World Mission Conference: Orthodox complain of “sheep stealing”

ATHENS, Greece — Tensions between Orthodox and Non-Orthodox churches surfaced during the first ecumenical World Mission Conference held May 9 to 16 in Athens. Conservative members of the Greek Orthodox Church protested at the entrance to the conference center against what they perceive as proselytism or “sheep stealing” by Protestant missionaries.

They described Protestants and Anglicans as “heretics” and demanded that conference participants leave the country. They also displayed posters saying “Orthodoxy or death.” The conference, with 500 participants, was organized by the World Council of Churches, which represents 347 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican churches. The WCC denounces proselytism.

It is the first time that an ecumenical world mission conference is being held in an Orthodox country. Almost 10 million of the 10.5 million inhabitants of Greece are affiliated with the Orthodox Church. Approximately 65,000 are Roman Catholics and 50,000 Protestants.

In his address to the mission conference the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Christodoulos, said his church had gladly extended the invitation “despite bitter experiences in the past with aggressive missionary activities and hostile actions against our people.”

Christodoulos denounced modern materialism. Economic prosperity and monetary profits could never offer hope for a spiritual renaissance. Globalization, he said, is a means of “torturing” human beings socially and politically.

The conference also aimed at integrating the growing Charismatic and Pentecostal movement into the ecumenical movement. So far, many evangelicals have been skeptical of liberal theological and ethical tendencies within the WCC. The WCC’s general secretary Samuel Kobia urged traditional churches not to ignore the Pentecostal and Charismatic contributions to world mission any longer.

As the African theologian pointed out, Christianity’s “center of gravity” has moved from the Northern to the Southern hemisphere. It is now to be found, according to religion statisticians, somewhere near Timbuktu in the Sahara desert.

The total membership of Pentecostal churches is estimated at 554 million, while WCC member churches have 400 million. The Pentecostal theologian Wonsuk Ma from Baguio, Philippines, said the poor are especially attracted by these churches because of healing experiences, spectacular conversions and other supernatural manifestations, which are seen as proof of God’s appreciation for the underprivileged. The Pentecostal movement is, according to Ma, not a “religion for the poor,” but a “religion of the poor.” He praised South Korean theologian Yonggi Cho, who pastors the world’s biggest church with 800,000 members, and the movement of Teen Challenge, which was founded by David Wilkerson in the USA.

East German Bishop Axel Noack said that more than five decades of atheist rule—first the Nazis, then the Communists—have taken a heavy toll in Luther’s home country, making it difficult to spread the gospel message in the deeply secularized environment. Many East Germans have been “immunized” against the Christian faith.

About 40 percent of East German men have never set foot in a church, the bishop said. Therefore mission and evangelism could only be carried out in an ecumenical spirit.

I am glad when new Christians are added to other churches through our efforts,” Noack said.

Assist News Service
Published by Keener Communications Group, June 2005

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