Uppsala 1968, Catching Light, by Muriel Schmidt
Picture it, Uppsala 1968! Fifty years ago, in July 1968, the nascent World Council of Churches (WCC) held its fourth Assembly in Sweden. Under the heading, Behold, I make all things new (Revelation 21:5), this Assembly was riding the wave of Vatican II, welcoming Catholic observers for the first time and gathering 235 churches, the highest number of members at that time, with 702 delegates.
In January, we commemorated the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination; less noted though, July of this year marked the 50th anniversary of the WCC’s Assembly in Uppsala. Not the same impact one could easily explain; however, there is a deep-running thread between these two events. On July 7, 1968, James Baldwin spoke to the WCC’s Assembly about racism, social justice, and Christian responsibility. Martin Luther King Jr. had been scheduled to deliver the sermon at the Assembly’s worship; after his assassination, the WCC invited James Baldwin instead. Since Baldwin was not a preacher, but a novelist, his speech took place during one of the sessions.
Uppsala 1968
Friday, August 3, 2018 by Muriel Schmid in Catching Light, News & Press
Picture it, Uppsala 1968! Fifty years ago, in July 1968, the nascent World Council of Churches (WCC) held its fourth Assembly in Sweden. Under the heading, Behold, I make all things new(Revelation 21:5), this Assembly was riding the wave of Vatican II, welcoming Catholic observers for the first time and gathering 235 churches, the highest number of members at that time, with 702 delegates.
In January, we commemorated the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination; less noted though, July of this year marked the 50th anniversary of the WCC’s Assembly in Uppsala. Not the same impact one could easily explain; however, there is a deep-running thread between these two events. On July 7, 1968, James Baldwin spoke to the WCC’s Assembly about racism, social justice, and Christian responsibility. Martin Luther King Jr. had been scheduled to deliver the sermon at the Assembly’s worship; after his assassination, the WCC invited James Baldwin instead. Since Baldwin was not a preacher, but a novelist, his speech took place during one of the sessions.
1968 was messy: mass student protests in Europe and the U.S., Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War, nuclear threat, Cold War, Prague Spring, Apartheid in South Africa… The Assembly was clear, Christianity needed to take part in the struggle. Willem A. Visser t’ Hooft, WCC’s first general secretary, set the tone right away:
A Christianity which has lost its vertical dimension has lost its salt, and it is not only insipid but useless for the world; but a Christianity which would use the vertical dimension as means to escape from its responsibility in the common life of man is a denial of the incarnation of God’s love for the world manifested in Christ.
In response, Baldwin’s speech resounded like a cry for hope:
Christianity still has the power to move the world if it will. It still has the power to change the structure of South Africa, to prevent the assassination of another Martin Luther King, to force my country to stop dropping bombs on southeast Asia.
The Assembly benefited for the first time from an extensive media coverage, hosting approximately 700 journalists and staging an open-air televised worship. This media coverage gave a huge momentum to the Assembly’s message, in ways that were then totally new.
One direct outcome of this unprecedented event was the creation of the WCC’s Program to Combat Racism (PCR). Through this initiative, the WCC took very courageous, and therefore often controversial, stands against Apartheid and any forms of racism that plagued the 70s, the 80s, the 90s… For the 40th anniversary of the Uppsala Assembly, The Guardian ran an article about the impact of the PCR and declared that it “eventually changed much thinking in the churches and to some degree in wider western society. It made European and north American societies look at themselves, and some churches and national councils set racial justice initiatives.”
I came across Baldwin’s speech at the WCC’s 4th Assembly by chance. I didn’t know anything about this history of the WCC and how prophetic its voice had been in a time of turmoil and violence everywhere. I am deeply admirative and grateful for it! To those who haven’t heard much about the WCC, I always describe it as the United Nations of the churches. But I know that the U.N. doesn’t have the best rating in the U.S. and the comparison may actually undermine the prophetic and powerful work that the WCC has done since its very inception in 1948: for 70 years now, it has put forth, incessantly, a renewed vision of the world. Last June, the WCC celebrated its 70th anniversary and welcomed Pope Francis at its headquarters in Geneva, an enduring sign of Christian unity in a new time of turmoil!
