In Seoul we are meeting as an International Conference on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK).
It started with an opening service including elements from the Korean Culture.
In his keynote the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Rev. Prof. Dr. Jerry Pillay spoke on the theme of the consultation “God of Life, Renew All Creation in Your Love ”. The theme „speaks to the current global context of accelerating climate crisis, increased violent conflict, and deepened fragmentation and division. In this moment of ‘polycrisis’, it calls us back to the wellsprings of our Christian faith and of our hope for the future.“ Pillay honored the courage of the NCCK’s faithful and persisten witness for peace, justice and human dignity and rights through extremely difficult periods in Korea’s history. „The apparently insurmountable obstacles to peace, reconciliation and justice in this region and around the world today all too easily engender feelings of despair and helplessness. But it is in such a moment that the essential ecumenical values of dialogue, understanding, reconciliation, unity, hope and love carry their greatest power.“
Rev. HAN Gi-Yang the chair of the NCCK Reconciliation and Reunification Committee reminded us on the five principles of reunification formulated 36 years ago: independence, peace, national unity, humanitarianism, and public participation. It was in 2013 in Busan at the 10th General Assembly of the WCC when the international campaign to call for a peace treaty on the Korean Peninsula came into action. In preparation for the WCC General Assembly in Busan a „Peace Train Campaign“ was started to inform the world of the importance of peace and reunification on the Korean Peninsula and the tension between the two Koreas. Participants from all over the world – including representatives of my church EKHN – rode the peace train and held events to pray for peace starting with a peace worship service at Brandenburg Square in Berlin and then traveling half-way around the world to Busan via Moscow, Irkutsk and Beijing.
In a panel presentation „Reflection on 50 years People to People‘s Solidarity Towards Peace on the Korean Peninsula“ I could speak about our solidarity and accompaniment as Evangelical Mission in Solidarity (EMS) and of the people of EKHN who are in a long lasting partnership with the Gwangju Presbytery of the PROK; a solidarity and accompaniment of the struggle of our Korean sisters and brothers for peace, reconciliation and reunification on the Korean Peninsula. To this day, we are proud that EKHN could be a host for programs and conferences including delegates from the North Korean Christian Federation (KCF). For sure, over the 50 years times have changed again and again, but reconciliation and reunification on the Korean Peninsula are more burning than ever and stability and peace in this region are highly endangered. At present it needs a lot of hope, prayers and convincing work for a peaceful future of the Korean Peninsula! And it is important to pass this hope on to the next generation. The great Theologian Jürgen Moltmann who had a deep relationship with the Korean Christian Communities thought us: „Hope is the bread of life
My full Panel Presentation as download:
