January 22, 2021

THE CATHOLICOSATE OF CILICIA PARTICIPATES IN THE ASSEMBLY WORSHIP PLANNING COMMITTEE MEETING OF THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES

The Worship Planning Committee of the WCC’s next General Assembly held its second meeting virtually, from January 11th to the 15th, 2021, in lieu of its planned physical gathering, due to the Coronavirus. V. Rev. Fr. Hrant Tahanian, Ecumenical Officer of the Catholicosate, and member of the Central Committee of the WCC and the AWPC participated in the meeting.

 

The Committee had first met in Bad Herrenalb, Germany in 2019, close to the city of Karlsruhe, where the next General Assembly is scheduled to take place. Since then, the pandemic triggered a postponement of the Assembly from September 2021 to the same month of the following year. During this past week, the twenty member committee, from churches that represent the fullness of the WCC family, attempted to continue their work and planning of the Assembly’s worship in light of the constantly changing landscape and dynamics of the world. On the agenda were the further development of the daily prayers, the key daily biblical texts (all relating to the Assembly’s theme: Christ’s Love Moves the World to Reconciliation and Unity), the opening and closing prayers, as well as the publication of the worship material.

 

The committee stressed the importance to consider green methods in the dissemination of the required material of such a large gathering. Theե also discussed the various scenarios being envisaged for the assembly if the pandemic still has a presence by 2022. All of the AWPC’s decisions and recommendations were forwarded to the Assembly Planning Committee.

 

Until a physical meeting becomes viable once again, the committee will continue holding biweekly virtual conferences for the foreseeable future, to ensure a smooth progression of all the necessary planning and tasks.

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