Faith and Order Papers Digital Edition
The Faith and Order Papers have their origins in the American east coast in the beginning of the 20th century.
The first leaders of the movement on Faith and Order were then mobilizing churches in the USA and worldwide around the idea of calling a world conference on matters of doctrine and church order that kept the churches apart, with a view to helping them to achieve visible unity.
Publication of official and unofficial texts directly related to the meaning, aims, and activities of the movement soon became one of their priorities. As early as 1913, a report on the work in progress of the movement included one of the first lists of “Faith and Order Papers” (see document wccfops1.027, p. 21-22).
The Faith and Order Papers constitute today a unique century-old library that documents not only progress in modern ecumenical theology but also the circumstances in which this progress has taken place. They give access not only to final reports of studies or of world conferences, but also to detailed records of plans and the implementation of plans that led to those results and to the documentation about the churches’ movement from separation to reunion.
This collection is in fact a collection of collections. Several successive “papers” record, for instance:
• the fast-growing appointment of commissions on faith and order throughout the world during the 1910s and 1920s;
• a small series was dedicated to frequently asked questions about the Movement on Faith and Order before the 1927 World Conference;
• another sub-collection includes reports of church union negotiations throughout the world from the 1950s to 2006;
• the many minutes of the meetings of the different Faith and Order governing bodies provide rich information about ecumenical theological work in progress;
• two publications, of 1963 and 1993, constitute together a comprehensive documentary history of Faith and Order;
• a series of “papers” published in the 1980s gathered together the churches responses to the landmark document Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry.
The library is numbered in two series. The papers published by the movement on Faith and Order belong to series 1, which ended when the movement became the Commission on Faith and Order, following the establishment of the World Council of Churches in 1948. Ever since, the publications are numbered as series 2. For the sake of accurate documentation, this distinction was kept when each document received its new digital ID.
As we welcome you to the library, we rejoice in the privilege of protecting and sharing the memory of the work accomplished and, by so doing, assisting Christians and churches as they call each other to visible communion.
Odair Pedroso Mateus
Editor, Faith and Order Papers Digital Edition
This project was made possible with financial support from the Otto per Mille fund (OPM) of the Waldensian Church in Italy.
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Abstracts – Faith and Order Papers
Series 1, paper Reprint of 28 by the Continuation Committee. (List of publications omitted.)
Series 1, paper 29 The World Conference for the Consideration of Questions Touching Faith and Order. A Manual of Prayer for Unity.
Series 1, paper 30 The World Conference for the Consideration of Questions Touching Faith and Order. North American Preparatory Conference, Garden City, Long Island, New York, U.S.A., January 4-6, 1916. Report of Progress by the Secretary. Opening Address by the Rt. Rev. C. P. Anderson, D.D.
Series 1, paper 31 The World Conference for the Consideration of Questions Touching Faith and Order. Report of the Joint Commission to the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 1916.
Series 1, paper 32 The World Conference for the Consideration of Questions Touching Faith and Order. Report of the Deputation to Europe and the East.
Series 1, paper 33 World Conference on Faith and Order. Report of the Preliminary Meeting at Geneva, Switzer-land, August 12-20, 1920. A Pilgrimage toward Unity
Series 1, paper 34 The World Conference on Faith and Order. A Compilation of Proposals for Christian Unity.
Series 1, paper 35 World Conference on Faith and Order. Hopeful Conferences in England and Australia.
Series 1, paper 36 Twenty Paragraphs about the World Conference on Faith and Order. Large pages.
Series 1, paper 37 Subjects Committee Papers Circulated in Preparation for the World Conference on Faith and Order.
Series 1, paper 38 World Conference on Faith and Order. The Christian Way Toward Unity
Series 1, paper 39 Five Series of Questions for Preliminary Discussion in Preparation for the World Conference on Faith and Order.
Series 1, paper 40 World Conference on Faith and Order. The Christian Way Toward Unity, followed by Twenty Paragraphs about the World Conference on Faith and Order. Small pages.
Series 1, paper Minutes of the Continuation Committee of the World Conference on Faith and Order, Stockholm, August 15 to 18, 1925.
Series 1, paper 41 Draft Agenda for the World Conference on Faith and Order. Prepared by the Continuation Committee at Stockholm, August 15 to 18, 1925
Series 1, paper 42 Twenty Paragraphs about the World Conference on Faith and Order. Reunion. 6th ed. Small pages.
Series 1, paper 43 Twenty Paragraphs about the World Conference on Faith and Order, followed by a Loan Library List on Recent Books Relating to Christian Unity. 7th ed.
Series 1, paper 44 The World Conference on Faith and Order. A Brief Statement of Its Purpose and Method of Organisation.
Series 1, paper 45 Minutes of the Continuation Committee of the World Conference on Faith and Order, Berne, Switzerland, August 23-25, 1926.
Series 1, paper 46 Statements by the Subjects Committee of the World Conference on Faith and Order. cover + 32 pages
Series 1, paper 47 World Conference on Faith and Order. Specifications and Material for the Lausanne Programme. cover + 22 pages
Series 1, paper 48 World Conference on Faith and Order. Membership List of the Lausanne Conference, August 3-21, 1927.
Series 1, paper 49 World Conference on Faith and Order. Who's Who at Lausanne, Switzerland, August 3-21, 1927.
Series 1, paper 50 Programme for the World Conference on Faith and Order, Lausanne, Switzerland, August 3-21, 1927
Series 1, paper 51 World Conference on Faith and Order. Rules of Procedure, as adopted August 6, 1927
Series 1, paper 52 World Conference on Faith and Order. Material Prepared by the Subjects Committee.
Series 1, paper 53 Records of the Continuation Committee of the World Conference on Faith and Order, Lausanne Switzerland, August, 1927.
Series 1, paper 54 Reports of the World Conference on Faith and Order, Lausanne, Switzerland, August 3 to 21, 1927. (Does not include Report VII.) 24 pages
Series 1, paper 55 Reports of the World Conference on Faith and Order, Lausanne, Switzerland, August 3 to 21, 1927. (Includes Report VII)
Series 1, paper Faith and Order: Proceedings of the World Conference - Lausanne, August 3-21, 1927 - New York, George H. Doran Company
For more information, please contact:
Rev. Prof. Dr Odair Pedroso Mateus
Editor of the Faith and Order Papers Digital Edition
World Council of Churches
150, route de Ferney
1211 Geneva 2
Switzerland
+41 227916070
[email protected]