Washington National Cathedral

The Sunday Forum: Critical Issues in the Light of Faith

The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, host

The guest of Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III for this Forum is Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the World Council of Churches. Founded in 1948, the council has objectives “to seek unity among Christian churches, …to have a way of witnessing together to the whole world, that the world may believe…and to be of service to humanity,” Kobia explains.

Churches from the global south now constitute a majority in the council, which originated as a North Atlantic ecumenical organization. Kobia, the first African to lead the council, notes a “decline of Christianity” in the northern hemisphere. Fewer people worship in many of the magnificent churches of the global north, and many old churches no longer serve the roles for which they were created. Even in famous and active churches, such as St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, Kobia has written that a majority of worshipers are tourists, or Africans and West Indians living in the United Kingdom.

On the other hand, in the global south, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, “the church becomes the center of activity” for nation-building and other major societal efforts. Extraordinary growth is projected. Lloyd points out that at the beginning by 2025, there will be 700 million African Christians (up from ten million in the early twentieth century), 460 million Christians in Asia, and great numbers in many other parts of the world. Africans and Asians are establishing their own churches in Europe. African and Asian priests are heading many Roman Catholic parishes in France.

“What’s going on in the global south?” asks Lloyd. “Why are they growing?” Kobia asserts that African traditions now inform Christianity in Africa. Faith permeates all of life instead of occupying a small corner of the weekly schedule. In addition, the church has continued to exist, to meet human needs, and to offer hope, even as governments and other institutions have ceased to exist.

Regarding the Anglican Communion, Kobia says, “Within the Anglican Communion, there are many African Anglican bishops who have taken up the issue of human sexuality, for example. And they are beginning to say that, for them, what matters most is what they consider to be the… Gospel truth. I fear that we could see a split between those who say the Communion is not so important for them, as long as they think they are the ones who are embracing the truth as they understand it from the Bible. I think this is a very dangerous trend. We have to find ways of providing a space and framework within which these potentially divisive issues could be dealt with.”

Speaking of Archibishop Peter Akinola and others who have criticized the Episcopal Church and other denominations of the global north, Kobia asserts, “There’s no question that human sexuality is a major challenge today“There is a denial sometimes among these leaders [such as Akinola] that this is not a problem of the south, but is purely a problem of the north. I don’t think it is as simple as that anymore. And that is why we need to engage and have a meaningful dialog.”

Economic globalization has not brought prosperity to all parts of the world, and it has “exacerbated disparities,” Kobia says. He views these disparities, as well as unregulated trade, as major threats to world peace. However, Kobia perceives a silver lining: “the church is gaining respectability among the people in Africa…You will find that the church is with the people in every small corner, the remotest part of the country and of the continent in sub-Saharan Africa, you have the churches there. And therefore, when it comes to the issues of providing health services, schools, and even food, I would say that…there are more and more people who have benefited from the way the churches have contributed to their economic lives.”

About Samuel Kobia

Samuel Kobia is general secretary of the World Council of Churches.