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The feast of the resurrection lies at the heart of the Christian faith. But finding a common date for that celebration has always been complex. Eastern and Western churches have used different calendars to calculate the date of Easter since the 16th century, and only rarely do they coincide. Fresh impetus to explore the hope of a common date for Easter comes in 2025, when all Christians will celebrate Easter on a common day. 2025 also marks the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, which addressed the need for a common celebration of the resurrection.

This publication contains four contributions from different church traditions on the search for a way to celebrate Easter on a common date every year that were presented at a webinar organized by the Commission on Faith and Order om “Easter 2025: Celebrating Together to Strengthen Unity.”

The organizers hope that these contributions may help animate the churches of the world and Christians in their contexts to work with one another towards a common celebration of Easter.

Aleppo Statement
It also contains the document “Towards a Common Date for Easter” produced at a consultation jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches and the Middle East Council of Churches in Aleppo, Syria, in 1997, offering observations and specific recommendations for the churches.

The urgency of the climate catastrophe demands strong and effective responses. With fossil fuels driving over 75% of global CO2 emissions, we need to hold accountable those who still finance their expansion, harming us and future generations. 

This publication helps to empower people of faith and partners in WCC’s global constituency with the knowledge for legal action. It provides a menu of strategies particularly aimed at financial institutions, one of the most powerful levers to accelerate climate solutions. It is a call to answer the pleas of the scientific community and young people to tackle the root causes of harm to creation and protect future generation’s right to life.

Christ’s call to love our neighbours as ourselves includes ensuring that all have access to the resources needed to live and flourish. And yet, societal barriers to reproductive health prevent many individuals from accessing necessary care. Love, Justice and Reproductive Health: A Framework for Churches invites churches to consider reproductive health from a perspective rooted in Christ’s love. It introduces key areas and addresses prevalent disparities within reproductive health outcomes. The framework encourages churches to act on this issue, providing programmatic suggestions for them to embody Christ’s love and justice within their own contexts.

Please send comments and questions to [email protected]
The author, Rev Alexa Dava is ordained with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and serves as project officer for Human Dignity and Reproductive Health at the WCC.

Taken together, these two messages from international consultations, sponsored by the World Council of Churches, provide a valuable entry point for reflection on the self-understanding and mission of United and Uniting Churches in today’s world.
I. Going the Second Mile: A message of the 8th Consultation of United and Uniting Churches. Johannesburg, 29 October–5 November 2008
II. Living in Tents: A Message of the 9th Consultation of United and Uniting Churches. Chennai, 25 November–2 December 2015.
Two appendices provide documentary information about Faith and Order publications concerning United and Uniting Churches.