Taiwan Church News 2857 27 November 2006 |
High Level WCC Delegation Visits Taiwan
Taiwan Church News 2857ˇ@27 NovemberˇV3 December 2006 |
Dr. Samuel R. Kobia, the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) led a delegation of six in a visit to Taiwan from 23 to 26 November. He said that his visit had given the WCC secretariat a clearer understanding of the Taiwan context, and encouraged all member WCC churches to visit this land. The WCC, he said, views all of its member communions equally, and that includes the churches of both Taiwan and China. Dr. Kobia and his companions participated in a meeting with member church representatives of the National Council of Churches in Taiwan on November 23rd. At that meeting he took note of the membership of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) in the life of the WCC since its founding in 1951 and of the churchˇ¦s active role in world evangelism since that time. He welcomed other church groups in Taiwan to become WCC members as well, because, ˇ§The ecumenical movement is open to all.ˇ¨ On the morning of the 24th the delegation went to Taiwan Theological College in Taipei where they took part in a seminar on the topic of spiritual formation and social concern. Moderator Chen Yu-chuan offered his welcome to the overseas friends. In response, Dr. Kobia asserted the priority of his organization for the visible unity of the church in all the world, and expressed a hope that good relationships between churches might be based in Christ. He offered his organization as a level place for discussion between all members. As we face challenges and changes around the world, churches should take the role of bridges. The WCC prays that all churches might be united and meet the challenges through witness to the gospel. Spiritual formation and holistic mission, he said, are both important projects, and in the PCT he has seen the fruit of work done in these directions. He suggested that the WCC could learn much from the PCT. The seminar was followed by a luncheon hosted by the ecumenical committee of the PCTˇ¦s General Assembly. Professor Cheng Ming-min pointed out t an error in the WCC handbook wherein Taiwan is described as part of China. He offered a protest to this statement, and asked for an explanation. Former PCT General Secretaries Yang Si-shou and William J. K. Lo joined Taiwan Bible Society General Secretary Lai Chun-ming and others to press the WCC on the truth behind the assertion. They said that Taiwan and China are separate nations, but Taiwan was suffering pressure from China, which prevented this nationˇ¦s participation in the United Nations and UN related agencies such as the World Health Organization. As an agency founded on Christian Faith, the WCC should demonstrate concern and understanding regarding Justice and Peace in Taiwan and the region, they said, and support Taiwanˇ¦s participation in the world community. The WCC, they asserted, should not maintain a ˇ§One China Policyˇ¨ under which Taiwan becomes absorbed into its neighbour. Dr. Kobia admitted that the handbook was in error regarding Taiwan as part of China, and offered sincere apologies. He explained that the handbook had been edited by a staff member who got information from the internet and did not verify it before going to press. He assured those present that the error would be corrected before the next edition sees print. The WCC delegation explained the origin of the organizationˇ¦s ˇ§One China Policyˇ¨. Dr. Mathews George, from India, who serves as the WCCˇ¦s Asia Regional Secretary, said that in the Church of Christ of China was invited to participate in the WCC in the 1980ˇ¦s, but initially declined. In discussions held between 1984 and 1991 the Chinese Church made clear that without a clear One China Policy, it would not participate. In 1991, at an Assembly held in Australia, Bishop K. H. Ting persuaded the WCC to accept such a policy, and the Chinese Church joined. Kobia opined that the problems between Taiwan and China pertain to international relations. Because the WCC is a religious and gospel organization, he said,it does not recognize political boundaries, but invites churches, not nations, into membership.? Rev. Tyrone Pitts, an American Baptist, said that in the Washington D.C. region where he lives, it is well known that Taiwan has a representative office, not an embassy. He said the situation is one of alienation, because the WCC members wanting to visit Taiwan have to take into consideration the relations of Taiwan internationally. But he promised to take matters up at the WCCˇ¦s next Assembly (an event which happens once every seven years). Concluding the meeting with the ecumenical committee, Dr. Kobia said that he took three issues with him. The first is that the WCC is willing to serve as a level discussion platform for the churches of Taiwan and China in the hope that a dialogue might someday take place between them. The next point was that the WCC will encourage all of its member churches to learn about and understand Taiwanˇ¦s context. Last of all, he indicated a willingness to have the Taiwan question openly discussed in WCC meetings. The visit did not conclude with the luncheon, but continued for two more days, during which the WCC delegation visited aboriginal churches in Central Taiwan to learn about the conditions faced in mountain areas by the local aboriginal people who dwell there. The delegation stayed in local hostelries, ate aboriginal food, and early one morning viewed the sunrise over Taiwanˇ¦s central mountain range. On the 25th they visited Chang Shan Presbyterian Church in Chang-hwa, the membership of which is composed of Aboriginal people from many different tribes who have taken up residence in that city. On the morning of November 26th the delegation participated in worship at Chi-nan Presbyterian Church in Taipei, where Dr. Kobia delivered the sermon. He commented on Taiwanˇ¦s free and democratic atmosphere, and promised that prayers for Taiwan would be part of the life of the WCC in the future. In private comments made to PCT General Secretary Chang Te-chien, Dr. Kobia said that his visits to China and Taiwan in quick succession had impressed on him the differences between the two countries, and that from his visits to the Aboriginal districts and churches in Taiwan he had seen the true life of this nationˇ¦s church. For more information:
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