World church governing body steers safe course on sexuality debate

by Jerry L. Van Marter
Ecumenical News International

GENEVA — Sex and religion can be an explosive mix, but those expecting fireworks when the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee took up the topic of human sexuality on Thursday were sorely disappointed.

      Instead, in what was dubbed an “ecumenical conversation” was what one Orthodox leader described as “a small step in demonstrating that we can have safer, non-threatening dialogue.”

      And, said Orthodox Church in America Bishop Leonid Kishkovsky, “if we can have safe space without lobbying for action on this topic, it can open up many issues for discernment.”

      Kishkovsky was one of four speakers who set the context for discussion by the WCC’s main governing body of a topic that has threatened to split communions and ecumenical groupings throughout the world.

      The discussion at the WCC meeting in Geneva came the same day the general synod of the Church of England was debating in London a rift in the worldwide Anglican Communion after the appointment in 2003 of an openly gay bishop in the U.S. Episcopal (Anglican) Church.

      The WCC is an interdenominational body of most Christian denominations. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member but cooperates with the WCC in various programs.

      “As a global fellowship of churches the WCC is in a unique situation to engage in dialogue with member churches holding different views and positions on human sexuality,” noted a background paper circulated to WCC governing body members.

      The last gathering of the WCC’s highest decision-making body, its 8th assembly in Harare in 1998, mandated the central committee to “facilitate conversation and consultation, enabling member churches to discuss the difficult issue of human sexuality.”

      Dr. Erlinda Senturias of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, who moderated a reference group that took on the task after the Harare assembly and prepared the presentation, acknowledged that the subject of human sexuality “often causes division within and among the Council’s members.”

      She said the reference group’s method is to “provide an ecumenical approach to the issues on human sexuality that establishes a linkage between Christian anthropology, biblical hermeneutics, ethics and cultural analysis.”

      And though the subject has frequently been framed in the context of homosexuality, Senturias insisted that a host of issues are at play, including abuse and trafficking, adultery and polygamy, sexual harassment and the global scourge of HIV/AIDS.

      “The issues raised,” Senturias said, “are questions of justice in human relationships that call for a redemptive approach of healing and reconciliation.” At a media briefing following thepresentation, she elaborated: “Normative and prescriptive ethics are already being rejected. We must move from rules and regulations to discernment.”

      In his remarks to the central committee, Kishkovsky echoed that concern. “Sometimes our confrontations [over this issue] have an ideological tone that loses sight of personhood,” he said. “At the heart of personhood is the image and likeness of God. This belief requires a deep respect for everyone and an ethical stance that is not a weapon for judgement but an invitation to healing and hope.”

      Indeed, most church statements on human sexuality “tend to adopt a humble approach by recognizing the need for further study and reflection,” said the Rev. George Mathew Nalunnakkal, a reference group member from the Syrian Orthodox Church in India.