World Council of Churches

Fourth Assembly

Uppsala, Sweden, July 1968

Section VI (sub-section 2)

Document No. 1

The style of a human life and a community is more than one knows and does. It is the total response to the circumstances. It is expressed in the total way of behavior, more than can be analyzed sociologically or psychologically, as it expresses the whole being in a polar awareness of group and individual. It is motivated life, for one's self is determined by the "style" to which one is committed. Style is one dynamic movement which communicates the self-understanding of man and the directive for continuous renewal.

We are confronted with a variety of styles. In order to find the appropriate and responsible style of living one needs discernment and discipline. Firstly, the variety of styles may express amore common style that can only be discovered when one seeks the ultimate directive. Secondly, there is a danger of a style being accepted from the outside as a temporary fashion: styles can also lead to self-alienation so that a discernment of deeper motives is necessary.

Style can effect a renewal only when it is a normative function. This however does not mean that eternal norms have to be formulated, but that a responsible style can act as a criterion of change for the emergence of new man and a new society.