News
“Some member churches have adopted this approach already, others are just beginning to receive this idea of a spiritual journey which can be taken together,” acknowledged the central committee.
The governing body also discussed the common understanding of unity, in which it became clear that the focus for the WCC is on the unity of the church as a sign of God’s reconciling of all human kind and all of creation. “Yet, different ideas were exchanged, when to invite people of other faiths to become part of the companionship, especially in multi-religious contexts,” reads the report. “The common understanding of ecumenical diakonia provides more coherence to the programmatic work.”
Another suggestion was to consider the proclamation of the gospel in all programmatic work as a key undertaking.
The central committee approved the WCC Strategic Plan 2023-2030 “as a guide for implementing and monitoring the work of the WCC until the next assembly, with a mid-term evaluation in 2027 to review progress,” the report reads, which also asks “the general secretary to further develop objectives and indicators for 2023-2026 from the overall framework, to be reviewed by the executive committee in November 2023.”
The central committee also asked the executive committee to monitor the implementation of the strategic plan 2023-2026, and to report to the central committee in 2025, before the mid-term review in 2026.
In addition, the governing body asked the general secretary to develop a concept note towards a common understanding of the Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity “in order to provide coherence to the programmes of the WCC, making use of the theology of companionship, to be presented to and adopted by the next executive committee meeting.”
