The WCC is a fellowship of churches, now 349 in more than 110 countries in all continents from virtually all christian traditions 
CMI > Resources > Documentos > WCC commissions > Faith and Order commission > I. Unity: The Church and its mission
I. Unity: The Church and its Mission
- The Nature and Mission of the Church - A Stage on the Way to a Common Statement
- This extended text (about 18,000 words) was published in December 2005 and is the latest result from Faith and Order’s study on Ecclesiology. It seeks to express common convictions about the church, its nature and mission, and to identify the ecclesiological issues which continue to divide the churches today. The text has been sent officially to the churches for evaluation and response; study groups and individuals are also invited to offer comments and reactions. This text replaces the previous study document The Nature and Purpose of the Church (Faith and Order Paper no. 181, issued in 1998).
- Called to be the One Church (The Porto Alegre Ecclesiology Text)
- Called to be the One Church (The Porto Alegre Ecclesiology Text) This concise text (about 2,300 words) was adopted by WCC member churches at the Porto Alegre Assembly (February, 2006) as a basis for their renewed commitment to the search for visible unity. It invites the churches into a renewed conversation - mutually supportive, yet open and searching – about the quality of their fellowship and communion, and about the issues which still divide them. WCC member churches are asked to respond officially to the text by the next WCC Assembly; study groups and individuals are also invited to offer comments and reactions.
- The Unity of the Church: Gift and Calling - The Canberra Statement
- This text developed by Faith and Order is another of the "unity statements" adopted by WCC Assemblies over the years. It is one attempt to indicate the elements of “full communion” among churches.
- Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (Faith and Order Paper no. 111, the “Lima Text”)
- This famous text, adopted by Faith and Order at its plenary commission meeting in Lima, Peru in 1982, explores the growing agreement – and remaining differences - in fundamental areas of the churches’ faith and life. The most widely-distributed and studied ecumenical document, BEM has been a basis for many "mutual recognition" agreements among churches and remains a reference today.
- Towards a Common Date for Easter
- In most years Protestant and Roman Catholic Christians celebrate Easter on one date, and Orthodox Christians on another (the year 2007, and again in 2011, will be an exception). This text, prepared by Faith and Order in collaboration with the Middle East Council of Churches, examines the reasons for this and offers a proposal for reckoning a common date of Easter.
- Frequently asked questions about the date of Easter
- In 2007 Christians from all traditions will celebrate Easter on the same day, April 8. But in many years major Christian traditions celebrate Easter on different dates, thus giving the impression of a divided witness to this fundamental aspect of the Christian faith. In recent years the desire to find a common date for the celebration of Easter, the Holy Pascha, the feast of Christ's resurrection, has become more and urgent. Initiatives by the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches have urged churches to address this issue. This page seeks to provide some answers to frequent questions asked about the date of Easter.
- (Previous stage) The Nature and Purpose of the Church: A stage on the way to a common statement
- This text, from the Faith and Order study on Ecclesiology, was issued as Faith and Order Paper no. 181 in 1998. Now superseded by The Nature and Mission of the Church, Faith and Order Paper no. 198, issued in 2005, it is included here to enable comparison of these two texts.