Protests in Busan

I meant to do a blog post while in Busan about some of the protests that the World Council of Churches faced while we were there... but never got around to it. Every day, we were met with people outside of the convention centre protesting the WCC and our meetings. From what I could gather (from the few signs in English), the main issues centred around inter-religious dialogue and sexual orientation (which is interesting, because the WCC does not have a position on this).

Fortunately, a new friend that I met in Busan - Sheryl Johnson from KAIROS - has done just this. Sheryl combines it with some other powerful moments from the assembly and asks some great questions for us and for our churches about costly discipleship.

But I am left with questions about how to deepen the cost of my own discipleship, and how we as churches in the land called Canada do the same. Will we be so brave when the consequences are so high? Will we be willing to pay the price of lost friends, lost comfort, lost privileges?

Check out the rest of Sheryl's great post.

Our last day in Busan

And we are adjourned! An abbreviated day today, but very full of gratitude, hope, and a sense of mission.

After worship, we had two long business sessions this morning to try and finish up all the stuff with which we had not yet dealt. We adopted a message from the assembly, and approved several statements and minutes from the Public Issues Committee, on topics such as indigenous peoples and the situation in Abeyi in Sudan. While our time was limited, there was quite a bit of discussion about a statement on the Christian presence and witness in the Middle East. We finished these sessions with many thank yous - to the Korean churches and various host committees, to the stewards and volunteers, to the WCC staff. So many people put a lot of work into this event to make it wonderful - I am sure that they are finding some relief in the midst of their exhaustion right now.

Just on random note - my seat in the business hall was right behind those of the delegates from the Orthodox Church of Finland. One of them took a photo of a vote and lo and behold - here I am on the their church's website! Ecumenism is fun.

Father Michael Lapsley gave us some powerful words in his preaching during the Closing Prayer. He spoke of the importance of listening to each other's pain: "When we are able to listen to each other's pain we can become committed to work together for an inclusive justice. Also when we listen to one another's pain the division between "us" and "them" disappears and we all become just "us". Our experience of a common humanity is profoundly deeper than all that divides us or makes us unique and different." He concluded with words from Benedictine Sr. Ruth Fox, which I have included below.

I do not have the energy nor brain power right now to reflect on my weeks in Busan - what they mean for me, for the PCC, for my place in the Church. Those will come in the next few weeks.

For now, packing, going to touch the ocean (which, despite being right outside my hotel, I have not been near yet), dinner, then on a shuttle bus at 5 am tomorrow to start the long journey back to Canada.


May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.

- Benedictine Sister Ruth Fox, 1985

The last morning of the Assembly

As we gathered to begin our final day this morning, we prayed together:

"During the last supper, Jesus became a servant to his disciples. May we follow Jesus' example of servanthood and bless one another in humility.

For the leaders of the world, that they may put aside their differences and seek the peace of Christ, we pray: Have mercy on us.

For the Church, that we serve one another with a humility which sets aside hierarchies of power, we pray: Have mercy on us.

Release us from the curse of stigma and labels that cast out the unnacceptable, we pray: Have mercy on us.

Deliver us from all that separates us from the love of Christ, we pray: Have mercy on us.

That we may long for the day when all may feast at the table of our Lord, when no one will be an outsider, and all will be loved, we pray: Have mercy on us."

Day 9 - Peace

It's official - I am exhausted. Seriously.

Now that that's out of the way...

We had a very moving plenary about peace this morning. Nobel Laureate Leymah Gbowee told us of her personal healing that was necessary for her to become a peacemaker in Liberia. Instead of being complicit bystanders, Ms. Gbowee told the church (i.e., us) to speak up for peace.

choir and orchestra for worship

Rev. Dr. Chang Yoon Jae, a professor of theology who speaks on society, justice, faith and peace, said that the Korean people are on an exodus journey to peace: an exodus to new peace (moving from unfinished war to permanent peace); an exodus to new light (turning on an internal light of life and peace to move toward a world without nuclear bombs and power); and, an exodus to new earth (to liberate ourselves from fossil fuels and nuclear energy). Using the week's image of a pilgrimage, Rev. Dr. Chang told us to get out of our cars and walk, to leave our comfortable spaces. As he called us to new light, all the lights in the auditorium were turned off and he lit a candle while singing "This Little Light of Mine." A very powerful moment.

