On the road to Busan, South Korea

God of life, lead us to justice and peace

It is Labour Day... a day which is normally a bit sad, I think. Back to the normal swing of things, summer behind us. It always goes so quickly! I am quite fortunate this year, though - I am looking forward to a big adventure in October and November. Amazingly, I have been selected by The Presbyterian Church in Canada to attend the World Council of Churches' 10th General Assembly in Busan, South Korea.

The general assembly is still weeks away, but preparations have been underway for quite some time. Assemblies are only held every seven years, and are an opportunity for the 350+ WCC member churches, partner organizations and other churches to come together from all corners of the world. Officially, "the assembly has the mandate to review programmes, to issue public statements and determine the overall policies of the WCC, as well as to elect presidents and a Central Committee that oversees the council's work until the next assembly."

(If you have 15 minutes, there is a wonderful video that looks at the nine previous WCC assemblies, the circumstances under which they met, and the powerful, unified Christian statements that came out of them on issues like the Vietnam War and apartheid in South Africa. Amazing.)

And I have a lot of preparation to do as well! I have not attended a general assembly in the past, nor any meeting of the WCC, so this will be a very new experience for me. There are pages of reports to review, but I am also taking some time for personal reflection on the theme of the assembly - God of life, lead us to justice and peace - and on some of the issues that will be discussed.

So I am hoping that if I start blogging about my preparations now, I will keep at it over the next few months and will be ready to jump in with both feet when I arrive in South Korea.

But it is just Labour Day and I am just easing in to this... so I am starting with a YouTube video :). The WCC has put together a set of reflections people have made on the theme of the assembly, so I am using this as a springboard for my own preparations.


My favourite statements made in the video:

"The theme... is needed... because of the call of the people to the churches, the challenge to the churches, to right the injustices of the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized."

Rev. Diana Ann Tana, Methodist Church of Aotearoa New Zealand

"When we take up this theme together, and do not talk about differences of religions, but care for the justice and peace for everyone, then we can be together, we can struggle together."

Rev. Dr. Soritua Nababan, Huria Kristen Batak Protestant (HKBP) Indonesia

"No justice without life and peace. No life without peace and justice. No peace without justice and life."

Ms. LEE Eun Young, Korean Methodist Church

"God of life, lead us to justice and peace." What does this mean to you?