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In 1975 the Consultation on the Church and the Jewish People (CCJP) voted to begin the process that has borne fruit in these Ecumenical Considerations on Jewish-Christian dialogue. The first step was to request preparatory papers from the various regions with experience in Jewish-Christian dialogue. When the Central Committee adopted "Guidelines on Dialogue" in 1979, work on developing specific suggestions for Jewish-Christian dialogue began and, after a period of drafting and revisions, a draft was presented for comments to the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC), the CCJP's primary Jewish dialogue partner. After discussion in the DFI Working Group in 1980, a revised draft was circulated among interested persons in the churches and comments solicited. Many and substantial comments and suggestions were received.

When it met in London Colney, England, in June 1981, the CCJP adopted its final revisions and submitted them to the DFI Working Group, which adopted them at its meeting in Bali, Indonesia, 2 January 1982, having made its own revisions at a few points. On the advice of the February 1982 WCC Executive Committee, various concerned member churches and various members of the CCJP were further consulted in order to revise and re-order the text. The result, "Ecumenical Considerations on Jewish-Christian Dialogue", was "received and commended to the churches for study and action" by the Executive Committee of the World Council of Churches at Geneva on 16 July 1982.

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.

The Lima Liturgy is a Eucharistic (Holy Communion) service expressing, in one possible liturgical form, the ecclesiological convergence on the eucharist reached in the Faith and Order text Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (BEM). It is so named because it was first used at the Faith and Order Plenary Commission meeting in Lima, Peru in 1982 - the meeting which approved BEM for transmission to the churches for official response.

Both the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches are determined to continue their collaboration and to seek together ways to serve the ecumenical cause. Therefore, after ten years of com­mon experience, it is appropriate to ask anew the question how they can, together, best further the ecu­menical movement, How should the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches be related to one another? What areas require primary atten­tion? What kind of common structure should be adopted? The present report attempts to answer these questions and submits to the parent bodies a number of recommendations as to the next steps to be taken.

The Joint Working Group is convinced that the work of the past five years has been worthwhile. At the same time a great many things remain to be done. The Lord's demand is clear: that they may be one in order that the world may believe" (John 17,21). As we face this demand we are keenly aware of how much we still fall short of giving to the world the sign of communion which should arouse its faith in the love of the Father who sends his Son to save us.

Global Research on present status and future of Theological Education in World Christianity

Lecture for CEC Commission Churches in Dialogue, Budapest, June 2011

The fragmented landscapes of theological education on global scale today and different political conditions and frameworks according to which theological education can organize itself also lead to quite different ways in which accreditation and quality assessment of higher education institutions in theological education is taking place. There has not been yet any attempt to compare and reflect theologically the different sets of criteria by which associations of theological schools asses the quality of theological education within their own area of responsibility. A major international and ecumenical research project would be advisable and deserve funding on questions like

a) What are the underlining theological presuppositions for sets of quality criteria for theological education in a given social and denominational context?
b) What is the relation between general or secular sets of criteria for assessment in higher theological education and specific sets of criteria which emerge out of specifically theological concerns?
c) To what extend there is a common ground between different sets of criteria for theological education programs between different social and denominational contexts?

Communique from the 2011 Consultation of the World Conference of Associations of Theological Institutions (WOCATI), which took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 4 to 8 July. The Consultation, the first ever mabe in Africa, gathered 38 representatives of Protestant, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelical, Pentecostal and African Independent Churches, who discussed issues of quality in theological education on a global level.

Meditation by WCC general secretary by Sant’Egidio Prayers for Peace – Sarajevo September 11, 2012

Congratulations to new leading Bishop of the Church of Norway Bishop Helga Haugland Byfuglien

World Council of Churches general secretary’s greetings to the World Methodist Conference, 4 - 8 August 2011, Durban, South Africa.

This publication presents the challenges posed by newly
emerging technologies to people of faith. It is a discussion
starter and wants to encourage urgently needed study and
reflection by churches, theological faculties and ecumenical
bodies in close cooperation with each other. The new
technologies represent a new stage of development, which
requires a fresh approach and change of perspective.