General Assembly

This page gives a brief overview of the World Student Christian Federation's four-yearly global meeting, the WSCF General Assembly.
To see the report from the latest WSCF General Assembly, please go to .

The General Assembly is the most representative and highest decision-making body of the World Student Christian Federation. General Assemblies or General Committees of WSCF have taken place since the federation's foundation meeting in 1895. The four-yearly General Assembly involves every national member movement of the federation along with WSCF Executive Committee Officers, Inter-Regional and Regional staff. The General Assembly quorum must include at least half its member movements and the voting delegates should be balanced in terms of student and gender representation. Also in attendance at General Assemblies are stewards from SCMs who work to support the assembly's programme and administration, guests from partner organisations and resource people providing input during the assembly programme.

The General Assembly opens with a review of the life and changing contexts of its member movements at national, regional and inter-regional levels. The General Assembly reviews and assesses:
  • The situation of the member movements
  • The situation of the regions
  • The work of the Executive Committee
  • The world wide situation of the Federation
The assembly then sets out the objectives and priorities of the federation's programme and policy for the upcoming four-year period.

Each General Assembly is required to elect WSCF's global officers and Executive Committee and to appoint global staff. Changes to the constitution of WSCF must be agreed by its General Assembly and new affiliated memberships may only be approved by vote of the General Assembly.

Between General Assemblies, the WSCF officers, staff and Executive Committee implement the directives and policies agreed on by the whole assembly.

The WSCF General Assembly is also an opportunity for inter-regional dialogue and awareness-raising. Each General Assembly has a theme that focuses the forum's Bible Studies, theological and political analyisis, local exposure and dialogue experiences. Common worship also forms a vital part of the life of the General Assembly. The assembly is a great opportunity for cultural exchange through sharing of performing arts and liturgical traditions, as well as through conversation, working together and general interaction amongst the assembly's participants.

The General Assembly often speaks out on contemporary issues as the collective voice of the federation. WSCF General Assemblies can issue resolutions on urgent political situations that affect its members in different parts of the world.

The final policies and directions arising from the General Assembly are often articulated in a creative and spirited form, such as the vision statement affirmed by the 2004 assembly (as below).

2004 General Assembly Vision Statement

"The WSCF is a global community of Student Christian Movements committed to dialogue, ecumenism, social justice and peace. Our mission is to empower students in critical thinking and constructive transformation of our world by being a space for, prayer and celebration, theological reflection, study and analysis of social and cultural processes and solidarity and action across boundaries of culture, gender and ethnicity. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, the WSCF is called to be a prophetic witness in church and society. This vision is nurtured by a radical hope for God's Reign in history."

For more detailed information on the legal structures and working regulations of the General Assembly, please go to the .

Participants at the WSCF 33rd General Assembly,Chiang Mai, Thailand, August 2004.