsaken hour, extend your hand of justice and mercy so that peace may be fully realized. We realize that only your peace is just, merciful and everlasting. O eternal God, hear us, we pray:

From North America - We come from places inhabited by peoples of many lands, tracing our heritage to rich cultures and charting a future founded on tolerance and equity, freedom and liberty. We confess that we have trampled heavily on the earth; we have exploited its resourses... we [have not] respected any other ethnicity as we respect our own. We have been content to share in profits from the legacies of slavery and opressions... Forgive us our faiture, as teachers, as preachers and as citizens, to speak truth to power, and to soften hearts hardened by terror... Grant us a new and fervent passion for peacemaking and justice, that we may move our nations and leaders toward peace. O God of infinite grace and mercy, hear us, we pray.

From the Pacific - We share a vulnerability common to all regions, crying out with the voices of our fenua. We come before you in shame, O Lord. We are not good stewards of your islands nor dutiful keepers of your seas. WE have desecrated and threated your Creation... We come before you seeking recognition of the impact nuclear testing has had on our fenua and our people... Pasifika, Pasifika - Calm our raging oceans and waters. Shelter us from stroms and cyclones. Protect our coral reefs and ecosystems. But above all, defed us from our actions... Lord, show us our island of hope.

Voice One: O God of all nations, all poeple and all cration... we proclaim that you are indeed merciful an gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love... Re-unite us with one another. Help us to overcome our greed, our prjudices, ouir fears of each other and our divisions: That we may truly maintain the unity of your spirit in the bond of your peace. For you are a merciful God whose love does maiontain your cration, and to you we give glory...

Amen.


And there it is... I'll discuss today and tomorrow in the next post. It is incredibly late, but I thought that was important enough to post now.

~b