The assembly theme: conversations and Reflections from the pew

Ecumenical Review, The, July, 2004 by A.J. Finlay

Choosing a theme for a World Council of Churches assembly is not a straightforward task.

After all the criteria and processes have been decided, after many suggestions and variations of suggestions have been considered by committees, there comes a time when about 150 people of the central committee have to agree on what the theme will be. I always have concerns that when something as flexible as the use of words is left vulnerable to the input of a large and diverse group, it will be overwhelmed with options. Eventually, however, at the central committee meeting of 2003, there was agreement for the prayerful theme "God, in Your Grace, Transform the World".

Six months earlier, at the first meeting of the assembly planning committee, about twenty people had started to put forth ideas in hopes that something inspiring and energizing would result. I remember thinking that, whatever was chosen, I hoped it would be something that my children and friends in their thirties would look at and think, "I would like to be part of that event".

At this meeting some committee members were attracted to the spirit of the theme of the previous World Social Forum: "Another World Is Possible". It captured a sense of hope and action, vision and promise ... the very qualifies we wanted to bring to a Christian context. The committee also heard that Latin American theologians were interested in the word "grace" being incorporated into the theme. With these thoughts in mind, ideas came forward.

Over time many discussions and prayers took place, numerous suggestions passed through both the international and ecumenical filters. Then the question remained: After all these combinations and permutations, did the prayer that was finally chosen as our theme capture that vision for the future that we hoped for?

I am not a theologian, I am a volunteer lay person and I sit on the central committee of the World Council of Churches as the delegate from the Anglican Church of Canada. In that capacity I am also a member of the assembly planning committee for the WCC's ninth assembly in 2006. This article reflects on the assembly theme from that non-theological viewpoint and from within a mostly urban, pluralistic context.

I have tested out the theme "God, in Your Grace, Transform the World" with a variety of people in my Toronto network and beyond. It was not at all a "scientific" survey. Out of curiosity I questioned church acquaintances, young people, secular friends, people on the subway, family members and strangers sitting in churches. I wanted to know how they reacted to this theme. Did it interest them? Was it inspiring and intriguing or mundane and inaccessible? Were there practical applications for our pluralistic and rather secular Canadian cultural context?

As expected, my "survey" brought forth a variety of reactions to the theme. I shall synthesize what I have heard and illustrate with quotations from my contacts.

I begin with brief comments on the two main words in the theme, "grace" and "transformation". The second section raises the reservations and concerns some had for the wording of the theme. The third section highlights the positive responses to the theme and the final section reflects on some considerations for practical applications of the theme in churches. To illustrate these sections, quotations from those responding will be used frequently.

Grace and transformation

"Grace" is a word that is not easily defined by lay people and generally we use it carelessly in our North American culture. It has been diminished to imply elegance, refinement and dignity. It has lost some of the sense of being an unearned gift, a blessing, an act of clemency.

"Transformation" is a word recently heard more frequently in our culture, especially in the world of advertising and reality television, as in "to transform" one's body or one's financial situation or life-style. Regardless of this commercial aspect, transformation does have a sense not just of change but of change for the better.

Even with these cultural understandings there were some who were eloquent in their response to grace and transformation.

"Grace as serendipity is an experience of 'the other', unbidden, over which we have no control; it just happens and we are able to receive it. This is not grace as graceful, but more as graciousness, being given something for which there is no expectation from the giver. With the absence of grace from our society, the sense that everything comes with an expectation or that you have to work for everything and if you do not make the effort it will not happen, we end up with the antithesis of grace. We do so need grace."

"The word transform is so energizing, so totally hopeful and points to a concern that Christians and non-Christians could he asking for in this difficult time in history. A whole hearted transformation of our societal structures, attitudes, opinions on warfare and more is much needed. There are many possible workshop ideas for the entire globe in this word alone."