Site
Contents
 |
General Information about the Area Office
North Indiana Conference Office
South Indiana Conference Office
Prayer Guides
(Courtesy of the NIC Prayer Team)
Area United Methodist
Foundation
For resources to assist your congregation in welcoming guests,
click here
Seashore District Volunteer Center VIM project -- Completed
Hoosier United Methodist News Archives
| Hoosier United Methodists together |
February 2006 |
United Methodists can follow WCC assembly from home
By Linda Bloom
A UMNS Report
Those who aren't attending the 2006 assembly of the World Council of Churches in Porto Alegre, Brazil, can still learn about the issues and follow the action from home.
More than 3,000 participants - representing nearly all Christian traditions, including Methodism, and all geographic regions - are expected to gather Feb. 14-23 at the Catholic Pontifical University. The assembly theme is "God, in your grace, transform the world."
To mark the beginning of the assembly, the Rev. Samuel Kobia, a Methodist from Kenya and the WCC's chief executive, is inviting "churches, communities and Christians in all places to pray together" on Sunday, Feb. 12.
He encourages continuing prayer throughout the assembly period "so that the Spirit of God will come upon us and guide our work during that time, and to offer solidarity and support for the event and the proposals and vision which will emerge from the gathering."
A brochure on the Feb. 12 "Assembly Sunday," ideas for prayer and worship, and materials for reflection on the assembly theme are available in five languages online at www.wcc-assembly.info, the WCC's official assembly Web site.
Church members also can access that Web site to learn more about the issues and concerns, such as church unity, economic justice and religious plurality that assembly representatives will discuss. Program documents, prayers, Bible studies, news stories and feature articles are being posted on the assembly site.
During the assembly itself, video summaries and live Web-casts of plenary sessions are planned, as well as an e-news service open to the public.
In a project related to the assembly, church members around the world can take advantage of "Keeping the Faith," an integrated communication project. It includes a mobile exhibit, photo essays, a book and a Web site.
According to the WCC, the project elements "explore the reality of the living church in various cultural contexts throughout the oikoumene (global community): the reality of people, their faith and their communities, engaging in dialogue, working in mission, praying together, facing conflict and violence, poverty and illness, and responding to a rapidly changing world."
The mobile exhibit will be on display during the assembly and available for WCC partners to use in upcoming years.
To see the current postings, visit www.keeping-the-faith.info, the project Web site.
Linda Bloom serves as a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.
Last updated on 25 Apr 2008