World Student Assembly Meets
Episcopal News Service. September 10, 1981 [81235]
SAN FRANCISCO -- "It is with great joy that we share the message of hope" were the closing words of the 28th General Assembly of the World Student Christian Federation.
"To our SCMers (Student Christian Movement) in repressive regimes who are struggling with your lives and future we humbly offer our solidarity and are continually inspired by your living witness.
"To our friends in the ecumenical community, we share with you the ecumenical vision of the renewal of the church and of a renewed society. We invite you in this journey of faith and struggle to rise up and build together."
From Aug. 11 to 22 the assembly, which brought delegates from more than 80 nations to the University of San Francisco, wrestled with the form and structure of the ecumenical student witness of the 1980's. The Federation, which coordinates the activities of more than 100 allied movements, was holding its first assembly in the United States since 1913.
Meeting under the theme, "Come, Let Us Rise Up and Build Together" (Nehemiah: 2), the concluding message pointed out that the delegates came "from different lands and cultures, confronted with diverse realities of oppression, struggling with our people, sharing their sufferings and hope."
Acknowledging critical differences among those at the assembly, the message confessed that "frustrations grip our will, weaknesses and human failures try to dampen our fellowship and commitment.
"But as we gather and are sustained by the Word of Life, the call is to transcend our differences. We are confronted today by the words of the prophet: 'Come, let us rise up and build together.'"
The message continued: "We must then rise up today as a people who want to change our own history and claim the future with justice, peace and love. Workers, peasants, students, professionals, the new social movements in the developed countries and liberation movements in the developing countries are also rising up and building to emancipate themselves....
"It is in this context of people rising up and building that we locate our witness and presence as members of the Federation."
At the outset of the assembly, Eritrean-born Bereket Yebio, Federation chairman, predicted that "there will be language barriers -- the majority of us are obliged to speak languages which are not our mother tongues. Cultural barriers may limit our possibility to communicate effectively."
He was proved right during the assembly. At times it seemed to move ponderously under the weight of cultural, linguistic, political and religious differences. The translation of documents did not always occur on time and the difficulties with nuances of meaning created problems.
But Yebio was also correct when he added that "we are challenged by all these differences. We are provided with great opportunities to learn and to grow."
If at times the plenary sessions seemed bureaucratic, rich exchanges occurred during meals and in sessions that ran into the morning hours as the rich experience represented by people wrestling with the meaning of Christian participation in liberation struggles all over the world was shared with one another.
The "message of hope" approved in the final session took stock of the Federation. "...in the last quadrennium our membership has increased.... The program priorities have been determined, and we have confidently elected a new leadership. We have set ourselves on a course to renew our structures so that they may be more appropriate to meet the demands of the Federation in the coming years."
Scheduled every four years, the general assembly is the group's main deliberative body. During the assembly several working groups defined the program priorities for the next quadrennium which were then debated and approved by the full assembly.
In resolutions the assembly sharply criticized the Moral Majority movement and fundamentalist influences on high-school and university campuses.
In voting to "add our voice in opposition to the aims and practices of the Moral Majority," the gathering accused that movement of "promoting a climate of fear and repression manifested by support for a militaristic U.S. foreign policy and hostility to the rights of minorities and oppressed groups."
Other resolutions called for analysis of "sharply increased activities of fundamentalist movements both among high-school and university students," and stressed that "it is important that right-wing fundamentalists should not be the only Christian voice on university campuses."
In calling on national student Christian movements to reflect "on a more definite theological basis for their actions," the assembly affirmed that the Federation's theology "relates to a variety of traditions and cultures and tries to reflect the perspectives contributed by the woman's movement, the liberation movements and people's struggles; also by our dialogue with other faiths and ideologies and our ecumenical relationships."
It affirmed "different forms and styles of political engagement," and added that "the call for political engagement in each and every specific context is mandatory irrespective of the particularities of each region."
A pre-assembly gathering of 35 women members had complained about "the weak representation of women in the structures of leadership" in the Federation. As a result, the assembly approved a "woman's program fund," and amended the federation bylaws to assure that each region sends one man and one woman to the inter-regional executive committee.
Dr. Emidio Campi, from Italy, was elected to a second four-year term as general secretary. In his acceptance remarks he caught the mood of the assembly well.
"I enter upon my second term as General Secretary with few illusions but with a determination based on four years of hard experience.... I am convinced that we are embarked on the right road to objectives of vital importance for the Christian witness in today's world. (The WSCF) can inspire yet another generation of students and youth to reject the temptations of selfishness for the adventure of solidarity. Sustained by our tested wills, the errors of yesterday can be corrected. The dreams of yesterday can become the achievements of tomorrow."
Juan Antonio Franco, a doctoral student and former Federation staff officer from the United Church of Christ in Puerto Rico, was elected chairman of the group and Lydi Nacpil of the United Methodist Church of the Philippines was named vice-chairwoman.
Among the members of the executive committee are Gina Brelsford, an Episcopalian of Alaska who had become active in student Christian movements while an undergraduate of Brown University.