Assembly committee plans prayer and music for Busan 2013

Common prayer and music drawn from churches around the world are recognised as highlights of World Council of Churches (WCC) assemblies when they convene every seven years. The Assembly Planning Committee will meet from July 23 to 27 at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute in Switzerland to plan the 10th Assembly, which will take place in Busan, Korea from October 30 to November 8 2013.

Proposals for prayer life and music are part of a report from the Assembly Worship Planning Committee, which met from July 5 to 12 outside Busan at a Roman Catholic retreat centre. Members of the committee joined Orthodox and Protestant worship services and met with local and national leaders serving on the Korean Host Committee.

Throughout the gathering, musicians and writers of liturgical resources led the committee in testing compositions, litanies and orders of service that are being proposed for use at the assembly. The host committee is involved in planning special services, possibly to include early morning encounters combining the Korean practice of dawn prayer with music and texts from the life of the 10th Assembly.

Morning, midday and evening prayer, like the services that begin and end the assembly and daily Bible study sessions, find inspiration in the assembly theme, “God of life, lead us to justice and peace.” The motif of a journey led by God, toward justice, peace and abundant life, is proposed as a defining image for the event.

The Assembly Planning Committee, at its meeting from 23 to 27 July, will receive these proposals and complete their work in preparing the programme of the assembly. The APC reports to the Central Committee which meets in August and is responsible for planning the assembly.

Official website of the WCC 10th Assembly