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may at all times urge their leaders to draw the wisdom that they need for their decisions and actions from the source of divine wisdom, so that a fraternal consensus may be strengthened between the churches, and that they may really listen to the voice of conscience of all men of good will.

On the twentieth anniversary of the CCIA the best thing that one can wish for it may be expressed in the words of the Apostle Peter, “Seek peace and pursue it” (I Peter 3.11).

Translated from the Russian.

THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES AND PEACE

An emerging movement for peace and justice

bY

0. FREDERICK NOLDE

The World Council of Churches, in its very existence, offers a dis- tinctive contribution to better international relations. Its membership crosses frontiers of race and nationality and in many instances its activ- ities, fully justified in their own right, take on added significance when viewed in the perspective of international affairs.

Service to refugees and to people in areas of acute human need, as well as various forms of inter-church aid, not only help to alleviate suffering but also, in transcending barriers and at times penetrating curtains, contribute to the solidarity of the whole human family.

The missionary enterprise, while moving faith and fellowship to wider geographical areas, has reached beyond the limits of the Christian family in contributing to an international ethos and in providing pioneers in such technical assistance programmes as education, medicine, agri- culture and community welfare.

Various studies, as in rapid social change and in those relating to the World Conference on Church and Society, not only assist in a more penetrating understanding of problems but also stimulate responsible action for their solution.

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The exchange of thought and experience in faith and order, designed to enable an ever fuller apprehension of God’s gift of unity, involves Christians of different backgrounds and cultures, and increasingly seeks to establish on theological grounds the responsibility for a witness to the world of nations.

Programmes of action relating to youth, to men and women, and to evangelism reach to the far corners of the earth, or bring together leaders for quiet consultation on problems commonly faced, as in the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey.

The dissemination of information about what is happening in the World Council of Churches, in the member churches, and in various sectors of life throughout the world is the means whereby facts and events can be understood, distances shrunk, and experiences of fellowship, both vicarious and direct, facilitated.

The first battle-line of the World Council of Churches in its offence against war and injustice is drawn in these far-flung programmes rooted in the faith and action of its constituent members. It is on this back- ground that the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs seeks to relate the common ecumenical witness to specific international problems.

One cannot gainsay the contention that an effective way to influence affirmatively the course of world events is to have more people with spiritual motivation and professional competence in strategic positions of government, industry, labour, education, and the like. In fact, much more should be done in encouraging men and women to see the sacred in the secular, and to find vocation accordingly.

While fully endorsing this approach to the release of spiritual power for peace, the CCIA seeks to make a corporate impact in behalf of the churches. The programme of activities which it has developed over the years may be marked by five characteristics.

(1) Since international issues are highly complex, the process of relating Christian truth to them requires technical skill and extensive study. Oversimplification is dangerous. Shibboleths, slogans and vague peace generalizations often do more harm than good. The agency of the churches assigned responsibility in the field of international affairs should be composed of people who are motivated by Christian faith but who also have the competence to ensure that any proposal advanced will command the respectful consideration of government and intergovern- mental officials.

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(2) Periodic conferences or meetings of the churches are valuable in shaping policy and in arousing public sentiment, but an effective contribution to peace requires a programme which can function virtually every day of the year. Issues of war and peace do not readily accommo- date themselves to the schedule of church conferences or councils.

(3) Resolutions or pronouncements indicate the direction which should be followed and may take on general educational value, but if they are to become politically influential they must be explained and registered at the time and place of international political decision. Moreover, they must be kept relevant to the level of immediate negotia- tion and thus will require adjustment in face of the particular obstacles encountered at any given moment. It is not enough, for example, to say “testing should cease.” Many a government official would reply, “I agree, but how do it ?” It is necessary for the representatives of the churches to get down into the arena where the battle for peace in any particular is currently being fought and to help break an impasse there or advance’ the cause on that front until a new battle line for peace is drawn.

(4) Formal responsibility for representation in international affairs perforce rests upon a limited number of technically trained officials. A similar situation obtains in the responsibilities which the churches delegate in work with refugees and displaced persons, the sick, orphans, victims of disaster, and the like. However, if the work of an organi- zation for peace is to continue and is to be effective, it must rely upon the prayers and support of an informed constituency. While some progress in this respect has been made over the last fifteen years, much remains to be done to build a system which can move swiftly as demanded by international events but will also in fact constitute a witness evangelical in its motivation and democratic in its procedure.

(5) There is a fifth characteristic which is barely discernible in formal fashion and is only beginning to emerge - especially from the stand- point of the World Council of Churches and the Roman Catholic Church. The ninth Aim in the CCIA Charter reads : “To concert from time to time with other organizations holding similar objectives in the advance- ment of particular ends.” The adoption and promulgation of the Decree “De Oecumenismo” by the Roman Catholic Church opened the way for fuller cooperation. The Central Committee of the World Council of Churches formally proposed at Enugu, Nigeria, in January 1965, after

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prior consultation with the Vatican, that a mixed working group be established. Among the subjects to be considered is “practical collabora- tion in the fields of philanthropy, social and international affairs.” Cardinal Bea, in the course of his visit to the headquarters of the World Council at Geneva in February 1965, formally announced the Vatican’s acquiescence in this proposal. A Joint Working Party has now been established. The way is thus being opened to cooperation of two great but differing communities and, perhaps in due course, to cooperation with all men of good will, including those who profess other faiths or those who profess no faith at all.

LOVE, JUSTICE AND RACE

by

ALAN PATON

Evanston, 1954, is something that will never be forgotten by me, for there the churches of the world made clear in unequivocal words what they considered to be the Christian ethic in regard to all questions of race.

I write this article today from a country the majority of whose white Christians reject the Evanston statement. They are intensely suspicious of the ecumenical movement, and the most extreme of them regard the World Council of Churches as communist-infiltrated. It is going to be increasingly difficult for the ecumenically minded churches in South Africa to recruit ministers from outside, or even to exchange parishes with them. Such ministers are frankly unwelcome in South Africa.

The reason for this is simple. Christians (not all, of course) from outside are trying to reach out over race barriers, and want to learn to know their fellow-Christians of other races and tongues. But, here in South Africa it is race and language differences that must be preserved in the areas of politics, education, housing, employment, sex and even in the areas of sport and entertainment. These differences are preserved by legislation, and this legislation has the support of the majority of white Christians. They regard the reaching out over race barriers as