21
PART II
More Direct
Involvement in the WSCF, 1952-1961
Federation
First-hand
It was in all these
varied and mostly indirect ways that I became involved in the WSCF. It was not,
however, until 1952 when I had already been General Secretary of the ASCM for
three years that I first experienced the Federation at firsthand.
In December of that
year, the third World Conference of Christian Youth was held at Kottayam in
south-west
22
Very soon, I made
the acquaintance of Chandran Devanesan who was Chairman of the SCM of India,
Just when I was beginning
to despair of having the accommodation ready in time, Marie Jeanne de Haller
of
23
Nasrapur
At 4 a.m. on the morning after the conference finished, those of us going to
General Committee had to rise in order to catch a train which took us long on a
journey northwest across India to Poona. There we were welcomed at the Hindu
Medical College, and then traveled by road to Nasrapur, an isolated Christian
retreat center where the General Committee met in a marquee, worshipped in a
simple chapel of low walls, open to the air and views of the distant hills,
beneath a spreading roof, and lived in adequate but plain accommodation. The
General Committee was a great experience for here were former, present and
future leaders of the Federation meeting together to review and plan the work
of the Federation, to engage in Bible study together, to hear addresses on
relevant topics, and to learn of the problems being faced by SCMs in several
very different situations and parts of the world – rural Asia, newly –
independent countries of Asia, colonial Africa, communist – dominated countries
– China, the impact of military life in NATO, and French Universities. And
there was the detailed work in small groups preparing the budget, planning for
literature and other activities, followed by decisions in plenary sessions.
Here came on a
visit Reinhold von Thadden, former German SCM leader and founder of the
Kirchentag in post-war Germany, a legendary and impressive figure who felt very
much at home in the WSCF context. Here also came Visser't Hooft, General
Secretary of the WCC after the WCC Central Committee meeting in
Within the SCM, we
have recognized a more than human fellowship across confessional boundaries, to
which we are bound to bear witness as a fact and as a gift of the Holy Spirit.
24
Then, opening the
Greek testament to

A world Christian
community: some delegates at the 1953 Nasrapur General Committee. Kyaw Than,
another former Federation Secretary is second from right.
25
I had heard often
of the wonder of such fellowship within the world community of the Federation. I
was also aware that it was not something which happened automatically or
according to a set pattern. It was therefore exciting and thrilling to find
oneself one of a company of people who were part of the family of the
Federation, and who were yet, at the same time, becoming a living, responsible
fellowship of persons out of many nations and races learning to understand each
other and work together. (See Appendix II)
The dominant note
at both Tambaram and Nasrapur was evangelism, but not in any pietistic or
traditional sense. In both places, there was a serious attempt to re-think what
Christian mission meant in terms of our citizenship in the world, our life in
the universities, and in the varied circumstances of private and professional
life. In the words of Patricia McGrath (The Australian Intercollegian,
June 1953, "Bound up With the World"),
Underlying all the
work of Nasrapur... was the conviction that Christians, singly and in
communities, are called to live in the world, to make their witness in
the very midst of the beauty and terror, the boredom and the mystery of the
day-to-day life of men and women. (See Appendix III)
The addresses at
both places (perhaps especially Peter Kreyssig's), the encounter with the
village social work of Madras College, and the work of the Commissions at
Nasrapur all contributed to an important piece of re-thinking and of fresh
commitment within the WSCF.
A particularly
notable change was that, for the first time in WSCF history, an Asian was
elected to the chair - D.T. Niles of
26
Federation Visitor
to the
November 1953
Towards the end of
1953, I became involved in the WSCF in a new and unexpected way. Without
warning, I received a letter from
The background was
that, after the truce of July 1953, a Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission
had been set up to repatriate prisoners-of-war from each side. It consisted of
representatives from
Confronted by this
barrier, the Federation looked for an alternative means by which it might
minister to a member movement emerging from the three-year Korean War. Someone
(Leila Giles or Harry?) remembered that I had been born in
During the Korean
War, the country had been greatly devastated, large numbers of people had been
killed, and there had been large migrations – refugees from the North to the
South, and the temporary removal of Southerners from
27
When a truce was
made in July 1953, people, universities and government departments returned to
I had to begin my
visit by spending a few days in
Following my visit
to both countries, I wrote a Travel Diary for the Student World, which
was published in the Second Quarter 1954. (See Appendix V)
The main purpose of
my visit was to be a Federation presence, to be a visible sign of the
Federation's concern, a reminder that they were not alone or forgotten, and an
assurance of the international interest and support of their fellow-members
throughout the world. A secondary purpose was to discover ways in which
practical expression might be given to that concern and interest. Consequently,
in the latter part of my visit, I consulted with graduate and undergraduate leaders
as to the kind of help they might welcome. As a result, I was able to send a
detailed list to
28
Tutzing General
Committee
My next direct
contact with the WSCF was in 1956 in relation to the Tutzing General Committee
in
After my return to
On the still,
summer afternoon of Sunday, August 15, the bell of the little white
29
representatives
from 56 countries stirred themselves from siesta or unpacking, and strolled up
the hill, past the houses gay with window – boxes of red geraniums, to the
opening service led by D.T. Niles, of
The Church was
white inside also; light and well cared for by those who loved it, and a place
of worship. We sat before an almost life-size crucifix carved with beauty and
realism in a countryside noted for its woodwork. The familiar figure on the
Cross had the strangely unfamiliar face of a Bavarian and was strong of body.
