The World Council of Churches (WCC) is planning a World Conference on Faith and Order in 2025 to mark the 1700th anniversary of the first Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in 325, a key moment in the history of Christian faith and for the ecumenical journey today.
Who could have been the author of a paper on the relation of prayer to Christian unity published by the movement for a world conference on Faith and Order in its early years?
As the World Council of Churches celebrates its 75th anniversary, a series of feature stories from different regions of the world will portray ecumenism at the local level—within churches, communities, and individuals who embody the spirit of ecumenism in unique ways. The feature story below offers a glimpse of some facets of ecumenism present in the Philippines.
An ecumenical team from Burkina Faso facilitated by the local Chemin Neuf Community has been the convener for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2024 drafting group. The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Vatican have now published the material in several languages.
A World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation led by WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Pillay visited New York City and Washington, DC this week, meeting with United Nations representatives, the Papal Nuncio, the National Council of Churches in North America, other church leaders, and ecumenical organizations and state officials.
A World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation, led by WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, is visiting the USA this week, traveling to New York City as well as Washington, D.C. to bring together ecumenical leadership.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) has remembered the contribution of the Rev. Dr Reinhard Groscurth, who served the council’s secretariat on Faith and Order, and was the editor of many publications on the ecumenical movement and church unity.
As churches in the southern hemisphere closed the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity on 28 May, they brought final reflections to this year’s theme of “Do good; seek justice (Isaiah 1:17).”
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is celebrated in the southern hemisphere from 21-28 May. Below, Rev. Canon Michael Wallace, vicar for the Dunedin North Anglican Parish Te Pāriha o Ōtepoti ki te Raki, reflects on his hopes for observing the special week in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Churches in the southern hemisphere will observe the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity on 21-28 May, the week between Ascension and Pentecost. This year’s theme is “Do good; seek justice (Isaiah 1:17).”
Each year, ecumenical partners in a different region are asked to prepare the materials for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. This year, Christians from Minnesota developed the resources with input from an international group representing the Roman Catholic Church’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the World Council of Churches (WCC) Faith and Order Commission. The resources include an ecumenical opening prayer service, biblical reflections and prayers for eight days, and other elements of worship.
Rev. Dr Odair Pedroso Mateus began to teach at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute in 2004 and joined the World Council of Churches (WCC) in 2007. Most recently he served as WCC interim deputy general secretary and Faith and Order director. Below, he reflects on his fondest memories, accomplishments, and hopes.
The new St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in New York City hosted a special Week of Prayer for Christian Unity service in a church that was previously destroyed by terrorist attacks on 11 Sept. 2001.
At an ecumenical service hosted at St Paul’s Anglican Church by the Barbados Christian Council, those gathered prayerfully explored the symbols of stones and water as “the beginning of a decolonized spiritual practice.”
A group of Ecumenical Accompaniers completed their service in Palestine and Israel, handing their ministry over to the next wave, and celebrating the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity at the same time.
In a service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, representatives from 25 churches in Geneva drew together in the World Council of Churches chapel on 18 January.
