World Church-In Brief
Diocesan Press Service. October 5, 1967 [58-5]
His All Holiness Athenagoras I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, will visit the World Council of Churches on November 6 and remain in Geneva until November 9, according to an announcement made by World Council officials.
Two concrete examples of cooperation between Anglicans and Roman Catholics in South Africa have been reported by the Swiss Roman Catholic press agency KIPA.
An agreement on the mutual recognition of baptism has been reached by the Anglican and the Catholic dioceses of Kimberley. and a new experiment in religious journalism has been started. Henceforth the board of editors of the Catholic monthly Kehilwanzane will be composed of three representatives of the Catholic Church and three Anglican clergymen.
One result of the consultation on faith and order questions sponsored by the Burma Christian Council was a unanimous recommendation that a negotiating committee be formed to work towards a United Church in Burma. The consultation, held September 1 and 2, heard papers on worship, communion, and ministry presented by an Anglican, a Baptist and a Methodist. Four groups then discussed the papers frankly and brought their findings to the whole body.
The World Council of Churches' Advisory Group on Urban and Industrial Missions, chaired by Anglican Bishop E. R. Wickham of Manchester, England, completed its third meeting in Milwaukee, Wise., in mid-September.
The Advisory Group, which is composed of urban planners, economists, sociologists, human relations experts and theologians, stated that "absolute priority for the mission of the churches must be given to urban issues. ... Aside from a few experiments scattered around the world, there is little evidence that the churches are taking urbanization seriously."
Six hundred delegates from 20 nations and almost every religious faith who met together in the first International Congress on Religion, Architecture and the Visual Arts agreed in general that, if they had their way, there would be few if any new churches or synagogues built in the next decade. "Hold everything," they seemed to be saying. "Let's stop building and start thinking."
The Rev. Scott T. Ritenour, director of Church Planning and Architecture of the National Council of Churches, noted that the Congress was the culmination of seven years of planning by units of the National Council, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and the Roman Catholic Liturgical Conference of North America. It was convened in New York City August 29 and concluded with three days at Montreal's EXPO on September 4.
The Synod of the Anglican Diocese of Perth, Australia, voted unanimously to give one per cent of the next year's revenue to combat world poverty.
Canada's government should raise taxes so that it can double its aid to underdeveloped nations, the biennial general synod of the Anglican Church of Canada said. Its resolution called for a special "birthday gift" (Canada is celebrating its 100th anniversary) to poorer nations.
London's Southwark Cathedral will not conduct the traditional Evening Prayer services on Sundays from Oct. 1 until September, 1968. Instead there will be a forum "Honest to Man", to discuss, demonstrate and explore the themes of Service, Unity, Education, Music, Communication, the Arts. The program will take place partly on a platform in the middle of the audience and partly among them with a roving microphone.
The Rev. William L. Wipfler has been named assistant director of the Latin America Department of the NCC Division of Overseas Ministries. In Costa Rica from 1964 through 1966, Mr. Wipfler was rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd in San Jose, director of the Episcopal Child Care Center there and lecturer in theology at the Episcopal Theological Training Center.