“I still feel a little uncomfortable
when helping inform the press about what the council is doing,”
she admits. “There is so much to learn, and it’s hard
to grasp what the WCC is, without actually having been here, engaging
in the dialogue.”
Yablonsky, now 22, grew up in Community Presbyterian Church in
Ringwood, NJ. She has positive memories of a local ecumenical
prayer service at Thanksgiving, and of attending an annual multi-presbytery
youth conference in Lake George, NY. While at Penn State she was
active in State College Presbyterian Church, leading a LOGOS study
group for 6- to 10-year-olds, working with Habitat for Humanity
and for the church’s hunger program, and participating in
domestic mission trips during college breaks.
Having focused in her studies on comparative literature, Spanish
and political science, she was exploring career opportunities
in media relations and publications when Diana Malcom, a minister
State College Presbyterian, gave her a packet of information about
WCC internships. “I didn’t take it seriously at first,”
she says, “but Diana kept encouraging me to apply. Finally,
I read the papers and then began doing my own research on the
Internet.”
Yablonsky is one of six interns serving in Geneva from September
2003 to September 2004. She and Rachel Medema, a member of the
Reformed Church in America, are the only two from a single country;
the others are from WCC member churches in Zimbabwe, India, Denmark,
and Belarus (formerly a republic of the Soviet Union).
The WCC provides studio apartments and an introductory course
in French. As part of their internships, the six gather weekly
in an “ecumenical forum” hosted by the Rev. Freddy
Knutsen of the WCC’s office for youth and young adults.
Speakers from the WCC and related ecumenical organizations address
the forum and join in discussions. In April, Knutsen will lead
the interns on a field trip to Rome, where they will meet with
Vatican officials.
During their early months of service, the interns witnessed important
developments in the life of the WCC: Konrad Raiser, a Lutheran
from Germany, retired as general secretary after 11 years in office,
and was succeeded by Samuel Kobia, a Methodist from Kenya, the
first WCC general secretary from Africa.
The interns helped prepare for worldwide gatherings of the Faith
and Order commission to be held this summer, and of the commission
on World Mission and Evangelism in 2005. Just as they arrived
in Geneva, the decision was made to hold the Ninth Assembly of
the WCC in February 2006 at Porto Alegre, Brazil.
In her public-information job, Yablonsky helps interpret the
nature of WCC assemblies and consultations.
“The World Council of Churches is a group of churches talking
with each other to see what is possible,” she says. “...Ecumenical
meetings are not so much about doing something as about facilitating
the work of others — whether those others are churches,
or coalitions for social justice. An ecumenical conference does
not, by itself, produce an international treaty or authorize a
substantial monetary grant for needy people. It usually functions
as a starting point, a recognition of churches’ responsibility
to take certain actions, an invitation to partnership.”
Yablonsky expresses appreciation for the importance of international
networking, but sees the local church as the primary agent of
Christian ministry.
“I am beginning to get a sense of how churches interact
globally,” she says. “None of us is alone in the world.
Not as individuals, not as churches. And our actions have a tremendous
impact, far beyond what we see around us. But the more I hear
about how the World Council’s ideas are fleshed out, the
more I realize how dependent the world church is on local work
by congregations.
“When I began studying the WCC, I was upset at how slowly
progress seems to be made in the search for unity and united action.
But now I think the World Council has to move slowly, simply because
we cannot presume to know what’s right in a particular situation.
Finding out requires consultation with people who are directly
involved. And that takes time.”
For Yablonsky, dialogue is a key concept.
“From my vantage point as a WCC intern, I can see that
I have been given an opportunity to take part in a worldwide discussion
of the role of youth in the church,” she says. “I
am able to draw on my own experience, to listen very carefully
to what is being said by others on the basis of their experience,
and to make a real contribution to the shape of a new dialogue.”
She says she has been surprised to learn about the strength of
Christian student movements around the world.
“Coming from the United States, Rachel and I were surprised
to discover how deeply involved the other interns had been in
ecumenical youth networks in Africa, Asia, and Europe,”
she says. “...Rachel and I hope to visit youth conferences
while we’re in Europe, and to address more clearly how they
might work in the United States.”
Yablonsky thinks dialogue can “open doorways to other traditions
and faiths,” but has found that her ecumenical involvement
has heightened her regard for the contributions of Presbyterianism.
“Other worship traditions don’t necessarily speak
to me,” she admits. “It’s one thing to accept
other churches, but it’s also important to recognize our
differences. One of the goals of the ecumenical movement should
be to lift up the strengths of each denomination.”
Yablonsky hopes to make at least one side trip from Geneva. “I
took a lot of Spanish courses in college,” she says, “but
I never did study abroad. I consider it my duty to spend at least
one week this spring on a beach in Spain.”
Longer- term, she looks forward to returning home, “ready
to be involved in the church at the local level, where people
are working for change.”
“I’m not clear on the details of my future, but I
know that I need to be patient, to wait, to listen, and the answer
will come,” she says.
Whatever the future holds, she says, her outlook will have been
affected by her time in Geneva, which has taughter her that “it
really makes a difference what people choose to do.”
“Even the largest organizations are collections of individuals,”
she says, “and the whole of society can be transformed when
individuals become more open to their neighbors, more aware of
injustices in the world, and more determined to set things right.”
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(Back row, left to right): This year's interns include Mrinal
Lankapalli, Rachel Medema, Marlone Zakeyo, Katherine Pastukhova;
(front row) Lisa Yablonsky and Eva Osterlind.