There was a strong sense of responsibility in the room - that we are responsible for the lack of peace in our world and that we need to work to remedy that. Agata, an Iranian woman, called for an end to the sanctions that are hurting ordinary people in her country. Fabian, from Costa Rica, said that we should be a church of action and leave behind our differences in order to make the world beautiful. Stanley Noffisinger concluded with a call to engage in "radical, compassionate discipleship."

The PCC delegation to the assembly

This afternoon, I attended a workshop entitled, "From ecological debt to eco-justice: Mining, reparations and earth rights." We began by watching a video produced by KAIROS Canada after a conference they held on mining issues. We then heard first-hand accounts of human and environmental destruction caused by mining companies (many of which are Canadian) in Zambia, Ecuador, the Philippines, and India. As with resource extraction in Canada, indigenous people are disproportionately affected.

We took some time to discuss what our churches can do to respond to these cries from our sisters and brothers and to work for peace: two ideas were to advocate for increased accountability and transparency of mining companies working overseas, and to engage in ethical investing. These are not difficult actions, and should be embraced by congregations.

We discussed a few more of our public issues statements during our business plenary tonight - peace and reunification of the Korean Peninsula, and the way of just peace.

A great day - despite the exhaustion :).

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.

Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

John 14:27

Day 8 - Justice

We began the day in worship, talking about justice. We sang a wonderful song - "Until all are fed."

Our Bible studies looked at a story of injustice in the Bible - Naboth's land being taken by Ahab. It was not hard for us to think, in our small group, of examples of this from our own contexts - land being taken from people for mineral and oil development in Nigeria and Canada, farm land being taken from Palestinians, difficulties with finding affordable housing in the UK, Sweden and Korea. How can the church be more like Elijah? How can we speak out against these injustices? How can we stand with those who are having their land taken away?

The Justice Plenary looked more deeply at some of the injustices facing us today, and what the church should be doing about them. Martin Kohr talked about the world financial crisis, unfair trade rules, and climate change. Dr. Julia Duchrow told us that churches must work with civil society organizations to ensure that human rights are respected by governments and multi-national corporations. Bishop Iosif of Patrara reminded us of the basis of our faith: we are to love God, and to love our neighbours. Rev. Phumzile Mabizela said that justice should be at the core of our church. She identified that the church has often silenced voices - an affront to those peoples' dignity - and that the church has used sacred texts to justify gender injustice. She said that the gospel must be re-interpreted for people like her - a village woman living with HIV.

All panelists said that Christians must pray and act for a more just world. Rev. Mabizela challenged us to leave our comfort zones: "Stress those who are comfortable, and comfort those in distress."

The Presbyterian Church in Korea hosted its partners for a lovely lunch. Was interesting to meet Presbyterians from all over the world, and the food was delicious :).

Canadian fellowship at the end of the day

During a business plenary session, we succeeded in electing a new central committee that will guide the work of the WCC until the next assembly. We also adopted statements on the human rights of stateless people and on the politicisation of religion and rights of religious minorities.

Before we discussed a statement on peace and reunification of the Korean Peninsula, the WCC General Secretary read greetings from the churches in North Korea. This is the first time in some years that North Korean churches have not been at a WCC Assembly. They expressed their support for the WCC, and for the peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula.

The day ended with fun and fellowship as Canadian delegates from all churches gathered together. Much laughter over the menu (pizza = a "non-runny, ready-to-eat dish with heterogeneous ingredients") and much sharing about our experiences at the assembly and about our churches back in Canada.

How long will we sing? How long will we pray?

How long will we write and send?

How long will we bring? How long will we stay?

How long will we make amends?

Until all are fed, we cry out. Until all on earth have bread.

Like the one who loves us, each and every one

We serve until all are fed.
- T. Brown and B. McFarland

Day 7 (part 2) - Dialogue on sexuality

After spending the morning thinking about Christian unity, many of us decided to attend a workshop on what some would say is one of the most divisive issues in the church today: human sexuality.

