When I sent out a Brief earlier this week on Cardinal Kasper’s address to the WCC Assembly, what had caught my eye was his identification of Pentecostalism as a new challenge to ecumenical dialogue, given the vast complexity of the movement and the difficulty knowing with whom to talk. The relevance of that to Bridgefolk may not be obvious, but some scholars consider the 16th century Anabaptist movement to be the forerunner not only of groups like the Mennonites, but also to the 20th century Pentecostal movement.* One of our hopes for Bridgefolk is that it might contribute in some way to the wider ecumenical movement by developing a model of grassroots dialogue appropriate to churches like these in the so-called Free Church tradition.
Now comes a news release reporting on a speech by Ghanaian Pentecostal leader Dr. Michael Ntumy, welcoming closer ties not only between Pentecostals and WCC churches, but also with the Roman Catholic Church. Also reported is an analysis of developments in Latin America.
Gerald Schlabach
Bridgefolk Executive Director
info@bridgefolk.net
www.bridgefolk.net
*For more on these connections see the presentation I made at our first Bridgefolk conference in 2002, on “Globalization and ‘Catholicity-from-Below'” at http://www.bridgefolk.net/conferences/past/2002bridgefolk/schlabach/
World Council of Churches – News Release
Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release – 20/02/2006
EVANGELICAL AND PENTECOSTAL VOICES HEARD AT ASSEMBLY
More articles and free photos at
www.wcc-assembly.info
Evangelical and Pentecostal participants in the World Council of Churches 9th Assembly have welcomed better relationships with WCC churches and called for greater co-operation in the future.
Speaking to journalists on Monday February 20 were three leading evangelical figures. Rev. Geoff Tunnicliffe, international director and CEO of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), said that the WEA “parallel network” of 400m Christians identified with many of the WCC’s themes, such as work on HIV/AIDS, violence and poverty. Continue reading “Pentecostal leader at WCC welcomes closer ties with other Christian traditions”