[Episcopal News Service]
Two leading German Protestant bishops are proposing the creation of a global alliance that they believe would strengthen the voice of worldwide Protestantism.
Bishop Margot Kaessmann of Hanover and Bishop Wolfgang-Huber of Berlin made the call at a meeting of the synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany in November. At present the world's Protestant churches do not have their own umbrella body to represent their views, although many belong to the World Council of Churches (WCC) that has Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and independent member churches.
Kaessmann resigned from the WCC Central Committee in September to protest key proposals intended to help participation by Orthodox churches which have been highly critical of the organization and what they perceive as a political agenda. 'I want the WCC to continue to be the locomotive of the ecumenical train rather than pulling on the brakes so that the wagons fall off the track,' she said after the synod meeting.
She said that if the WCC ended up as 'a forum for the various confessions to talk about their differences,' then she is convinced that 'a world alliance of Reformation churches would make more sense.'
In response, WCC General Secretary Konrad Raiser said that 'it is not a case of the WCC bowing to Orthodox pressure, nor has it accepted a compromise in order to smooth over the difficulties. 'Never before have the WCC and its member churches faced up to the fundamental issues in their relations with the Orthodox so honestly and seriously.'
The alliance Kaessmann envisions would allow Protestant churches in the Lutheran, Reformed and United churches that trace their roots back to the 16th century Reformation 'to represent common positions in dialogues with the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches as well as to be able to speak in common in a world that is becoming globalised.'
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