The first thing to say about this workshop is that the room was packed. People standing at the back, people sitting on the floor. Even that was affirming - churches want to talk about this issue. We recognize that we have different opinions, and we want to be in dialogue.

I didn't really know what to expect. I had read the workshop description, but was a bit anxious about how the hour and a half would unfold. This is not an easy topic for churches. The tone was set from the very beginning, though, when we read this passage from 1 John 4: "God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them."

We heard about a dialogue on this topic between 10 people from Europe and 10 people from the rest of the world, all of whom approached this issue from different places. We heard of their Bible study, of conversations of pain, emotion and beauty... all of which led to the creation of safe space, and participants could then look to find common ground. This can be a model for other churches looking to create an environment in which human sexuality can be discussed.

We then heard from four people about their experiences in different parts of the world.

• A young, extremely courageous transgender Korean woman told her story - a story of rejection from a church, of loneliness and exclusion, of coming back to God's love, and of finding acceptance.
• A theologian from Nigeria, a country where the church agrees with the state's criminalization of homosexuality, talked about how asking, "What does the Bible say?" is not as important as asking "What is the Christian calling?" and "What are the justice issues?"
• A gay Romanian man spoke of the attack on basic human rights in Eastern Europe, and how the creation of safe space for dialogue with churches in this region is next to impossible. He pointed out the value of the WCC - for some people, this is the only forum in which this conversation can take place.
• An HIV-positive South African woman talked about the opportunity that has been presented to the churches with the AIDS pandemic - there is now an opening to talk about sex. She said that dignity and identity are inherent rights from God, and that all people are created in the image of God. I wrote down some wonderful quotes from her: "These are our children. They didn't come from trees. We gave birth to them after having sex." "Sexuality is to the body what spirituality is to the soul." (She actually credited this to someone else but I can't remember who... sorry...) "No one deserves rejection, no one deserves to be discriminated against." "Unity is impossible without acknowledging our diversity."

My words cannot do justice to the love and support I felt in the room for these four individuals, regardless of what church we were coming from.

We met in small groups afterward to discuss our reactions, our frustrations, our hopes. My feelings at the time were profound gratitude to the four people for sharing their stories, but also guilt - the church, of which I am a part, has caused such hurt, and continues to do so. These four people had put faces to that hurt. We are supposed to be loving, inclusive communities, and we have failed.

This workshop gave me hope too, though. We know that this is a challenge for us, and so many people were there to start the conversation. It needs to continue (someone said, "90 minutes is not going to do it."), and I think that the WCC can offer a safe space in which this work can take place. The facilitator said that safe space is created when you take a risk to enter it, when you share truthfully, and when you listen actively. And as mentioned in this morning's session, it will take passion, patience and hard work to find common ground between the churches on human sexuality.

But we have now taken the first step...

Day 7 (part 1) - "... that all may be one"

Oh, my friends.  My heart is very full after today. It was a wonderful day in Busan.

The theme of today was unity. In worship and Bible study, we talked about Pentecost, and considered that unity can exist in the midst of diversity. That is on clear display this week - there are many differences between the people who are gathered, and yet we are trying to find areas where we can be unified.

The Unity Plenary this morning was quite moving. We heard from four speakers about our journey, as churches, toward Christian unity. We have come a long way, but there are still great divisions. One of the most obvious of these is that we cannot yet share the Eucharist around the same table.

• Metropolitan Nifon of Târgoviste, from the Romanian Orthodox Church, reminded us that Jesus loved all of the people he met, regardless of their religion, and that sometimes the greatest challenge to Christian unity is within our own constituencies. Patience, passion and hardwork will be required for unity.
• The Rev. Dr. Neville Callam, from the Baptist World Alliance, said that churches should work to address the conflicting moral issues we have so that we don't entrench societal divisions.
• Alice Fabian, from the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa, told us that there has been much work toward unity in South Africa, but that there is still work to do. She told us of two previously separate Zulu- and English-speaking congregations, using the same building, that have recently joined together to be one congregation.
• Bishop Mark MacDonald (a Canadian you may remember from yesterday's post) told of his ministry in the far north of North America, saying, "At 50 below zero, denominational differences disappear." He talked about the harsh conditions of the north (both human and environmental), and how people in the north are reminding the rest of us how to live faithfully on the land.

