World Council of Churches Office of Communication Press Release 150 route de Ferney, P.O. Box 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland E-mail: media | |||
CENTRAL COMMITTEE 1999 No. 18
WITH AN EYE TOWARDS QUOTAS AND BALANCE, WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES NAMES MEMBERS OF COMMISSIONS AND ADVISORY COMMITTEES | |||
The Central Committee took its action during the closing days of its meeting in Geneva August 26 - 3. September. It was the intent of the nominating committee that the committees include 25 percent Orthodox, 50 percent women and 20 percent youth, along with a balance from the various parts of the world and from among the WCC's 336 member churches. "We came close," said Clifton Kirkpatrick, a Presbyterian from the United States of America, moderator of the nominating committee, as Central Committee members carefully analyzed the slate of candidates searching for balance. In several cases, when churches proposed alternate candidates for committee membership, the matter was turned over to the WCC Executive Committee, which will make the final decision. All those nominated, must have the endorsement of the church body to which they belong. The Commissions to which persons were nominated, along with the one named moderator of the commission, are: Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, The Rev. Ruth Bottoms of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, moderator. Nominations were also made for the Faith and Order Commission, a group which includes participants from the Roman Catholic Church; and for the WCC's Joint Working Group with the Roman Catholic Church.
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 336, in more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly, which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany. |