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Cultivate and Care

An Ecumenical Theology of Justice for and within Creation

Faith and Order Paper No. 226

The alarming climate change demands that the churches’ journey toward visible unity must include a sustained dialogue with a theology for justice for and within creation and seek ways to put the fruits of that dialogue into practice.

This theological document seeks to demonstrate how a committed response to the environmental devastation of our time can be motivated by Christian faith in God the creator, redeemer, and sanctifier.

We have sought, first, to point to some of the urgent environmental situations which cry out for Christian reflection and action. Next, we have sought to root such a response in the progressively increasing ecumenical consideration of creation on the part of the WCC in recent decades and in various theological, ecclesiological, and ecumenical convictions which our churches share and which call them to join together in engagement to protect the environment. Finally, we have proposed ways in which such engagement can take form.

Churches and Moral Discernment (I)

Volume 1: Learning from Traditions

Faith and Order Paper No. 228

The volume features 14 self-descriptions of different traditions regard­ing moral discernment: their sources, the interplay of sources, and the processes of ecclesial deliberation. The different self-descriptions are presented to enable reflection on and provide awareness of how processes of moral discernment are envisioned by the respective traditions. They invite the reader, as well as churches, to study them, reflect on the moral discernment of their own tradition, and learn how others engage in moral discernment.

 

Churches and Moral Discernment (II)

Volume 2: Learning from History

Faith and Order Paper No. 229

Many of the tensions between and among churches can be traced to the different positions they take on important ethical issues that face the churches and society. Yet, even within traditions positions change. In this second volume examining moral discernment in church traditions, the authors imagine changes in position on issues such as usury, slavery, marriage, suicide, as well as freedom of religion, apartheid, and involvement in war and peace.

Multilateral Ecumenism. Sixty Years of Experience From the Perspective of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity

In the field of multilateral relations, the major partner of the Catholic Church is the World Council of Churches (WCC). Founded in 1948, it is the broadest and most inclusive ecumenical organization, bringing together 350 Christian denominations including Orthodox, Lutherans, Reformed, Anglicans, Methodists, Baptists as well as United and Independent churches. Altogether they represent over 500 million Christians worldwide.

WCC Permanent Committee on Consensus and Collaboration convenes

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Permanent Committee on Consensus and Collaboration will meet from 25 February - 2 March at Kartause Ittingen, Switzerland. The committee will share its preparations for the WCC 11th Assembly to be held in Karlsruhe, Germany in September 2021. The group will also make decisions regarding a report to the assembly.

WCC Faith and Order Commission proposes world conference, maps common ground among churches

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Faith and Order Commission, through its three study groups, is proposing a world conference as it continues to map common ground among churches worldwide. The work of the commission is carried on through three study groups focusing on the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace, ecclesiology, and moral discernment. All three study groups recently met at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute.

"Everything is about theology and the God of life", says Martin Robra after 25 years at the WCC

Rev. Dr Martin Robra has been a key contributor to the ecumenical movement for the last 25 years, working for the World Council of Churches (WCC).

Robra is a theologian and ordained pastor who served as programme executive for the WCC for Ecumenical Continuing Formation, Roman Catholic relations, the joint inter-faith project with the International Labour Organisation Advancing Peace through social justice and support for the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace.

WCC Communication asked Robra to reflect on his years of service to the WCC fellowship.

WCC assembly preparation on agenda for Conference of European Churches

The upcoming World Council of Churches (WCC) assembly in Karlsruhe, Germany, was on the agenda of a recent meeting of the Conference of European Churches in Finland. Dr Marc Witzenbacher, the local WCC assembly coordinator, talked about the organizational process of the gathering, and also invited European churches to have significant participation in the assembly.

WCC Faith and Order Commission illuminates the pursuit of church unity

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Faith and Order Commission is making significant new contributions to global dialogues related to the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace, ecclesiology, and moral discernment. The fruits of the commission’s work come from its three study groups, which explore different facets of the nature of the church as they illuminate a pursuit of church unity.

WCC Faith and Order Commission completes meeting in China

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Faith and Order Commission completed its meeting, held 12-19 June, in Nanjing, China, the third major WCC meeting held in China over the last three years. Hosted by the China Christian Council, the commission met to discuss and make decisions about the results of the work of its three study groups on ecclesiology, moral discernment and the pilgrimage of justice and peace.

Casely Essamuah, ‘working for the greater glory of God’

Maryland-based, Ghanaian-born Rev. Dr Casely Essamuah was in February selected as secretary of the Global Christian Forum. Originally ordained in the Methodist Church in Ghana, he began his work officially in July. This week he made a study visit to the WCC and the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva and the WCC was able to converse with him.