The story of Pentecost is a helpful guidepost for discussing the era of mission represented by the WCC's 'jubilee' assembly. The relevance of Pentecost for the Harare assembly goes beyond the obvious fact that people of many languages and customs were gathered in one place. The relevance corresponds to what I saw as the two major emphases of our efforts in Harare: 1) our response to the compassionate love of God in Jesus Christ, and 2) our concerns about ecclesiology, how we are to 'be church', and what structures and patterns we will use. 1) Pentecost and the response to God's compassion At the centre of our life and worship in Harare stood the powerful symbol of a cross superimposed over a carving of the continent of Africa. That carving was replete with scenes from African life, some of them depicting suffering, violence and hunger. The cross reminds us that despite our complicity with all which causes such suffering, God loves and redeems That redemptive work is God's. But at Pentecost, God called forth and blessed a church to extend that work. The presence of the Spirit always means the presence of compassion. The linkage is clear from the opening of Jesus' teaching in the synagogue in Nazareth in Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor... Because of the cross and the gift of the Holy Spirit, our involvement in the world comes from a belief in abundance, compassion and generosity different from the ways of the world. Kosuke Koyama(1) reminded us that when the prodigal son returned home, his father ran toward him. The sound of the rushing wind at Pentecost is the sound of God rushing toward us in extravagant love. Our response in mission is to live gratefully, offering the world freely the compassion and generosity we have received through Christ, without meriting it. And we are sent into that world to be Christlike. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. (John 20:22). Behind all the theological and sociological differences among us in the WCC, there is this basic fact that love because he first loved us. What other way of turning to God in joy and hope could explain such World Council of Churches' behavior as the following? * We decided that as challenging as it already is to relate among the existing Council members, God's love is big and extravagant enough to sustain us if we become part of an even larger forum of Christian churches. I will say more about that shortly. * We called for cancellation of debts for the poorest countries and for greater responsibility to the poor from banks which lend and governments which borrow. The intention to benefit the poor was made clear in the debates and the gradual improvement of the documents about debt. The assembly resisted oversimplifying the problem, refusing to pretend that only bad outside forces are oppressing the poor. At the same time, the assembly did not shy away from urging a bold and clear solution: cancel debts whose repayments will only defer to distant generations the possibility of leaving poverty. * We spoke out on behalf of human rights. A detailed statement of principles was drafted and approved, a statement that may be especially useful to Christians advocating for rights in countries where governments and laws have not subscribed to codes of rights. * We called for an end to the use of children as soldiers. This phenomenon is becoming increasingly publicized, but the assembly was at the forefront of naming and denouncing it. Assembly voters made bold to define childhood as any age up to eighteen, when it comes to war. * We spoke against violence against women. The assembly heard that in some ways the Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women (1988-98) had been more about women in solidarity with women. By calling for continued solidarity with women, especially in the area of violence, and by calling for a new decade theme to end violence, the assembly acknowledged that fear of violence blights millions of lives and that this can and must stop. …