Charles C. West

AT the conclusion of the first assembly of the World
Council of Churches at Amsterdam two architects of
the ecumenical movement, Dr D. T. Niles of Ceylon
and Dr Visser 't Hooft, were discussing what had happened.
'What are your thoughts on the future of this Council,' asked
Niles, 'when the first enthusiasm of the churches coming
together here has worn off?'

'It is most important', replied Visser 't Hooft after a moment's
reflection, 'that we do not decide that we shall succeed.'

Since that time the World Council of Churches has become
a highly successful organization. It has gained an ecclesiastical
significance which no church however large and powerful
can any longer ignore. Its intellectual leadership has been
reflected in the theology of every corner of Christendom. Its
political and social influence has reached far beyond the
constituency of its members, into such disparate situations as the
refugee needs of Hong Kong and the racial tensions of South
Africa. Whether agreeable to them or not, the World Council
has become a force in the modern world with which other
centres of power and influence, both religious and secular,
must reckon.

With this success have come both a calling, and a host of
problems. The calling is clearly to broaden the base of

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