The conclusion of the plenary was a very special moment. A small group sat on the stage, in a semi-circle, facing away from us. They began singing Ubi Caritas from the Taizé Community, and we all joined in. The lyrics mean: Where true charity/love is, there is God. The people in the semi-circle then said "By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another." in many languages. We then concluded with Laudate omnes gentes (Sing praises all you people, sing praises to the Lord). It was a truly wonderful moment.

Day 6 continued...

In my rush to post yesterday, I forgot to mention two very meaningful moments from the day:

- The Assembly received greetings from Rabbi David Fox Sandmel of the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations. He concluded with these powerful words:

While we disagree about whether the Messiah is to come or come again, we are, in the felicitous phrase of the Christian theologian Clark Williamson, "partners in waiting." Until that day, we can and must work together to alleviate suffering, promote justice and repair our world for the reign of God. Ken yehi ratzon, may this be God's will. Amen.

- Eight new presidents of the WCC were elected last night. The North American President will be Bishop Mark MacDonald from the Anglican Church of Canada, a non-status Indian and the first indigenous president for the region. I am very excited by Mark's election. The Anglican Church has more information about the role of presidents and about Mark himself.

Day 6

I am finally getting used to this routine - sleeping until a semi-normal hour of the day, and the days at the convention centre seem to have kind of a rhythm to them now. I will be an expert at this just as it's time to come home...

It was a good day today - we are really getting into the meat/tofu (take your pick) of the assembly. The first plenary session this morning was focused on a new document the WCC has put together on mission - Together Towards Life: Mission and Evangelism in Changing Landscapes. I will be the first to admit that the concept of evangelism can make me a bit uncomfortable, but there are some interesting things in this document. It talks about how what we proclaim must match how we live out our lives ("practice what you preach," if you will) and that eco-justice should be a big part of mission.

The part that stood out the most for me is a paradigm shift in the way we think about mission. We often think of "missionaries" from the west/north going to the south, but this document talks about "mission from the margins." It says:

People on the margins have agency, and can often see what, from the centre, is out of view. People on the margins, living in vulnerable positions, often know what exclusionary forces are threatening their survival and can best discern the urgency of their struggles; people in positions of privilege have much to learn from the daily struggles of people living in marginal conditions.

Cool, eh?

I attended a workshop this afternoon to learn about a dialogue process that has been taking place since the last assembly between European and Latin American churches. These two groups had some disagreements at the last assembly about globalization, so they took it upon themselves to begin a dialogue process to work through some of these issues. Quite neat to see how common ground can be found when we sit down and talk to one another, but amazing to think of the effort required just to agree on something like definitions.

At a second workshop this afternoon, we met in regional groups to discuss what churches might do to counter "the spirituality of consumerism." As you can well imagine, this is a difficult question in the North American context. As one member of our group (an American with roots in India) pointed out, shopping is a hobby in North America. We talked about how education and advocacy would be important, and how small steps could be encouraged - things like ethical investing, and using credit unions (my "socialist banker" husband will be so pleased!).

All in all, a full and thought-provoking day. It occurred to me at one point that I am quite amazed that in all of the organized chaos, and in all of the people, relationships that are actually able to develop. The first few days, it seemed like I was meeting someone new every five minutes and then not seeing them again. But now, with my Bible study group that I see every day, with the group with whom I spent the weekend in Seoul - it is amazing that in so big a group, it is possible to get to know people quite well. Cool. I had imagined that I was going to get a lot out of this experience, but I did not anticipate this.

Days 4 and 5 - Seoul

This weekend was all about the Korean churches' generosity, hospitality, and organizational capacity. Seriously. Basically, 600 of us travelled from Busan to Seoul for the weekend and the Korean churches took care of all the details.

We left Busan early yesterday morning - a long bus ride to the train station. There was an entire train just for WCC delegates, which was pretty neat. It was cool and pouring rain when we arrived in Seoul... ugh. But everything was very well organized and we were on assigned buses (28 of them!) within minutes.

