Towards Koinonia in Worship

Faith and Order Consultation
Ditchingham, England, August 1994

These texts come from the first meeting in Faith and Order's study programme on the role of worship in the search for Christian unity. As its name implies, the study explores how the worship life of the church may inspire and inform the churches' efforts to express more fully their oneness in Christ. The study also explores areas of continuing difference among the churches - for example the fact that, in some cases, members of one church cannot receive the Eucharist (the Lord's Supper) in another church or that, more rarely, baptisms performs in some churches are not recognized in others.

This meeting, held at Ditchingham (near Norwith), England in August, 1994 brought together a diverse group of liturgists, theologians, church musicians and local pastors. The meeting adopted two texts. The first, a "Letter on Koinonia in Worship" addressed from the meeting to "Christians, as they care about the unity and the worship of the churches", emphasizes what Christians have in common in their worship life as a basis for their common confession, witness and service in the world. The second text, the Report from the meeting, (1) explores the common ordo or pattern of much Christian worship as a basis for the churches' increasing communion; (2) explores problems and possibilities in the inculturation (local adaptation) of worship in various cultures around the world; (3) offers many examples from local situations of how common worship is already helping Christians to experience - and express - more of the unity which is theirs in Christ; and (4) makes specific proposals for future Faith and Order work in this area.

The Ditchingham Letter and Report, together with the papers presented and worship services held at the meeting, have been published in So We Believe, So We Pray: Towards Koinonia in Worship, ed. By Thomas F. Best and Dagmar Heller, Faith and Order Paper No. 171, Geneva, WCC Publications, 1995.

A second meeting in this study programme was held in January 1997 in Faverges, France on the topic "Becoming a Christian: The Ecumenical Implications of Our Common Baptism". This consultation focussed on issues of baptism in relation to the Christian unity, exploring how the common pattern (ordo) of the baptismal service can foster a sense of unity among Christians; how baptismal services may be responsibly inculturated (adapted locally) in various cultures around the world; and how baptism determines the nature and practice of Christian ethics. The Report from this meeting is also available on this site; the Report and papers from the consultation will be published by the World Council of Churches in book form in mid-1999.

Faith and Order staff and commissioners have also helped organize a meeting, starting from the churches' experience in using the "Lima Liturgy", on eucharistic worship in ecumenical contexts. This has been published as Eucharistic Worship in Ecumenical Contexts: The Lima Liturgy - and Beyond, ed. By Thomas F. Best and Dagmar Heller, Geneva, WCC Publications, 1998.