Scott, Bob. In the Middle of It: A Memoir by the Reverend Rob Scott.

Speicher, Sara

Scott, Bob. In the Middle of It: A Memoir by the Reverend Rob Scott. New Zealand: Bob and Frantisek Riha-Scott, 2014, revised 2015.

In a ministry that has spanned more than 50 years, Bob Scott has certainly never shied from being in the middle of struggles against racism, violence, homophobia --or unnecessary bureaucracy--whether at home in Aotearoa-New Zealand or in international organizations such as the United Nations or World Council of Churches (WCC). He has done this with a directness and conviction that have amply demonstrated his own faith and his belief that a priest challenges situations and systems --perhaps especially within church institutions--that marginalize and oppress God's people.

Bob's recollections are amusing, fascinating, thought-provoking, and at times uncomfortable--much like his dinner parties and Marmite taste tests. They also provide personal insight into people's struggles for justice, and the international and ecumenical responses to them.

Bob's account of his theological college and university days, as well as his early years leading inner-city ministry, portray the qualities that made him so effective in international justice efforts. Certainly there were enough exploits to confirm his love of good fun, food, and company. But also on show are examples of his creative approaches to tasks and problems. In one example, asked to publicize a school production of Hamlet, Bob advertised for a genuine human skull in the newspaper--"a poor Yorick to be lamented by Hamlet." A resulting news article and subsequent outraged letters to the editors generated great publicity for the production.

He also demonstrated an unequivocal sense of his own identity and ministry. From the time of his youth, for instance, being gay was simply who he was. It was not something that needed to be hidden, nor flaunted. But knowing of the abuse and oppression that other gay and lesbian people received from family, church communities, and religious leaders perhaps made him all the more certain that Christian ministry must have people and their pain, struggles, and needs at its core, rather than ecclesiastical rules, structures, and authorities.

In 1972, as chairman of the New Zealand Christian Student Movement, he went to South Africa at the invitation of the University Christian Movement. Although spiritually and intellectually opposed to Apartheid before he went, experiencing the brutal reality for black people in South Africa and confronting the dynamics between oppressed and oppressor--including well-meaning white liberals--profoundly influenced his views of pervasive racism and the role of the church, particularly the international church.

He later had experience putting these convictions into practice both at home in New Zealand in setting up the National Council of Churches' new Programme on Racism, and then in 1988 at the WCC as a staff person in the Programme to Combat Racism. His focus on Asia and the Pacific involved

Bob deeply in the WCC's developing response to the Dalit Solidarity movement and the rights of indigenous peoples, among many other struggles for self-determination and human rights. His recollections provide insight not only into the international ecumenical response, but also into the sometimes dramatic interventions the WCC and WCC staff make at individual and community levels. His own commitment to address racism in all its forms also led him to confront anti-racism efforts that duplicated models of domination and exclusion. Apart from his claim that "he kept very quiet the first few months in Geneva," the reader senses that he did not hesitate to challenge colleagues, commissioners, and church leaders when he felt that power and privilege were being misused.

His vision of the oikoumene, of "tackling challenges and issues together, across denominational and political boundaries" in equal and open collaboration, also led to his advocacy for processes and spaces that promoted listening and the opportunity for a variety of voices to be heard--especially those most directly affected.

Whether it was introducing Sokoni in a WCC Commission meeting in Kenya, or convincing Ecumenical Centre staff that changing the direction of seating and having round tables for a central committee meeting to promote discussion was logistically and methodologically possible, he continued to demonstrate that someone with conviction, tenacity, and creative problem-solving will eventually wear down opposition. The current flexible set up in the main hall of the Ecumenical Centre is a legacy both of his vision of ecumenical dialogue and his willingness to get on his hands and knees to see how the staging was bolted together.

Bob's time at the WCC included the assemblies in Canberra and Harare. His reflections on the inclusion of indigenous peoples, on respecting and honouring local communities in the organization and programme of large international events, and on responding to controversial issues in the ecumenical context (among those issues that of human sexuality) touch on areas of process, power, rights, and justice with which we still wrestle today.

Despite bureaucracy, egos, and misguided efforts, Bob is still a passionate advocate of international arenas like the United Nations and WCC. He amply (through biting criticism or humorous example) demonstrates how "no international organization will ever perfectly fulfill its mission," and doesn't hesitate to describe individual and collective actions or attitudes that, for him, were obstacles to justice and service. Yet, in his same direct style, he also provides many examples--large and small--that demonstrate what the oikoumene is capable of achieving.

In essence, Bob is a communicator. He listens, observes, learns, and shares. He works passionately to create spaces where others can do the same. He is a storyteller, weaving anecdotes of the mundane and momentous that provide an insight and challenge in regard to what being in ministry --lay or ordained--means in daily life.

In the Middle of It is not just a tale of historical events. Bob's observations, questions, and challenges are relevant still today. His personal writing style invites us to ask ourselves how we, too, use our positions and convictions to see and challenge injustice wherever it occurs. In the Middle of It is also, perhaps, his statement of where Christians ought to be.

DOI: 10.1111/erev.12209

Sara Speicher, a former colleague of Bob Scott on the staff of the World Council of Churches, continues to work for ecumenical causes as a communicator.