Organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and hosted by the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order was held in Wadi El Natrun, Egypt, from October 24 to 28, gathering more than 400 participants from 100 countries under the theme "Where Now for Visible Unity?", and marking the 1,700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (325 AD).
Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, WCC general secretary, talked with China Christian Daily about the conference, the ongoing work of the WCC, artificial intelligence (AI), and the engagement of young people in the ecumenical movement.
China Christian Daily: Could you explain the significance of the Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order and its main outcomes for the global ecumenical movement?
Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay: If we look back 1,700 years, the Council of Nicaea sought theological consensus at a time when Christians were divided. It brought the majority of churches into a conversation where a theological consensus was established. It then allowed for churches to work together and not to make theological or doctrinal issues a basis for separation.
Today, we still face the challenges of differentiations in terms of theological readings and understanding, and different church traditions. Yet more recent documentation has shown us that we have more in common than what separates us, and new theological developments continue to foster Christian unity.
One of the most important things about the Christian faith is theology. Everything that we seek to do must be theologically undergirded. The conference we had in Egypt a few weeks ago was essential because, after 1,700 years, we were able to re-look at the Nicene Creed and ask, "How does that speak to us today?" and "What is the apostolic mission and faith, given to us today in the context in which we live, facing numerous different global challenges that were experienced then, 1,700 years ago, though some may still be the same?" This is precisely what this conference sought to do, and to ask, "What does unity mean for us today?" "How do Christians come together for visible unity?"
Another significance was that the conference took place on African soil for the first time. If we understand that Christianity has been shifted already to the Global South, the context of the Global South is important, as the conference itself carried forward the injections of the new contributions to theological discussions and understanding. These significant outcomes will continue to impact Christian understanding, faith, and unity in the years to come.
China Christian Daily: During the conference, there was a workshop, "Towards a Common Date for Easter," conducted on October 25. Has there reached a consensus been reached, or are there still debates about it?
Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay: There had been some good discussions, and we are now closer to coming to some agreement on it than we have ever been before. This celebration of 1,700 years of Nicaea prompted this reopening of the debate, which is not new. Churches have had a debate on the deviations in terms of the calendar dates due to their differences and could not come to a consensus on this, but all church traditions celebrated Easter on the same date this year, which created a further sense of inspiration to talk about this.
I feel optimistic about this particular debate. We energized this debate by webinars and produced a booklet titled "Towards a Common Date for Easter." I'm pleased that some churches are talking to us now about taking this further in some concrete way.
China Christian Daily: How can the theological dialogues of Faith and Order be made more relevant to churches that have developed in distinct contexts, such as China's post-denominational church experience?
Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay: It is the responsibility of our member churches and local churches to take our global theology experience and apply it to the local context. To contextualize it, we should ask, "What does this mean for us in our local context?" and "How does faith answer life's challenges in my context?" Local contexts often emphasize different things because the needs are different.
Likewise, in China, with regard to the experience of being post-denominational, which is an exceptional thing in the world, you've got to explore and understand how Christianity needs to grow in a different context where Christians are not in the biggest numbers.
Whilst the application may be different, usually by way of emphasis, the substance of the faith is always the same: that we believe about Jesus Christ, the Trinitarian God, and the substance what we believe about what Jesus achieved for us in terms of coming, dying, and setting us free, and giving us the gift of salvation and eternal life, etc.
We need to ask, "How do we take the substance and transmit that in an incarnational way?" Incarnational theology is the theology of Jesus coming into a context, being born into a context, and transforming that context.
China Christian Daily: As AI has evolved in recent years, how should today's theology respond to it?
Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay: AI is not a bad thing; it has real benefits in advancing human society and the world more effectively. The fact tells us that technology has helped us in many different ways, such as making our lives more effective, modernizing communication, and impacting medical care and assistance. AI has improved in many effective ways, including assisting with quick responses and attending to issues and information.
But the concern is, how do we approach this from ethical, theological, and moral perspectives? This is where the church comes in, and people of faith need to ask deep questions: when technology replaces human beings, what about human dignity, and how does that impact society and our lives themselves? For example, if many people are going to become unemployed because robots will do the job and AI more effectively, what does that mean for people's survival, economically, when it comes to the dignity of self-worth and value?
I do know that people who advance discussions on AI and technology often tell us that nobody will be unemployed, things will get better, and we will need people, but the fact of the matter is that many big corporations reduce the staff when technology takes the place of the work of two or three people in the past.
While technology can replace people, there are some things, such as emotions, feelings, and conversations, that are personal and intimate and still need to happen. That's where the church's ministry also becomes much more important in pastoral care and support.
China Christian Daily: You have spoken publicly about the need to renew the ecumenical movement and make it more relevant to churches in the Global South. In your view, what does WCC most need to renew today—structure, theology, or participation? Could you elaborate on specific changes in organization or operations to respond to this need?
Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay: We're living in difficult and challenging times, and I work in Geneva in the context of many international organizations with the changes in the climate of the world's experiences, the global crises, and the financial markets where we are finding ourselves. There's an absolute need for us to rethink ourselves and reorganize ourselves. WCC, like any other organization, has an impact in terms of thinking on structure, theology, and participation. We are going through some deep conversations about WCC structures to deal with the issue of relevance, effectiveness, and, more importantly, the issue of how we reach out and are in solidarity and connection with our member churches. Now, WCC speaks about a pilgrimage of justice, reconciliation, and unity. We don't go to tell people what to do, but we walk alongside people to be with them in their experience and to support them to rise from challenges, to address issues of suffering, and to prophetically address issues of injustices.
There are many theologies that are at play, and we call them "distorted theologies." We're having conversations about distorted theologies: how do we understand them? For example, some theologies propagate materialism and prosperity, or oppression and violence.
WCC also intentionally creates space for smaller churches, whether in numbers or in their contributions to our organization, to see how they, too, can have equal space and a platform within the council itself and its work. Our governance structures have criteria set for participation, which we try to meet as much as possible whenever we invite people to be part of the WCC structures.
China Christian Daily: WCC has long promoted climate justice and ecological theology. Given the economic pressures faced by developing countries, how do you see the tension between faith and development?
Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay: Faith is an absolute thing for development because our faith prompts us into development. In fact, my PhD research has been on the issue of the church and development. I was trying to say that faith is central to what we do, that when we are trying to transform structures, and when we're trying to develop society, and when we are trying to create a better world for all people.
That does not emerge just from lived experiences. More than that, it emerges from our faith base, which says—What is God saying about this? What does God call us to do? How does God want us to transform oppressive situations to make a better world for all people and all creation?
If this world is God's world, then faith must be the pivotal point and the central basis of what we do, why we do it, and how we do it. The faith in Jesus Christ is what leads us into the work that we do, the challenges that we face, the desire to create a new society, and the effort to preserve and protect creation and to ensure that others and other generations after us will be sustained. So, sustainable development is part of a faith experience, and that's what we do as the fellowship.
China Christian Daily: This conference has had a high participation of young people, especially the Global Ecumenical Theology Institute (GETI) students. Can you share more about WCC's emphasis on the younger generation?
Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay: WCC knows that if ecumenism is to be sustained, young people need to become emerging leaders of the ecumenical movement. There is a lot of investment in this. First, at the governance level, our criteria state that churches have to send young delegates. However, they often send senior church leaders. Then we appointed 18 young advisors to be present in the central committee. They don't have the decision-making opportunity, but they can participate and share their views on issues fully.
Young people are also intentionally invited to be part of our program activities wherever there are conferences. We invite young stewards from the local context and member churches to be part of that experience. For example, when we were in Egypt, the church sent 70 young people to serve as stewards. Many of them started to become interested in ecumenical work and asked questions about how they could get involved. They came to me personally and asked how they could participate in the work of WCC, and I shared with them what they could do.
There were about 80 young people who attended the GETI in Egypt, and they also joined us in the Sixth Conference on Faith and Order and brought out their voices. Nothing excites me more than seeing young people coming in and getting the passion to be involved in addressing world issues ecumenically.
China Christian Daily: In your speeches on faith, justice, and reconciliation, you often emphasize transformative change. Could you give an example of a recent WCC project that illustrates how unity leads to concrete, transformative outcomes?
Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay: For example, we use the consensus model for decision-making in the council: orange cards and blue cards. Orange cards indicate that representatives are warm proposals, while blue cards mean they are not. It is not a vote by majority because a simple majority can create more bitterness and hurt, and people feel that they have not been sufficiently heard.
The consensus model states that everybody has an equal opportunity to express their views, and decisions take more time when people can accept. The council has made difficult decisions, such as a decision on Palestine and Israel in Johannesburg, South Africa. The WCC's Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) offers participants from different parts of the world a life-transforming experience. The participants stay with us for three months in the field and leave totally transformed by what they experience. Recently, a group of people, who differed in their views about Israel and Palestine, were sent to Israel and Palestine for a two-week pilgrimage encounter. Their thinking was transformed through the experience and encounter.
Bringing people from 356 member churches to agree on something is no small task, but it's a good illustration of how transformation takes place and how our consensus can happen when people work together on difficult issues.
We've also seen transformation in the context of countries and changes that have taken place there. WCC played an instrumental role in addressing apartheid in South Africa and is even involved in strong Muslim countries, contributing to education and training. Our staff in Iraq is working with local sectors and transforming them by giving principles and guidelines for educational training for children and youngsters. Transformation is also taking place in society, individuals, and collective places where strongholds and thought patterns are being rethought in terms of positions.
We are only vessels and instruments, and the Holy Spirit is who we depend on to make that conversion and transform people so that they can exemplify Christ and live up to the values of the kingdom of God: justice, righteousness, peace, unity, and love.