Christianity still has the power to move the world if it will… Does it? Or are we sold to other powers? Where is our prophetic voice? Sometimes individuals are scared or isolated and cannot resist by themselves; part of the church’s responsibility in its struggle for justice, I believe, is to provide a safe space for the most vulnerable and a voice for the voiceless; and an international entity makes it stronger. Where is our Christian vision, beyond divisions, for a future that welcomes everyone and loudly denounces injustice? How will you ask your church to incarnate it?
Behold!
Read the rest of the blog post here.
Somehow the highest praise of God is not in speaking unintelligibly but, rather, in speaking a language of inclusion where barriers are dismantled, circles are widened, and no one is left outside.~Gregory Boyle, Barking to the Choir~
The second phase of our new JustFaith program, Living Justly – Caring for Each Other, is ready! We just released it on August 1. This phase invites participants to examine various forms of inequalities and inequities in the U.S. and explore their ability to make a difference. Is someone left outside of your community? Share your faith journey with others and find how together you can dismantle barriers of exclusion. To know more, visit our page.
Exclusive Opportunity! Be one of the first to receive Jack’s new Book!
Jack Jezreel, Founder and Senior Advisor of JustFaith Ministries, has a new book coming out on September 20. However, the book will be available to pre-order in the JustFaith Ministries bookstore throughout the month of August and you’ll receive it before it is available anywhere else in early September!
Be the first to have a copy of A New Way to Be Church: Parish Renewal from the Outside In.
Order today!
Who is the JustFaith Community?
“I am concerned about the poor in the international community. My prayer life has a larger focus for many issues including peace in our world, ecological issues and slavery issues. JustFaith is a terrific outreach – thank you.” Grace from Washington
“I took the very first JF session offered in our community in 2002 and it was 36 weeks. As soon as I was finished with the course, I started volunteering at our local soup kitchen . . . I love the work and the people I serve.” Ruth from Michigan
“My heart is open to the needs of the world and the injustices of the world. JustFaith started a journey of compassion for me and I continue to be committed to this journey.” Chris from Illinois
Join the community today!
Together we can make a better world.
Double the impact of your gift – members of the JFM community have joined together to match every dollar in new donations up to $45,000!
Please donate online or mail your gift to the address below.
JustFaith Ministries is seeking a new Development Manager and a newMarketing Manager. Please see the job announcements and descriptions for more information.
shared by our partners at Bread for the World
Lawmakers may have left Washington for August recess, but Bread’s powerful advocacy on these issues will greet members of Congress at home as our membership mobilizes for August recess in-district advocacy. Last year, Bread members used the recess to publish letters in local newspapers and met with over 35 members and their staff. We hope to surpass those numbers in 2018!
The first Maryknoll missioners in China had little understanding about the European and American cultural “shell” in which they packaged the good news. This caused many tensions. We didn’t have cultural or historical studies about the Chinese people, their culture, and history until the Vatican Council of 1961-1964 made it a priority for the Church to learn about the different cultures of its people around the world.
For the past 25 years, the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers have collaborated with Chinese bishops, the Vatican, and U.S. bishops to build bridges of understanding and friendship through the China Educators and Formators Project. The Maryknoll Society-sponsored project has brought about 150 Chinese priests and nuns to the United States to study at various seminaries and schools of theology and to be mentored by Maryknoll missioners.
Besides learning English, these young leaders of the Chinese Church learn, often for the first time, about changes in the Catholic Church since Vatican II. Some also study social work, pastoral counseling, and spiritual direction to respond to the needs of their people.
One graduate, Father Ren Da Hai (pictured on right), is now director of Jinde Charities, the first domestic Catholic NGO in China offering social services to the poor. Other graduates are now teachers, academic deans, rectors, spiritual directors, retreat house directors, superiors of congregations of nuns and bishops of the Church in China. It is truly a missionary work that the Maryknoll Founders would have been proud of if they were still with us.
For more information about the project, contact Maryknoll Father Tim Kilkelly at (914) 941-7590, x2804.
