The World Evangelical Alliance general assembly concluded in Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday evening after 4 days of debate and deliberation about key issues affecting evangelicalism and the duty of fulfilling the Great Commission.
During the gathering, Rev Botrus Mansour was installed as the brand new Secretary General of the WEA, ending a yr and a half emptiness in the highest position. Hailing from Nazareth, Rev Mansour brings a wealth of experience to the role as a former lawyer who has held various leadership positions across church and academic bodies within the Holy Land, including Co-Chairman of the Lausanne Initiative for Reconciliation Israel-Palestine.
Speaking to reporters, he said he was filling “large shoes” and that while his latest appointment was “overwhelming”, he was “here to serve”.
In his first address as Secretary General of the WEA on Thursday night, he said it was “special” to be appointed Secretary General as a Palestinian Christian from Israel, and coming so soon after the ceasefire agreement reached with Hamas.
“I give tribute to my people and my country,” he said, adding that it was his prayer that the ceasefire will last.
He said he was “really humbled” to be elected as Secretary General and felt a “big responsibility” for the organisation which has 161 national alliances all over the world, representing over 650 million evangelicals.
“I’m here to serve,” he repeated, as he spoke of his desire to see a WEA marked by “teamwork” and “unity”, and the strengthening of regional alliances.
“We are different people but now we have one spirit, now we have one mission, one core of beliefs. Can we stand up to the extent of Jesus’s prayer – ‘Let them be one as we’re one’?” he said.
Later on in his address, Rev Mansour said he desired to “reclaim” the word ‘evangelical’ and convey it back to its original meaning as ‘bears of excellent news’.
“It has been politicised and adjusted, and folks use it in alternative ways … we would like to be bearers of the excellent news to the entire world. We will work for this task,” he said.
Rev Mansour’s installation as Secretary General was not the one significant change within the WEA’s leadership this week, with Godfrey Yogarajah, of Sri Lanka, being installed as the brand new Chairman of its International Council.
It is the primary time that each the Secretary General and Chairman of the WEA come from the Global South. Yogarajah said this was “a mirrored image of what is going on globally” given the “phenomenal” growth of Christianity across the Global South.
He said he was “humbled and honoured” to be elected Chair, and that the International Council stood able to serve the national alliances.
“I thanks for having placed your confidence in me,” he said.
The WEA general assembly was hosted by the 60,000-member SaRang Church in Seoul, the South Korean capital, and brought together over 850 evangelicals from all over the world.
The theme of the overall assembly was “The Gospel for Everyone by 2033” and lots of the sessions were dedicated to how this ambitious goal can develop into a reality with only eight years to go. In a letter of greeting to delegates of the overall assembly, Rev Mansour said the theme was “not simply a programme or slogan, but a mandate rooted in Scripture and the center of God for all people”.
On the last day of meetings, delegates were presented with the WEA’s Seoul Declaration, a 15-page document crafted by a global group of theologians including eight from South Korea. It offers evangelical position statements on a spread of issues, from gender and human sexuality, to war, abortion, religious freedom, and continued divisions on the Korean Peninsula.
A spokesperson for the WEA said the statement was intended to be a “guiding post” for members, with fastidiously considered theological perspectives on key issues on the earth today and “how the Church must have direction for the longer term”.
“We meet at a pivotal moment in human history – marked by the aftershocks of a worldwide pandemic, widespread economic uncertainty, intensifying conflicts across multiple regions, and the rapid emergence of artificial intelligence into the general public sphere. The global Church has not been shielded from these pressures; lots of our communities proceed to endure hardship, suffering and deepening social fragmentation,” the introduction reads.
It continues, “Amidst this sobering backdrop, our assembly takes place in a land shaped by each profound gospel fruitfulness and enduring division. The Korean Peninsula, divided for over eight a long time, symbolizes each the pain of separation and the resilient hope of reconciliation. We acknowledge this unique context as we meet in fellowship with the Korean Churches – a community whose evangelical witness has contributed significantly to global mission, public life, and theological depth.”
A press release inside the declaration on “the core of the evangelical faith” emphasizes evangelism through Gospel proclamation and discipleship as “our most vital and first mission”.
However, evangelicals have to repent for falling wanting their calling to be salt and lightweight, and for the “fragmentation of the Body of Christ”, which the declaration said had “diminished public witness of God’s sovereignty over all areas of life and the suffering endured by our persecuted brothers and sisters all over the world”.
It prays that Christian leaders can be “preserved from abuse of authority, moral failure, or the pull of secularization, and as an alternative serve with the humility of Christ”.
In a bit on the dignity of life, the declaration grieves the “collective failure” of evangelicals to be “more lively” in addressing systems that perpetuate racism, tribalism, and caste systems, or discriminate against refugees, migrants, women and youngsters “in several times and regions the world over”. It laments “our inability to uphold a transparent evangelical stance on abortion, medically assisted death, and the welfare of the aged”.
Evangelicals have “often neglected environmental duties” and haven’t done “enough” to handle the “abuse of God’s creation”, it goes on. Perhaps a nod to some criticism of the WEA’s interfaith relations, which drew protests from some Korean Christians outside the venue over the 4 days, the declaration insists that the WEA is committed to “collaboration without compromise” and “remaining alert to the risks of spiritual pluralism and syncretism, while holding firm to the Gospel, biblical orthodoxy, and the Spirit’s renewing power for each personal and societal transformation”.
The declaration goes on to “acknowledge that many in our societies wrestle deeply with questions of identity, sexuality and belonging”, and commits evangelicals to “listening with humility, walking with compassion, and ministering with biblical clarity and pastoral tenderness”.
“Therefore, we affirm that practicing homosexuality is sin (Romans 1:26-27), contrary to God’s design for human sexuality. But we proclaim this truth not with condemnation, but in love – offering hope, healing and freedom that’s present in Christ alone (1 Corinthians 6:9/11),” it continues.
“We desire to be a Church that speaks truth while embodying grace, all the time remembering our own need for mercy (Titus 3:3-7).”
Elsewhere it affirms that humans are made “female and male, equal in dignity and price”, and that marriage is a “sacred union” between one man and one woman.
Further on, the declaration rejects “the culture of death that devalues the weak, the elderly, the unborn”, and affirms “the sacredness of life from conception to natural death”.
It expresses the WEA’s commitment to “boldly resisting all ideological systems that suppress freedom of religion and warp biblical anthropology, whilst we boldly share the reality in love and proclaim Christ with compassion, humility, and courage”.
The document grieves war, violence, and persecution, in addition to the advancement in lots of regions of laws and ideologies “with little regard for conscience or the sacred human dignity affirmed within the Holy Scripture”. In such a world, evangelicals are called to work for reconciliation and peace, it says.
The declaration prays specifically for “mercy on North Korea” and “for the top of systemic human rights violations”, in addition to the discharge of individuals “unjustly imprisoned”, but additionally expresses “growing concern over emerging and rising societal pressures that challenges open expression of evangelical faith in lots of contexts” on the Korean Peninsula.
The declaration concludes with numerous calls, including the defence of spiritual freedom and “deepening evangelical unity”, and the “pursuit of human-centered, ethical development in technology, including the discerning and redemptive use of media in a rapidly changing digital age”.
WEA members have per week to contemplate the declaration and supply feedback.
