WCC Busan Assembly

Background

The World Council of Churches (WCC), founded in 1948, is the principal representative body of the ecumenical movement (the movement for church unity). Its highest decision-making body, the Assembly, meets once every seven to eight years to set policy and chart the council's future direction. In 2009 Busan was selected as the host city of the Tenth Assembly, and on September 16 of that year Korean churches held a thanksgiving service to celebrate the successful bid. The WCC cited the distinctive perspective that the witness of the Korean church offers the worldwide ecumenical movement as its reason for choosing Korea. The Busan Assembly was the second WCC Assembly held in Asia.

Within the Korean church, the WCC has long been a contentious issue. In 1959 Korean Presbyterianism split over the question of WCC membership (Korean Presbyterian schism). Criticism of the WCC's theological orientation continued thereafter, chiefly among conservative denominations (WCC controversy).

Course of Events

• Preparations: Churches affiliated with the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) took the lead in forming the WCC Korean Host Committee, with the Rev. Kim Sam-hwan serving as its president.
• January 13 Joint Declaration (January 2013): On January 13, 2013, Hong Jae-cheol, president of the Christian Council of Korea (CCK); Kim Young-ju, general secretary of the NCCK; Kim Sam-hwan, executive chairman of the Korean Host Committee; and Kil Ja-yeon, chairman of the preparatory committee for the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) General Assembly, issued a joint declaration. The declaration reportedly included statements opposing religious pluralism, communism, and homosexuality, as well as opposition to a "ban on proselytizing evangelism." The CCK ratified the declaration. Within the NCCK and among progressive denominations, however, it provoked a strong backlash, and some groups of progressive theologians demanded that it be withdrawn. General Secretary Kim Young-ju ultimately announced that the declaration was void.
• Opposition movement: In a 2013 statement, the CCK criticized the NCCK for repudiating the joint declaration. Contending that the WCC glorified communism, tolerated syncretism (the blending of different religions) and homosexuality, and advocated religious pluralism, the CCK demanded that the Busan Assembly be canceled altogether. The CCK claimed that 67 denominations, including the Presbyterian Church in Korea (HapDong) and the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Kosin), opposed holding the Assembly. In Busan itself, some church leaders also held rallies calling for its cancellation.
• The Assembly (October 30–November 8, 2013): Before the opening, the Host Committee announced that official participants would number 8,500, including 825 delegates from 349 member churches in 110 countries, and the press reported that it would be the largest Assembly in WCC history. After the Assembly, a statement by the moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Korea (TongHap) reported that some 2,700 people had come from 345 denominations in 110 countries and that domestic participants and visitors exceeded 7,000. Figures vary somewhat depending on the counting criteria used.

Outcomes and Impact

• The Assembly message was titled "Join the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace." Building on the words "we intend to stay together" from the message of the First Assembly in Amsterdam in 1948, it declared, "we intend to move together."
• The Assembly adopted a unity statement and the mission statement Together towards Life: Mission and Evangelism in Changing Landscapes.
• The division of the Korean Peninsula and the question of peace were also major concerns. A "Peace Train" event, which departed from Berlin, Germany, was held in conjunction with the Assembly (Reunification and the Church).

Assessment

• Supporters of the Assembly: The statement by the moderator of the PCK (TongHap) described it as a significant Assembly in the history of the world church, in that a world church undergoing great change had found its direction centered on life, justice, and peace. The theologian Jang Yoon-jae emphasized that it was the first time in WCC history that "justice" and "peace" had served as the key words of an Assembly theme. Another study regarded the Assembly as evidence of the growth of Christianity in the Global South.
• Opponents: The CCK, asserting that the WCC was the cause of division within the Korean church, demanded that the Assembly be canceled.
• Meanwhile, some analysts have argued that the January 13 Joint Declaration was not a document agreed upon by theologians but a political compromise between progressive and conservative church leaders seeking to ensure that the event could proceed. The conflict surrounding the joint declaration has been cited as having once again exposed the differing views of the WCC within the Korean church.