First plenary meeting

The Special Commission's inaugural meeting took place from 6 to 8 December 1999 in Morges, Switzerland. Delegates were able to voice the concerns of their church or church family, their region, their experience with the WCC, as well as their vision for the commission's agenda and methodology.  

The commission divided its work into four sub-committees to meet prior to a second plenary meeting. As one of the goals of the Special Commission was to foster an increased mutual understanding of the churches and their life, the locations and venues of the meetings were chosen bearing in mind the potential for church visits and encounters.

Documents for and from the first plenary meeting (December 1999, Morges, Switzerland)

Sub-committee I: The Organization of the WCC

Host: Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch
Ma’arat Saydnaya, Syria, 6-8 March 2000 

Documents for and from the meeting of Sub-committee I

Sub-committee II: Style and ethos of our life together in the WCC

Host: Orthodox Church in Czech Lands and Slovakia
Vilemov, Czech Republic, 29 July - 3 August 2000

Documents for and from the meeting of Sub-committee II

Sub-committee III: Theological convergences and differences between Orthodox and other traditions in the WCC

Host: Ecumenical Patriarchate and Church of Crete
Kolympari-Chania, Crete, 22-24 August 2000

Documents for and from the meeting of Sub-comittee III

Sub-committee IV: Existing models and new proposals for a structural framework for the WCC

Host: Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch
Ma’arat Saydnaya, Syria, 6-8 March 2000

Documents for meeting of Sub-committee IV

The second plenary meeting was hosted by the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and held at St Mark's Centre in Cairo, Egypt from 23 to 25 October 2000. The "Cairo meeting" had two main tasks: to receive the work of the sub-committees and to map out a way forward.

The Cairo report forms the main substance of the first interim report on the work of the Special Commission to be received by a wider audience -- in this case the WCC central committee, which received the report at its meeting in Potsdam, Germany in January 2001.

Following the meeting of interim working groups, the third plenary meeting of the Special Commission took place at Berekfürdö, Hungary, 15-20 November 2001, at the gracious invitation of the Reformed Church in Hungary. In this meeting, the commission worked on the five clusters of concerns, as identified in the interim report: issues related to membership; a review of decision-making processes; common prayer; social and ethical issues; ecclesiological issues.

Considerable progress was made in almost all the issues discussed. One of the most significant affirmations of the commission was that consensus is the appropriate decision-making method for WCC governing bodies.

Following the recommendation of the Common Prayer Group from the third plenary meeting in Berekfürdö, a working group met "in order to further elaborate the guidelines and reflect on matters related to common prayer." The meeting took place from 6-9 March 2002 at the Ecumenical Institute, Bossey, Geneva and presented its recommendations to the final plenary meeting of the Special Commission.

The Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the World Council of Churches (WCC) fulfilled its mandate at its fourth plenary meeting, 27 May - 2 June 2002, at Järvenpää, diocese of Helsinki, Finland, at the invitation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and of the Orthodox Church of Finland. Results and recommendations of the commission's three-year-work are summarized in a final document, the so-called "Helsinki report". The commission presented its findings to the WCC central committee, which met from 26 August - 3 September 2002 in Geneva, Switzerland, and which took action on them. Work based on the findings of the commission is continued through the Permanent Committee on Consensus and Collaboration.