WCC Presidents release Pentecost 2005 Message

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has released a statement to guide the worldwide Church prior to Pentecost.

"Grace and peace to you on this Feast of Pentecost 2005, in which we celebrate the many gifts of God's Spirit," said the Presidents of the World Council of Churches (WCC) for this year's Pentecost.

The WCC wished to express that through the immeasurable love and grace of the Creator, Christ has been revealed to us "all in all" and at the time of Pentecost.

"God's mercy is more profound than we can imagine. God is more open than we have ever envisioned. God is more loving that we can conceive."

The WCC told how Apostle Paul exhorted to us in Romans 12:1, "Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship."

This spring, during the time of Pentecost, the World Council of Churches and ecumenical partners from a wide variety of traditions and movements are gathering at the Conference on World Mission and Evangelism in Athens, Greece under the theme "Come Holy Spirit, Heal and Reconcile!"

The 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches will carry the theme 'God in Your Grace, Transform the World', will be held from 14-23 February 2006 in Porto Alegre, Brazil, delegates and visitors from all around the world are invited to join.


WCC Presidents:

Dr Agnes Abuom, Nairobi, Kenya
Rt Rev. Jabez L. Bryce, Suva, Fiji
H.E. Chrysostomos, Metropolitan of the Senior See of Ephesus, Istanbul,Turkey
H.H. Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Damascus, Syria
Rev. Dr Bernice Powell Jackson, Cleveland, USA
Dr Kang Moon Kyu, Seoul, Korea
Bishop Federico J. Pagura, Rosario, Argentina
Bishop Eberhardt Renz, Tübingen, Germany