Displaying 1 - 20 of 30
Sort by relevance Sort by date
Event
Bible

WCC Webinar:“Church, Mission, and the Bonds of Koinonia”

27 April 2022

As part of an ongoing series on bilateral dialogues, the World Council of Churches (WCC) will host a webinar, “Church, Mission, and the Bonds of Koinonia,” on 27 April that will bring in voices from the Anglican Communion, World Communion of Reformed Churches, and World Pentecostal Fellowship.

Online
Publication
Common Threads Cover - image of hands weaving

Common Threads

Key Themes from Responses to The Church: Towards a Common Vision

Faith and Order Paper No 233

Churches now agree more than they disagree on many characteristics of the Church and its faith, mission, and life: the responses to the convergence statement The Church: Towards a Common Vision make this clear. Within this growth in agreement, key themes come to the fore, calling for greater understanding, study, and common conversation: visible unity, communion, mission, the role of the people of God in ministry and decision-making, sin and the church, and more. 
This volume presents essays on sixteen of these key themes. Each essay was written by a member of the subgroup of the WCC Commission on Faith and Order that focused on reading and analyzing the responses. The essays were then discussed by the group and revised in light of the discussions. Some of the themes have been prominent since the 1982 convergence statement Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry. Others have emerged more recently. 

Together with the report What are the Churches Saying about the Church?, the essays illuminate the many ways in which the vision of unity has inspired and changed the churches, as well as critical areas where future work is needed.

25 February 2022
Publication
“Churches and Moral Discernment: Facilitating Dialogue to Build Koinonia” Cover

Churches and Moral Discernment (III)

Volume 3: Facilitating Dialogue to Build Koinonia

Faith and Order Paper No. 235

The study document “Churches and Moral Discernment: Facilitating Dialogue to Build Koinonia,” harvests the fruits of the study process on moral discernment which began in 2015. In its analysis, the document describes patterns in the complex negotiations between continuity and change as churches respond to moral challenges. At its core, the study document invites the churches to more deeply understand the significance of “the conscience of the church” in moral discernment processes and points to its ecumenical potential. The document offers a tool to analyse core elements in the conscience of the church that shape moral discernment.

15 June 2021
Blog post
empty church benches

The COVID-19 pandemic and community life: reflections and challenges

The Greek word Koinonia, which Paul especially uses in the New Testament, translates as community, communion, union, fellowship, participation, among other meanings. The term "solidarity" expresses the meaning of Koinonia. The community based on solidarity seeks peace, justice, well-being, the Shalom of the people. The word "coexistence" can also be equivalent of Koinonia, because it means to live in unity for several generations under the same roof or house. The "coexistence" leads us to take care of the integrity of creation, to recognize that we are not the only inhabitants of this house.

23 March 2021
News
Bishop Staccato Powell at the WCC Assembly Planning Committee in Cyprus, 2019. Photo: Marianne Ejdersten/WCC

Bishop Staccato Powell: ‘I solicit the most fervent prayer of covering’

Bishop Staccato Powell is president of the board of bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, a founding member church of the World Council of Churches (WCC). His long service with the WCC includes attending four assemblies and serving on many governing bodies, including the current Central Committee.

22 April 2020
News
Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC

"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.

26 November 2019
News
Photo: WCC

In Japan, spirit of koinonia deepens

During a visit from World Council of Churches (WCC) deputy general secretary Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, WCC member churches in Japan received expressions of appreciation from the WCC for hosting various visits and forums that strengthened ecumenical ties.

WCC members in Japan reported a deepening spirit of koinonia as well as more involvement in the programmatic life of the WCC, particularly as the ecumenical movement sets its sights on the upcoming WCC 11th Assembly in 2021 in Karlsruhe, Germany.

26 September 2019
News
WCC general secretary Philip Potter takes the young Mwuselele Nyoni into his arms at the VIth Assembly in Vancouver.

#WCC70: Children in the Ecumenical Movement

Many ecumenical pioneers, including former WCC general secretary Philip Potter, were in a sense a product of the Sunday School movement. Ulrich Becker tells a story that seems to be in danger of being forgotten.

20 December 2018
Publication
Growth in Agreement IV: International Dialogue Texts and Agreed Statements, 2004 – 2014, Volumes 1 and 2

Growth in Agreement IV:

International Dialogue Texts and Agreed Statements, 2004–2014, Volumes 1 and 2

A gift to the ongoing work of reconciliation among Christians, the textual fruits of ecumenical dialogue over the last decade are presented here in complete documents. The vast yield is here collected in two volumes, incorporating bilateral and multilateral dialogues of the churches across the Christian confessions—Orthodox, Catholic, and Reformation traditions—and evinces not only agreements and disagreements but also the new insights that dialogue itself reveals.

01 February 2017