Verslag - NG Kerk in Oos-Kaapland

epresentatives to the Assembly and to the Central Committee, in such numbers as the Central Committee
shall determine.
VII. AMENDMENTS
The Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the delegates to the Assembly present and
voting, provided that the proposed amendment shall have been reviewed by the Central Committee, and
notice of it sent to the member churches not less than six months before the meeting of the Assembly. The
Central Committee itself, as well as the member churches, shall have the right to propose such
amendment.
World Council of Churches
Member Churches, Associate Member Churches
and National Council Bodies
"From every tribe and tongue and nation... "
The churches that make up the WCC live in remarkably different social, economic, cultural and political
conditions. Their members speak an array of languages. Their distinctive histories produce different styles
of worship and forms of organization and governance. It is a rich variety, a reflection of God's rich kingdom.
And it is this diversity that makes the WCC an exciting forum in which stories of God's work and faithfulness
are shared and in which insights are exchanged, providing mutual enrichment, encouragement and
correction. Historic tensions and differences sometimes persist - and new difficulties occasionally come to
the surface - yet the fundamental commitment remains to build community among the churches.
Membership conditions
Churches which agree with the WCC basis are eligible to apply for WCC membership. Applications may be
approved at an assembly by two-thirds of the member churches or, between assemblies, by two-thirds of
the central committee (unless objection from one-third of the member churches is received within six
months).
A prospective member must evidence "sustained independent life and organization" and "constructive
ecumenical relations" with other churches in its country. Ordinarily, member churches have at least 25,000
members (churches with at least 10,000 members may be associate members, eligible to participate in all
WCC activities but not to vote in the assembly).
WCC rules state that becoming a member signifies a church's "faithfulness to the basis of the Council,
fellowship in the Council, participation in the life and work of the Council and commitment to the ecumenical
movement as integral to the mission of the church". There is no membership assessment, but "an annual
contribution to the general budget and programmes of the WCC, commensurate with their resources", is
listed among membership responsibilities.
A half-century of service
The modern movement for the unity of the church may be traced to the latter days of the 19th century and
the early decades of the 20th century, when Christians began to pray together and work together across
denominational boundaries. By the close of the 1920s, several pioneering movements had been formed to
advance the cause of church unity worldwide.
In 1937, church leaders agreed to establish a World Council of Churches, but its official organization was
deferred by the outbreak of the second world war until August 1948, when representatives of 147 churches
assembled in Amsterdam to constitute the WCC.
Since then, a growing number of churches on every continent has joined in this search for Christian unity.
They have built new bridges over ancient chasms separating believers from one another.
WCC member churches today include nearly all the world s Orthodox churches, scores of denominations
from such historic traditions of the Protestant Reformation as Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and
Reformed, and a broad representation of united and independent churches.
The world s largest Christian body, the Roman Catholic Church, is not a member of the WCC, but has
worked closely with the Council for more than three decades and sends representatives to all major WCC
conferences as well as to its Central Committee meetings and the assemblies. The Pontifical Council for
Promoting Christian Unity appoints 12 representatives to the WCC s Faith and Order Commission and
cooperates with the WCC to prepare resource materials for local congregations and parishes to use during
the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
The goal of the World Council of Churches is not to build a global "super-church", nor to standardize styles
of worship, but rather to deepen the fellowship of Christian churches and communities so they may see in
one another authentic expressions of the "one holy, catholic and apostolic church". This becomes the basis
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