Police stopping highway traffic for us

We had a police escort as we travelled to the de-militarized zone (which sometimes stopped several lanes of traffic so our bus convoy could stay together... I felt like royalty!). Our destination was actually Imjingak, a park about 7 km from the DMZ. (And by the time we got there, the rain had stopped :).) The most interesting parts to me were a fence that was covered in ribbons with prayers or names, and the Bridge to Freedom, where former prisoners of war crossed into South Korea after the signing of the armistice agreement that ended hostilities. It is blocked today, and people can no longer pass through it to get to the north.

Wall blocking the way on the Bridge to Freedom

We then travelled to Myungsung Presbyterian Church in Seoul for dinner and a Korean cultural night. This was my first experience visiting a "mega church," and I'm not sure that my words here will do it justice. We were met by several people from the congregation, as well as traditional Korean drummers and dancers. They were performing in a plaza of sorts that is surrounded by the church's buildings (yes, buildings. with an s.). We used an escalator (!) to go down to the cafeteria of the church, where they proceeded to serve all of us a wonderful buffet dinner, complete with lobster and smoked salmon. (No crust-less egg salad sandwiches in sight!)

Myungsung sanctuary (photo: WCC)

The Korean Cultural Night was an amazing display of talent - traditional dances, an amazing performance by a children's choir, wonderful pieces from a full orchestra, soloists and choir, and a short musical about the history of Korea. All of this done in their sanctuary, which I think probably seats more people than some good-sized cultural centres in Canada.

The delegates split into groups after the performance, based on where we would be attending church on Sunday morning. Six of us were headed to Somang Presbyterian Church, so our guides took us on a bus to the Gangnam neighbourhood of Seoul (yes, that Gangnam). They put us up in a lovely hotel for the night, and then we were off to church the next morning.

Somang (meaning "hope" in Korean) is another mega-church, though smaller than Myungsung. Here are some of the figures we got from our guides:

• the church has 70,000 members
• almost 1,000 Sunday School teachers
• two libraries (one for adults, one for children)
• seating for 2,500 in the sanctuary (and it was full for the service we were at - one of six every Sunday)
• at least 100 people in the choir for the service we attended
• it took 30 people to collect the offering

Sunday School class at Somang

I'm not sure that I have yet wrapped my head around these numbers and how exactly a church like this would function. That said, the service format was very similar to that of my church in Ottawa, so it was fairly easy to follow. We had a lovely lunch with our hosts afterward, and we were then back to the train station for our return to Busan.

A very full weekend, but we were treated so well by our hosts and every small detail was taken care of. It was amazing.

Day 3

Oh sigh. I am coming down with a cold and am wishing for some of the comforts at home! Despite not feeling 100%, still an interesting day in Busan.

• The theme for worship and Bible study this morning was a passage from Amos that includes the phrase, "let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a ever-flowing stream." Such a powerful image to me. We talked, in Bible study, about how we as the church can foster this justice and righteousness - how can we make this happen in the world?
•  In the small, small Presbyterian universe, I probably shouldn't have been surprised to meet Rev. Iro, a Presbyterian minister in Nigeria who is a good friend to the Presbyterian Church in Canada and PWS&D. I now have many greetings to pass along when I return to Canada :)
• The plenary for the day focused on Asia. There were two speakers I found particularly interesting - one speaking about collaboration between South and North Koreans to build an Orthodox church in North Korea, and one speaking about providing health care in a small hospital in rural India. Very moving voices of witness.
• A discussion on the proposed unity statement of the assembly somehow morphed into a discussion on sexual orientation - clearly not an issue on which the church is unified. It is a challenge even to create a safe space in which to discuss these issues.

I will end with inspiring words that we heard from the Archbishop of Canterbury:

"When we look to God, our eyes are turned outwards to his world, and we hear again the command, as Pope Francis said, to be a poor church for the poor. The children of Christ act instinctively to love those who suffer, as he loves us. If justice faints, hope fades. But when justice is loved, and lived, the poor have hope and the whole world begins to sing."

Some of us are off to Seoul today for the weekend to visit churches there. Looking forward to that, and to a ride on a high-speed train :).