By Munetsi Madakufamba
Delegates attending
the 8th assembly of the World Council of Churches in Harare converged in the
Worship Tent yesterday to mark the official recommitment churches in the 50th
anniversary year of the council.
After greetings from the worship leader, delegates were welcomed by region with hymns that
had some relevance to their places of origin.
The delegates then took turns to call for unity, saying that as Christians from the
different parts of the world, "we give thanks that the triune God has drawn our
churches closer together in faith and life , witness and service".
The largest delegation was from Europe, followed by North America and Africa. The other
regions were presented as Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean and the
Pacific.
Perhaps the most colourful introduction was that from Africa, which was marked by dancing
and ululating as the worshippers sang a Shona hymn, "Uyai Mweya" with the
powerful marimba in the background.
In celebrating the anniversary, delegates reaffirmed the WCC as "a fellowship of
churches which confess the Lord Jesus as God and Saviour according to the scriptures and
therefore seek to fulfil together their common calling to the glory of the one God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit".
The vision of the church was given as one bound by the biblical verse, "There is one
Body, one Spirit, just as you were called to one and the same hope. There is one Lord, one
faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all, over all, through all and within
all."
Church leaders exchanged crosses to underline their shared vision for the ecumenical
movement. "We long for the oneness of the body of Christ, affirming the gifts of all,
young and old, women and men, lay and ordained," they said. "We open ourselves
for a culture of dialogue and solidarity, sharing life with strangers and seeking
encounter with those of other faiths."
After the gospel reading and an affirmation of togetherness, all participants received
crosses crafted by a young Zimbabwean to mark the people’s work towards unity. In
front of them stood a giant teak cross carved by another Zimbabwean artist and depicting
the sufferings, liberation and spirituality of Africa.
Concluding the worship, people recommitted themselves in the 50th anniversary year
"to strengthen the World Council of Churches, as a truly ecumenical fellowship,
fulfilling the purposes for which it was founded -- to the glory of the triune God".
