Indianapolis - Disciples General Minister and President, the Rev. Wm. Chris Hobgood, and Council on Christian Unity President, the Rev. Robert Welsh, met recently with key religious leaders of the World Council of Churches in the Ecumenical Center in Geneva and within the Vatican in Rome. These conversations reaffirmed a strong and mutual commitment to an ecumenical vision for the future of the overall church's mission, witness, service, and evangelism in the changing world of the 21st century.
The agenda for the World Council of Churches meetings, March 23 to 25, included exploring the growing relationships in programs of overcoming violence, faith and order, mission and evangelism, and ecumenical formation. It became clear that these global contacts offer significant opportunities for Disciples to expand their witness in relation to the serious threats of division, both within the church and in our world. The highlight of the visit to the WCC was a three-hour conversation with new WCC General Secretary, Dr. Samuel Kobia. Kobia, the first African to hold this position, brought fresh perspectives and insights while discussing his vision for the ecumenical movement for the coming years.
The Geneva visit also included meetings with the Rev. Setri Nyomi, General Secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Rev. Ishmael Noko, General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation. These conversations underscored the importance of maintaining contacts with world confessional families as important partners to Disciples of Christ in our ecumenical vocation and common global witness.
Hobgood and Welsh then traveled on March 26 to 28 to Rome where there were three significant elements to their visit:
First, they met with the staff of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity led by Cardinal Walter Kasper. Discussed was the continuing international dialogue between Disciples of Christ and the Roman Catholic Church;
Second, a conversation was held with staff in the Pontifical Council on Justice and Peace;
And most significantly, they had a private audience with Pope John Paul II.
Reflecting upon the conversations, Welsh stated that these meetings affirmed "the shared commitment of our churches to manifesting the gift of unity in Christ as a common goal for the whole ecumenical movement."
Msgr. John Mutiso-Mbinda, of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, served as host to Hobgood and Welsh during their time in Rome.
One unexpected common thread running throughout the entire visit was the encounter of African Christians who are playing major leadership roles in the global ecumenical movement today: Kobia (WCC), Nyomi (WARC), Noko (LWF), and Mutiso-Mbinda (RCC). Each of these leaders represents the dynamic shift taking place in the growth of Christianity on the continent of Africa during the 20th-century. Hobgood, who spent the first 15 years of his life in the Congo as the child of Disciples missionaries, shared an immediate connection with these leaders and acknowledged that some 30 years ago he anticipated Africa becoming central to the life and vitality of Christianity worldwide.
In reflecting upon this official visit to the Ecumenical Center and to the Vatican, Hobgood expressed, "I am grateful for what Disciples historian Mark Toulouse had called 'the ecumenical principle' in our life. It means that we step beyond telling others to become like us. We join others at the table, knowing that we bring certain important gifts to that table, and they do as well. The visits we have made in Geneva and Rome have helped me see, in new ways, the nature of that table. The openness of other traditions to dialogue and mutual ministry is a sign of God's action!"