World Ecumenical Head to Lead Delegation on Taiwan Visit

The World Council of Churches (WCC) General Secretary, Rev Dr Samuel Kobia, will lead an ecumenical delegation on a visit of Taiwan from 23 to 26 November, following an invitation made by the Presbyterian Church of Taiwan (PCT), which is the WCC member church in the country.

During its four-day visit, the delegation will meet with PCT leadership and staff, and attend a public meeting at the Taiwan Theological College and Seminary where Kobia will address the public on the topic of "The spirit and basic concerns of the ecumenical movement and the interactive relationship between ecumenism and spirituality".

On 24 November, the delegation will stay overnight in a rural indigenous community/congregation and, the next day, visit an urban indigenous community/congregation before returning to Taipei where Kobia is scheduled to deliver the sermon at a Sunday worship service.

The ecumenical delegation accompanying the WCC General Secretary is composed of Rev Dr Tyrone Pitts (WCC central committee member, general secretary of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, USA); Rev Dr Seong-Won Park (WCC central committee member, from the Presbyterian Church of Korea, South Korea); Rev Fr Gabriel Papanicolaou (ecumenical officer of the Church of Greece); Dr Mathews George Chunakara (WCC Asia secretary); and, as a communications consultant to the delegation, Rev Deborah DeWinter (WCC programme executive for the United States).