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Sermon by bishop Mary Ann Swenson, Vice-moderator of the WCC Central Committee

Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, General Secretary World Council of Churches

Sermon in Chongwenmen Church, Beijing, 7 January 2018

Theme: Jesus Christ – the Joy of the World

Sermon given by WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit on 27 September 2017, as Finn Church Aid celebrate 70 years.

Living Together in the Household of God:
Isabel Phiri's speech at CCA in Jakarta
A Theological Reflection
14th GENERAL ASSEMBLY CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE OF ASIA
D. T. NILES MEMORIAL LECTURE
Friday, May 22, 2015
20- 27 May 2015, Jakarta- Indonesia

Reflection by Bishop Duleep de Chickera from the Anglican Church of Sri Lanka, presented at the WCC 10th Assembly during the theme plenary.

Sermon by Dr Rogate R. Mshana at the Monday morning prayer service at the Ecumenical Centre, 3 May 2010
Based on Mathew 14:13-14

WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit held the sermon at the prayer service at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland.

Sermon for the service of installation of Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit as general secretary of the World Council of Churches. Chapel of the Ecumenical Centre, Geneva, Tuesday 23 February 2010

Statement by 106 representatives from churches, agencies/specialised ministries, regional and national councils of churches, Christian World Communions and international ecumenical organisations to a consultation on "Ecumenism in the 21st Century," held at Chavannes-de-Bogis, Switzerland from 30 November to 3 December 2004.

In 1979 the WCC produced a document entitled "Guidelines on Dialogue with People of Living Faiths" which sought to identify and discuss the major practical and theological issues in interfaith relations. While it addressed some of the overall aspects, it recognized the need for more specific "guidelines" or ecumenical considerations on Christian relations with each of the major faith communities in the world. This document results from the attempt to follow this up in the area of Christian-Muslim relations. It draws on the experience gained from the considerable work carried out over the years. All the meetings between Christians and Muslims organized by the sub-unit on Dialogue during the past twenty years have been documented in the WCC publication "Meeting in Faith". These meetings, however, are only a small part of a much richer history of relations and numerous dialogue encounters in many places. The document that follows is itself based on five regional meetings between Christians and Muslims organized in different parts of the world. These meetings helped to identify some of the important issues which Christians and Muslims need to reflect on and continue to consider together in the years ahead. Many qualified persons in the field of Christian-Muslim relations were consulted in the process.

Poor and oppressed people, who are at the margins of the world's concern, should be at the centre of Christian service, insisted the 300 participants in the 1986 global ecumenical consultation on interchurch aid in Larnaca, Cyprus. Diakonia, they said, is "liberating and transforming, suffering and empowering". Christian service cannot be separated from the struggle for justice and peace; therefore, advocacy, solidarity and sharing of skills are as essential to diakonia as the giving of money.

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.