Upcoming JFM Graduate Immersions with Maryknoll
El Salvador
Nov 30 - Dec 9, 2018
Deadline: August 30, 2018
For more info - click here
For more JustFaith Ministries stories, visit our blogs:
JustFaith Ministries is a nonprofit organization that forms, informs, and transforms people of faith by offering programs and resources that sustain them in their compassionate commitment to build a more just and peaceful world.
The second phase of our new JustFaith program, Living Justly – Caring for Each Other, is ready! We just released it on August 1. This phase invites participants to examine various forms of inequalities and inequities in the U.S. and explore their ability to make a difference. Is someone left outside of your community? Share your faith journey with others and find how together you can dismantle barriers of exclusion. To know more, visit our page.
Jack Jezreel, Founder and Senior Advisor of JustFaith Ministries, has a new book coming out on September 20. However, the book will be available to pre-order in the JustFaith Ministries bookstore throughout the month of August and you’ll receive it before it is available anywhere else in early September!
Be the first to have a copy of A New Way to Be Church: Parish Renewal from the Outside In.
Order today!
Who is the JustFaith Community?
“I am concerned about the poor in the international community. My prayer life has a larger focus for many issues including peace in our world, ecological issues and slavery issues. JustFaith is a terrific outreach – thank you.” Grace from Washington
“I took the very first JF session offered in our community in 2002 and it was 36 weeks. As soon as I was finished with the course, I started volunteering at our local soup kitchen . . . I love the work and the people I serve.” Ruth from Michigan
“My heart is open to the needs of the world and the injustices of the world. JustFaith started a journey of compassion for me and I continue to be committed to this journey.” Chris from Illinois
Join the community today!
Together we can make a better world.
Double the impact of your gift – members of the JFM community have joined together to match every dollar in new donations up to $45,000!
Please donate online or mail your gift to the address below.
shared by our partners at Bread for the World
Advocacy Doesn’t Rest Because It’s August
At our Lobby Day in June, Bread members asked lawmakers to pass a bipartisan farm bill that protects the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and improves international food aid, and to co-sponsor the Global Food Security Reauthorization Act.Lawmakers may have left Washington for August recess, but Bread’s powerful advocacy on these issues will greet members of Congress at home as our membership mobilizes for August recess in-district advocacy. Last year, Bread members used the recess to publish letters in local newspapers and met with over 35 members and their staff. We hope to surpass those numbers in 2018!
Building Bridges with the Church in China shared by our partners at Maryknoll
This year 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers sending its first missioners to China.The first Maryknoll missioners in China had little understanding about the European and American cultural “shell” in which they packaged the good news. This caused many tensions. We didn’t have cultural or historical studies about the Chinese people, their culture, and history until the Vatican Council of 1961-1964 made it a priority for the Church to learn about the different cultures of its people around the world.
For the past 25 years, the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers have collaborated with Chinese bishops, the Vatican, and U.S. bishops to build bridges of understanding and friendship through the China Educators and Formators Project. The Maryknoll Society-sponsored project has brought about 150 Chinese priests and nuns to the United States to study at various seminaries and schools of theology and to be mentored by Maryknoll missioners.
Besides learning English, these young leaders of the Chinese Church learn, often for the first time, about changes in the Catholic Church since Vatican II. Some also study social work, pastoral counseling, and spiritual direction to respond to the needs of their people.
One graduate, Father Ren Da Hai (pictured on right), is now director of Jinde Charities, the first domestic Catholic NGO in China offering social services to the poor. Other graduates are now teachers, academic deans, rectors, spiritual directors, retreat house directors, superiors of congregations of nuns and bishops of the Church in China. It is truly a missionary work that the Maryknoll Founders would have been proud of if they were still with us.
For more information about the project, contact Maryknoll Father Tim Kilkelly at (914) 941-7590, x2804.
El Salvador
Nov 30 - Dec 9, 2018
Deadline: August 30, 2018
For more info - click here
For more JustFaith Ministries stories, visit our blogs:
- Catching Light: a blog by Muriel Schmid, Director of Programs
- Mosaic: a blog by Cory Lockhart
- Still in the Storm: a blog by Joe Grant
- In the Storm Still: a companion blog by Joe Grant
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