First day of the Assembly

BEXCO - where we're meeting

A wonderful beginning to the Assembly today.

We started with an orientation session this morning, and then moved into the opening prayer. This was the highlight of the day for me. Some particular poignant moments:

• Worship opened with a gong. Cool.
• The procession in, led by someone holding up a cross, was quite moving. With so many people there (5000!) and a lot of busy-ness around me, it was very moving to see this common, simple symbol that had brought together Christians from across the world. Something we all have in common.
• The time of confession during the service included "cries and hopes" from various regions of the world. This was incredibly powerful. I would love to share them all with you, but I'll just share the North American one so you can get a flavour. It's at the end of this post.
• Beautiful Korean music and instruments.
• Reciting the Lord's Prayer together, but each in our own language. An amazing, diverse, unified chorus.

The opening plenary this afternoon brought greetings from the Korean Host Committee chair, the mayor of Busan, His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, and Pope Francis. The plenary concluded with a wonderful artistic presentation about the history of Korea and the Korean church. This was also a highlight for me.

Then we moved into the business plenary - reports from the moderator and general secretary, and then referring some other reports to Assembly committees for closer examination.

Ready to get down to business...

One of these reports is dealing with the public statements that the Assembly will make on certain issues. The list is interesting - things like the Christian presence in the Middle East and peace on the Korean peninsula. Delegates brought forward their own issues as well - climate justice and nuclear energy (particularly in light of the disaster in Japan) were a few that were mentioned. It will be interesting to see what statements come out of this work - stay tuned!

Now back at the hotel, getting ready for tomorrow. These are long days! Will try and keep up with the blog, but sleep may call... I'll do my best :).

More bibimbap for lunch today

Cries and Hopes from North America

Lord, have mercy on us,

for we mine the resources of our own lands and those of the south,

leaving in our wake environmental devastation.

Christ, have mercy on us,

for we demand cheap goods,

heedless of the sweatshops and child labour required to serve our selfishness.

Lord, have mercy on us,

for we are addicted to a culture of violence,

numbing ourselves to the increasing number of victims at home and abroad.

Hear our cries.

Grant us hope.