Interview
Would you like to share some highlights from your report with the WCC’s global readers?
Dr Dietrich: One of the main highlights of my report will be the strong momentum generated by the Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order in Wadi El Natrun. The conference confirmed the continuing importance of the work of the Faith and Order Commission and gave renewed energy to our common journey towards visible unity.
Importantly, the conference did not only discuss the need to “broaden the table”; it was itself an expression of a broadened table. This was evident particularly in the strong participation of young people and in the significant presence and contribution of churches and theologians from the Global South.
I will also underline that Faith and Order’s contribution to the search for visible Christian unity cannot be separated from the wider Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity. Visible unity is not an isolated theological goal. It is part of the churches’ common calling to witness to reconciliation, justice, and unity in a deeply divided world.
What are the fruits of some aspects of the agenda and programme you are anticipating?
Dr Dietrich: One important fruit of the meeting in Lund will be the opportunity to encounter the life and witness of churches in the Nordic region. We hope that the meeting will create space for mutual learning: for the commission to learn from the experiences, challenges, and theological reflections of the Nordic churches, and for these encounters in turn to offer inspiration both ways. Such encounters are important because Faith and Order’s theological work always seeks to remain connected to the lived realities of churches in their particular contexts. For this meeting, we are especially looking forward to two panel discussions with representatives and church leaders from the Nordic churches, focusing on the specific experiences and challenges in the region, Indigenous theology, and migration, and envisioning the future of the churches in the Nordics.
In our meeting this year, this also means a strong presence of and encounter with young theologians from the commission and the Nordic region, including a panel on youth participation and a half-day seminar at Lund University for the exchange between commissioners and academia.
The meeting will also be an important step forward for the commission’s study groups and for our work as a whole. Under the current mandate, we are concentrating on three principal areas: ecclesiology, through the study Being Church on the Way Towards Visible Unity; theological anthropology and moral discernment, through Being Human: Discerning Humanity in the Image of God; and the relation between church and world, through The Church in and for the World, with particular attention to mission, peace, reconciliation, justice, contextuality, and decolonisation. I hope the meeting will help us deepen these studies, strengthen the connections between them, and clarify how they can serve the churches in their common search for visible unity and faithful witness in the world.
In what ways will the commission celebrate the Lund Principles from 1952? Why is this important for the world to know?
Dr Dietrich: The Lund Principle of 1952 remains a powerful reminder that there is no real alternative to cooperation and to the common search for visible unity. It challenges the churches to ask whether they should continue to act separately in areas where they can act together; in theological work, in witness and in service.
For us, celebrating the Lund Principle is therefore not primarily about looking back at an important moment in ecumenical history. It is about renewing a moral and spiritual commitment to walk together, to listen to one another, and to seek a deeper and truer understanding of one another and of God’s call to the churches. In this sense, the journey of the disciples on the road to Emmaus offers a meaningful image: they walked together, shared their questions and disappointments, listened, and gradually came to see differently. The ecumenical journey also requires this willingness to remain on the road together, even when understanding is incomplete. In a fragmented world, it is important to affirm that Christian unity is not an optional extra, but part of the churches’ responsibility for credible common witness and service.
The planning of this meeting has itself been a concrete “living out” of the Lund Principle. The generous commitment of the Nordic churches, and especially the active support of the Church of Sweden, has demonstrated in practice what it means for churches to act together wherever possible, sharing responsibility and resources in the service of our common ecumenical calling.
How will the outcomes from the world conference in Egypt inform the gathering?
Dr Dietrich: The outcomes of the Sixth World Conference in Wadi El Natrun will provide an important point of orientation for our gathering in Lund. The Ecumenical Affirmation and the Call to All Christians do not simply summarize what happened in Egypt; they challenge us to carry the momentum of the conference forward into the continuing work of Faith and Order.
A central affirmation from Wadi El Natrun is that the visible unity of the church is not only a theological aspiration but also a gospel imperative. The conference also called Christians to renew their commitment to faith, mission, and unity, to listen together to the Holy Spirit and to journey together as pilgrims. This connects very directly with the work of the commission and with the wider Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity.
In Lund, we therefore want to ask what it means to receive these outcomes: how the affirmations made in Wadi El Natrun become part of the churches’ theological reflection, common witness, and lived relationships, and how Faith and Order can help carry this call further.
How does the Faith and Order Commission continue to discern amid a global church with a shifting centre of gravity?
Dr Dietrich: We are very grateful for the strong participation of commissioners from the Global South, and this is essential for the way Faith and Order understands its task today.
We need genuine joint discernment about which theological questions are most relevant for the churches in different contexts, and about how these questions should be approached. This also concerns the way our work is received and shared. Dissemination cannot be an afterthought; it needs to be developed in cooperation with churches, theologians, and ecumenical partners globally.
For Faith and Order, this means not only broadening participation, but allowing that broader participation to shape the agenda, the theological conversation and the way our work serves the churches worldwide.
Learn more about the work of the WCC Commission on Faith and Order
