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The present document is the result of a study process started in response to strong suggestions made during the 2002 meeting of the WCC Central Committee to the three staff teams on Faith & Order, Interreligious Relations, Mission & Evangelism and their respective commissions or advisory bodies. The question of the theological approach to religious plurality had been on the agenda of the WCC many times, reaching some consensus in 1989 and in 1990. In recent years, it was felt that a new approach to this difficult and controversial issue was needed.

Study document adopted by the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME), 2000. Published in: IRMJan/April 1999, pp.109-127.

This paper offers reflections on mission as ministry of reconciliation from an ecumenical point of view and is shared by the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) of the World Council of Churches as a document for reflection and study in preparation for the world mission conference in Athens in May 2005.

In a time of globalization with increasing violence, fragmentation and exclusion, the mission of the church is to receive, celebrate, proclaim and work for reconciliation, healing and fullness of life in Christ. Come, Holy Spirit, heal and reconcile

The renewed concern and awareness towards healing in a new world context raises for the churches fundamental theological, missiological, ethical and pastoral questions that require critical scrutiny. My approach will be missiological. I will discuss healing as the transforming, empowering and reconciling missionary action of the church.

The present document has been prepared by a multicultural and interdenominational group of missiologists, medical doctors and health professionals. It builds upon the tradition of the WCC's Christian Medical Commission (CMC) and its most fruitful contribution to an understanding of the healing ministry of the church. This document does not repeat what remains well formulated in earlier texts of the World Council of Churches, such as the document "Healing and Wholeness. The churches' Role in Health", adopted in 1990 by the Central Committee.

The "young missiologists consultation" was organised by the Mission and Ecumenical Formation Team of the World Council of Churches, on behalf of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, following a suggestion formulated during a session of the Central Committee of the WCC. 32 young theologians, coming from seven regions, many denominations and interested in missiology, learnt to know each other and worked on themes related to the forthcoming world mission conference in Athens (May 9-16, 2005).

This paper offers reflections on mission as reconciliation from an ecumenical point of view and is shared as part of the preparatory process for the 2005 Conference on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME). It is the result of a consultation attended by ten missiologists coming from five continents, rooted in their own contextual spiritualities and coming from various church traditions such as Orthodox, Protestant, Pentecostal and Roman Catholic. They worked hard to reach and express some common convictions. The statement was received as a study document by the CWME Conference Planning Committee (CPC) during its meeting near Athens in March 2004. The CPC decided to share it widely, in order to receive reactions, comments, critiques, suggestions for modification and improvement. The paper will then be presented, possibly in a revised version, to the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism meeting later in autumn this year.