A MOMENT TO CHOOSE: RISKING TO BE WITH UPROOTED PEOPLE

Abstract

The urgency of the global situation of refugees, displaced persons and migrants led the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches to adopt unanimously the following far‐reaching statement on uprooted people, “A Moment to Choose: Risking to be with Uprooted People.” The statement challenges churches worldwide to address uprooted people as a major crisis of our time, and to take bold actions to become the church of the stranger by welcoming and standing with refugees, migrants and displaced people.The action by the WCC Central Committee came in recognition that international displacement of people has become “a sign of our times.” According to figures compiled by United Nations and other agencies, 125 million people, more than one in every fifty, are refugees or migrants outside their country of origin.The statement is directed to churches, noting that “the credibility of our witness and advocacy must be based on our experience and engagement as well as on our convictions.” Central to its message is the challenge to the churches “to rediscover their identity, their integrity and their vocation as the church of the stranger.”To encourage new and visible actions, the Central Committee recommended a number of practical resolutions. One among these was a call for marking 1997 as the “Ecumenical year for the churches in solidarity with the uprooted people.”