A large contingent of folks from the PROK just got back from the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Karlsruhe, Germany, where they had gathered from Aug. 31st to Sept. 8th under the theme, “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity.” It has been almost nine years since the last General Assembly in Busan (South Korea), so this was a significant event.
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| Delegates at the Assembly (WCC 11th Assembly, Karlsruhe, Germany 2022: Albin Hillert/WCC ) |
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| "Christ's love moves the world to reconciliation and unity" (WCC 11th Assembly, Karlsruhe, Germany 2022: Albin Hillert/WCC) |
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| In this photo: Ms. Patti Talbot from the United Church of Canada (centre) and Rev. Kim ChangJu< General Secretary of the PROK (right) (WCC 11th Assembly, Karlsruhe, Germany 2022: Albin Hillert/WCC) |
I followed the event closely because the PROK, along with several of its partners in Korea, is keenly interested in what goes on at the WCC. Koreans know that there can be no peace on the Korean peninsula without the involvement and participation of the whole world. Hence they are eager to participate in any ecumenical forum that allows them to draw the attention of the world to the plight and suffering of Korea. For this reason, the Korean Peace Appeal of the National Council of Churches of Korea (NCCK) had a prominent presence at the Assembly. At the same time, Korean churches are also extremely sensitive to issues of war, militarism and injustice elsewhere in the world, and they are eager to contribute to peace anywhere in the world, in any way they can. They understand first hand that what affects one affects us all.
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| Korean Peace Appeal Booth at the WCC Assembly (WCC 11th Assembly, Karlsruhe, Germany 2022: Paul Jeffrey/WCC) |
(Nevertheless, there is a little bit of irony in that most Christians in Korea do not belong to churches that are members of the WCC. Like all things in Korea, it is contentious. Such is the reality on the ground. All the more reason, then, to pray for peace on the Korean peninsula!)
For me, being so far away—8644 km away on the other side of the world—the highlight was a special Monday night prayer service for peace and reunification that was hosted by the PROK for WCC delegates at St. Stephen Church in Karlsruhe on the evening of September 5th. The service was modelled on the weekly prayer services for peace and reunification that the PROK has been holding every Monday since 2014. Drawing inspiration from the prayer services held in the former East Germany during the 1980’s that eventually led to the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the PROK has pledged to keep holding these prayer services every Monday until peace has truly been achieved on the Korean peninsula. Indeed, this special service was the 269th. As Rev. HaekJip Na emphasized in his words at the service, the church keeps holding these Monday prayer meetings "not because of our strength and ability but because of the conviction that we can achieve peace with the help of God.”
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| (MD2_0631: Mike DuBose/WCC) |
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| (MD2_0633: Mike DuBose/WCC) |
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| Moderator of the PROK, Rev. EunKyung Kim blesses the elements (MD2_0572: Mike DuBose/WCC) |
Also, check out these photos from the Christian Broadcasting Service (CBS) in Korea:
https://file2.nocutnews.co.kr/newsroom/image/2022/09/06/202209061620038602_0.jpg
https://file2.nocutnews.co.kr/newsroom/image/2022/09/06/202209061627302617_0.jpg
You can see a news clip (in Korean) on the service from CBS here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fELZeK2LEPk
Having attended many of the Monday night prayer services in Seoul during the last few months, I felt a close connection, even though I was on the other side of the planet. Here is a video clip from one of the services that took place earlier this year.
On full display at these services, front and centre, is usually a small wooden cross that I find particularly captivating. On this cross is affixed a map of the undivided Korea, hanging in the place of Jesus. I am always struck by the symbolism of this cross when I see it. If there is one image that comes into my mind that captures what my work here in Korea is all about, this is it: a Korea that has been crucified, a Korea that is still even now hanging on the cross.
Just as an aside, my own contribution to the Assembly was to participate in a consultation hosted by the World Communion of Reformed Churches here in Seoul in June. The WCRC is a different organization from the WCC but most of the member churches of WCRC are also members of the WCC. At this consultation, folks from various churches which are part of the Reformed church family from around the world came together for three days to hammer together a response to the theme of the WCC Assembly. Each of us came into this consultation from our own local circumstances—various situations of struggle and challenge—and as we came together, as we started to share with each other about our situations and struggles, and as we listened to each other’s perspectives so as to discern the presence of God in these circumstances, we slowly crafted together a reflection on the WCC theme, “the love of Christ moves the world to reconciliation and unity.”
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| WCRC consultation is Seoul, June 2022 |
Sharing in this exercise was a powerful reminder to me that participating in the church is a whole-wide relationship. What affects one affects us all. Often we connect to the church in our local circumstances and we are unaware that this connects us with folks all across the globe who are also living and struggling in their own situations. But the church is a body throughout the whole world that brings us into unity and relationship. From our local circumstances to the whole world, Christ moves us towards reconciliation and unity. So I ask you today, even as you live and struggle in your own situation, please pray with me for peace on the Korean peninsula, because what affects one affects us all.
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