Youth & Communion

The World Council of Churches held its first gathering of Europe's young Christians last week and got more than it had bargained for. From 15 European nations, including Russia. Hungary and Poland, 1,400 men and women between the ages of 18 and 30, plus 400 other delegates from the U.S., Asia, Australia, Africa and the Middle East, came to Lausanne's sprawling Palais de Beaulieu for the first European Ecumenical Youth Assembly. At the opening ceremonies in the Cathedral of Lausanne, in a gesture of unity, they laid the flags of their nations on the altar of Christ.

The challenge that faced them, said the World Council's General Secretary Willem Visser 't Hooft, was to "make the church relevant to the world of today.'' They set about it with well-oiled organization, split up into 60 international and interdenominational discussion groups, had time left over for sightseeing and miscellaneous frolics; the French contingent startled W.C.C. officials by electing a Swedish sex kitten "Miss Ecumenia.'' In a gesture of harmony, the Roman Catholic bishop of Geneva and Lausanne sent five observers to the assembly, and a special Mass was celebrated in Lausanne invoking God's blessing on the "spirit of unification, the humble and sincere efforts at reconciling all Christians."

The emotional undercurrent of the assembly was a powerful surge toward unity. Resolutions called for a united Europe through "the discipline of neighborly love" even if that meant lower standards of living for a time; other resolutions called on Europeans to be "servants rather than fathers" to the emerging Afro-Asian countries. (Disagreements remained on the problems of coexistence with Communism and disarmament.) In the emotional drive for unity, the delegates even ignored the well-laid plans of their elders, who had promised certain of the participating denominations (notably the Eastern Orthodox churches) that there would be no celebration of common Communion. Dutch Reformed Theologian Johan nes Hoekendijk, 48, exhorted his young listeners to disregard and rise above their confessional loyalties. "For God's sake, be impatient," he urged. "There will be no movement in the ecumenical move ment unless we are ready to step out of our traditions." Although the assembly's president, Anglican Canon Edward Patey, formally refused to sanction joint Communion, more than 1,000 young people commandeered the Reformed Church of Switzerland's St. Francois Cathedral and celebrated Communion together. Said one German student: "This is the most tremendous thing of the entire assembly. This is more important than words." But at assembly's end, the young enthusiasts faced the fact that they could not permanently kick over the denominational traces -- a resolution failed to pass that called upon the churches to give "young people, at least, permission to make experiments" in intercommunion.

Said one Russian delegate: "Such a revolutionary novelty as intercommunion would amount to a betrayal of truth as we see it." Such discord at the Lord's table left the majority disappointed. This feeling exploded in a resolution demanding that the World Council "work seriously toward the establishment of intercommunion. We urge our churches: don't send us to ecumenical youth conferences until some more progress has been made at this point. We know there is no unity at the expense of truth. But also, there is no obedience to a truth which does not compel us to recover unity."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.