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Planners for the ninth WCC assembly promised a dynamic event for 2006 during an update to the central committee Wednesday - exactly one year before the assembly.

To restate the ecumenical vision for the 21st century requires a profound change in churches and ecumenical bodies, Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia told the central committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) today.

Reaching decisions by consensus, a major shift in the culture and ethos of the World Council of Churches (WCC), will be at the centre of the upcoming meeting of its Central Committee, which will take place 15-22 February in Geneva.

"The other world we are thinking of is the one we have, not a world beyond," said Rev. Orlando Santos de Oliveira. The primate of the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil was speaking at the opening session of a theological forum on the theme of "Theology for another possible world". Therefore "The only possible theology is one that engages with a liberating God on a concrete pastoral base, in dialogue with new religious and social movements and the society we live in," de Oliveira declared.

The spiritual dimensions of transformation underlie its social dimensions, observed participants at an international pre-assembly meeting of WCC Orthodox member churches which completed its work on the island of Rhodes, Greece, yesterday.

An Inter-Orthodox Meeting in preparation for the ninth assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) is taking place 11-16 January in Rhodes, Greece.

The WCC ninth assembly in 2006 should be a time of "inspiration and hope" for the churches according to members of the international planning committee after their first visit to the assembly venue in Porto Alegre, Brazil, last week.

World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia lauded the enthusiasm and commitment of Brazilian Churches to prepare for the ninth WCC Assembly.

Changes planned in the WCC are a move towards "a new ethos and culture" with the potential "to strengthen and deepen the fellowship of churches". This was the view expressed by the Steering Committee of the Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the WCC which met in Minsk, Belarus, 16-19 June 2004.

"God, in your grace, transform the world" will be the theme of the Ninth General Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC), planned for February 2006 in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

The decision was taken today by the WCC Central Committee meeting in Geneva, August 26 to September 2.

The final wording of the theme in English, German, French, Spanish and Portuguese will be announced after the officers’ meeting in November.

The Central Committee also approved the budget for the Assembly, which will be 6.3 million CHF.

The Ninth Assembly will have 700 delegates, almost 300 less than in previous years. It will last for 10 days, two days less than previously.

The churches have been...