It was this
combination of the familiar and commonly shared Christ and the unfamiliarity of
one another that were the recurring notes of the strange, exciting, bewildering
and exhausting fortnight of General Committee. Out of every continent and
from every race we had come: members of one fellowship yet strangers to one
another; bound by one purpose, yet differing in our ways of working out that
purpose; seeking to work together, yet finding that others were accustomed to
different methods. In part General Committee was the experience of learning to
live and work together in love and honesty as one family in Christ; learning to
come with our own preconceptions, traditions, contributions and inhibitions
and yet coming to a lively encounter in which one's revered methods of
procedure might not be used or even appreciated and in which the contribution
of a person or a delegation was not always so much something which had been
brought to be 'given', as the capacity to meet and respond and strive together
to learn God's will through encounter and even disagreement; having learnt, to
work it out together in harmony.
In the opening service,
we assembled very much as members of national delegations. In the closing
service, two weeks later, we worshipped together as members of General
Committee, of one of the working fellowships within Christ's
31
or to be filled
with the Holy Spirit as we might be, and in spite of tiredness and mental
saturation or the stubborn realities of world politics, Christ did work his
reconciling work amongst us, as the Federation, taking on the flesh of a
General Committee, sought to learn again the meaning of being a minister of
reconciliation.
The Theme and the
Business
The General
Committee met to do the business of the Federation I but it did so in the
context of the theme, 'Jesus Christ the Reconciler'. Dr. W.A. Visser’t Hooft
dealt with this in a series of addresses and notably in two: one by a young
French philosopher who is not a Christian, Francois Jeanson, and the other.
(These may, and should, be read in The Student World, First Quarter
1957, along with the addresses by Rena Karefa-Smart of Africa on race problems;
Bishop K.H. Ting of China on the Church in China today; that of Father Kaolin,
a Swiss Dominican, and the sermon of D.T. Niles.)
But the theme was
also dealt with in terms of the tension existing between the Koreans and
Chinese and, within the Koreans, between loyalty to their nation and to the
universal nature of Christ's kingdom. It was dealt with, in business, in terms
of the relationship between students of communist countries and those who are
not, between the International Union of Students and the World University
Service, between the WSCF and the IVF, between men and women, between racial
and other groups in conflict. In each case, it was learnt that even Christians
(!) do not achieve reconciliation… in the twinkling of an eye by a magical
formula or by quoting words from the New Testament. We had to face some of the
blunt, seemingly intractable factors of life - of life in the Church as well as
in the world - which are the continuing challenge to Christ's workers for
reconciliation. Yet, in each case, it was possible to do something, which would
bring the time of complete reconciliation nearer, to open new channels by which
God's grace might flow more freely in the arid or tense areas of human life
bringing potentialities and peace to light.
31
Attendance
This was the most
representative committee yet. There were some 130 representatives from 57
countries. Particularly notable were the large delegations from
For the remainder
of my report on Tutzing in The Australian Intercollegian, March and May
1957, see Appendix VI. With it is an account from the December 1956 number
written by two other Australian delegates, Margaret Bearlin and Jean Stock, as
both convey something of the impression Tutzing made on three of the delegates.
(Appendix VII)
To those accounts,
I would now add something of my personal involvement in the meeting. A major
factor was the presence of a delegation from
32
We seek God, not
because of any benefit, but because God is what He is. We love God, not because
of any benefit, but because He is lovable. We trust in God because He is
trustworthy... We should not first see the Gospel in its
"usefulness", but in all its "unrootingness". Christ is not
the answer to our questions, for He questions the very foundations of our questions...
In the past, when we preached a pragmatic Christianity, although we brought
many people into the churches, we were only converting disobedient
non-Christians into disobedient Christians. And that we cannot really consider
as evangelism.
