It is estimated more than 250 youth participants gathered to “connect, learn, share and see” how they might have an impact over the next two weeks.
A hugely diverse range of events were held including community-building, sharing in small “home groups”, regional meetings, daily prayers and Bible study, and preparation for the Assembly, as well as late-evening outings sponsored by local Brazilian youth groups.
Lara Blackwood, a steward from the Disciples of Christ in the United States said, “The community building piece really is the important one. For us to be able to be comfortable enough to speak (in this forum) can be hard. Having that community built so we don’t feel like we’re speaking alone is really empowering.”
The General Secretary of the WCC, Dr Samuel Kobia addressed the youth delegates in a packed auditorium, and shred his reflections on youth involvement within the WCC.
He said, “(The Assembly) can transform you, and you can transform the Assembly as well. Without young people, we cannot have the kind of challenge that has kept the ecumenical movement active and relevant.”
Placing the youth community as a core constituent of the WCC body, Kobia suggested goals of having youth elected as one or more of the regional presidents.
Enthusiastically, the youth participants greeted the challenge of having an impact on the main assembly and on the WCC as a whole. However, during discussions the more difficult question arose of how to do that? It was commented, “Changing a decades-old institution with a complex structure doesn’t happen easily.”
Alison Preston, a youth delegate from the Anglican Church of Australia said, “I’m hearing these words about renewal of the ecumenical movement, but I’m looking for a tangible framework for change and I’m not seeing it yet.”
Preston urged that it was time to reconsider a new structure for the WCC body to enter a new era. In addition, she told youth could play a lead role in that reconceptualising.
Highlighting models such as the Make Poverty History campaign, she said, “If we really are open to transformation, we could look to successful movements that have emerged in recent years. People worry that ecumenism itself might be dying, but it’s not - it’s just the form.”
Emerging from the youth gathering a call for a global representative from the youth community came about, with the representative serving as a WCC president. However, in the past this idea has often been reticent in various regions.
At the WCC Assembly, which commences today Feb. 14th, approximately 15 percent of delegates are expected to be youth, and 150 youth stewards will be assisting the operation of the historic event.
Daniel Blake
Christian Today Correspondent