He added that, as
Chinese churches have been relieved of foreign financial and political backing
and the protection of unequal treaties, 'the simple words of Pascal become
real to us: "It is a truly blessed state of the Church to be dependent on God
alone".
Looking again at
his address, as printed in The Student World, First Quarter, 1957,1 am
struck both by the number of sentences I marked when I first read it, and by
what it still says to us about the nature, task and relationships of the
Church. Perhaps, in the West, we are now more ready to recognize its relevance
to our very different situation and to learn from it. Thirty years ago, even
some in the WSCF were somewhat defensive of the role of Western missions in
Be that as it may,
the critical issue in the General Committee as a result of the Chinese
presence, was their impact on the Korean delegation. They were from
33
persuade them that,
there were (at that time) one million Protestants, let alone Roman Catholics,
and that there were Christian students and SCM activities. It took time,
patience and restraint on the part of all. I had known Kim Hyun Ja from
So, in spite of the
informality and friendliness of our talking, it was not possible to ignore the
invisible political authorities and atmospheres 'back home' in whose presence
we were to some extent talking, in spite of their physical remoteness.
Nevertheless, a real conversation developed out of which grew mutual
acceptance, understanding and sympathetic appreciation of each other. My own
most vivid memory is of Chao Fu San, on about the third night at
Nevertheless, it
proved impossible for the Koreans to ignore what might happen to them as
individuals on their return to
34
find it necessary
to leave the meeting. We do this only after great searching of heart,
and it is in no sense a denial of the Christian brotherhood that we feel and
desire with Christian students in
The letter made
clear their surprise at finding Chinese representatives at Tutzing, and also
the difficulty ('impossibility') they had, in view of their experience of
Communism in Korea, of understanding 'how a genuine, organized Christian
movement of students can exist under a Communist regime'. But they added: 'We
do not mean to imply that there are no honest, convinced, and genuine
Christians living there. With them, we have sympathy and understanding... We welcome
the opportunity, suddenly and unexpectedly made possible at Tutzing, for us to
meet and talk with Student Movement representatives from
After the
presentation of the letter to the Committee, the Chairman read a statement in
which he made it clear that the Korean delegation was leaving 'because of the
circumstances of the Student Christian Movement in their country' and 'in order
to make it easier for the Korean SCM to remain within the Federation'. The
statement continued:
There has been clear
mutual understanding between our Korean friends and those who have been
conferring with them, a growing appreciation of the nature of our fellowship
within the Federation, and a willingness to share one another's burdens. It is
a joy to know, and I rejoice to say it, that the many conversations about this problem,
which have taken place in the last few days, have been marked by great openness
of spirit and Christian consideration and a sense of fellowship in one Lord.
We assure the Korean
delegation of our full appreciation of the difficulties in which they find
themselves and of our continual prayer for them within the fellowship of the
Federation. (Tutzing Minutes, pp.17-18)
35
So, with sadness on
all sides, the Koreans departed; but, at least, they had been able to stay for
six days. During that time, they had not only made clear their situation and
the impact, which the encounter with Communism had made on individuals,
groups, churches and political parties in the South. They had also had to face
the fact of the unbelievable - that Christianity and Christians continued to
exist under Communism in
After the reading
of the Korean letter and the official WSCF statement, 'the Chairman called the
General Committee to prayer, and led the delegates in a prayer of intercession
and thanksgiving'. We bade the Koreans farewell, and only then was the report
of the Credentials Committee received and adopted. It listed both the Chinese
and Koreans as official delegates of Affiliated Movements.
It was the Tutzing
General Committee, which launched the Federation's study program on 'The Life
and
Amongst the
business matters was that of the revision of the WSCF's Constitution. No change
was proposed in the first sentence: ‘The name shall be: "The World's
Student Christian Federation".' I surprised myself and the Committee by
moving that the apostrophe‘s’ be deleted from 'World's'. I was even more
surprised when the committee agreed! For some time I had thought that, it made
the English version of the name unnecessarily difficult. For John R. Mott, back
in 1895, it had had significance to say that the Federation was the World's,
but in a day of many world organizations, of greater internationalism, it
seemed pointless to have one body, which insisted on the apostrophe s. It meant
little more than extra vigilance for a proofreader. If one wished to press the
point with theological argument, it could be asked whether, in fact, the Federation
was the World's or Christ’s. However, at Tutzing, there was no argument.
Feeling somewhat cheeky, I simply moved the deletion on such grounds as that
'World's' was unnecessary and clumsy; and it was agreed without much comment,
apart from Philippe Maury pointing out that it made no difference to the French
or German versions which were without apostrophes. However, the Constitution
provided that due notice be given to all national movements, so the matter was
not decided formally until the next General Committee at Thessaloniki in 1960.