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An online conference, “The Future of Interfaith Dialogue,” held  7-8 December 2021, discussed principles for common formation as a vital element for the future of interfaith dialogue. 

The purpose of this booklet is both to share some of the key insights and learnings from the conference and to prompt further interest in and discussion of common formation among a range of faith communities and interreligious organizations. Topics covered include; Transformational Formation: Five Fundamental Principles, Ten Practical Pointers for Initiatives of Common Formation, and a Directory of Groups and Organizations Offering Learning Opportunities in the Area of Common Formation.

In this volume, Olav Fykse Tveit sketches an ecumenical movement that reveals a horizon of hope and illumines many of our most pressing global challenges.

Rather than focusing inward, Tveit envisions an ecumenism that leverages the Christ-inspired unity of the global fellowship into transformative engagement with the world. He shows how the recent journey of the Christian fellowship reframes its diversity and differences through solidarity in witness and service.

Then, ranging across issues of economic and ecological justice, interreligious encounter and gender justice, just peace, racism, and xenophobia, he demonstrates the potential of Christians and Christian churches to engender authentic discipleship, reform and renew the churches, and pursue justice and peace for the whole human family.

First published as Συνύπαρξη, this collection of reflections suggests that coexistence has been an essential component of the life of humanity, however, it is frequently undermined and even poisoned. 

The book shows how violence has taken new uncontrollable forms which culminate in polymorphous terrorism. Human aggression expands to exploitation and even to the contempt of creation, with painful consequences for both the natural environment and for human life itself.

The author views, through a theological and religious point of view, peace in ecumenical dimensions as well as in a specific country; the human being and the environment; poverty; terrorism; and universal moral values.

Συνύπαρξη was awarded the 2016 Free Thought Essay Award in memory of Panagiotis Foteas in Greece. It has been published in Greek, Italian, and Albanian, is awaiting publication in French by Apostolia Publishing House, and the German translation will follow soon.

Published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the WCC’s Programme on Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation, this volume celebrates a common confidence that dialogue can be linked to liberation in ways that can be both faithful and fruitful.

From the Introduction: “The heartbeat of this book is its concern to reimagine interreligious dialogue as a “dialogue of and for life” by interlinking it with liberation. What drives it is a passion that seeks to hold together two distinct concerns that emerged within theological thinking during the latter half of the 20th century and have since freed theological imagination in manifold ways.”

Faith and Order Paper No. 230

“Love and Witness,” intends to flesh out more fully the insights of Come and See with regard to peace and religious plurality. It seeks to engage with the insights of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and others to ask what our many traditions can say together as we journey towards visible unity about the encounter with other religions that will necessarily be a part of the Church’s pilgrim way.

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.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) released a joint document, “Serving a Wounded World in Interreligious Solidarity: A Christian Call to Reflection and Action During COVID-19.” Its purpose is to encourage churches and Christian organizations to reflect on the importance of interreligious solidarity in a world wounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. The document offers a Christian basis for interreligious solidarity that can inspire and confirm the impulse to serve a world wounded not only by COVID-19 but also by many other wounds.

A dozen theologians from across regions and confessions offer Bible studies for individuals, groups, and congregations to understand and address the vital personal, social, and religious concerns raised for and by stateless persons and their plight.

For those who wish to hear, these novel voices of emerging theologians offer authentic clues to translating the received traditions of Christianity in ways that might also transform the world.

Encouraging churches and Christian organizations to reflect on the structural roots of what has led to the disruption of peace in the world, and on their own current practices and priorities in relation to education and peacemaking.

Current Dialogue is the World Council of Churches’ journal on interreligious dialogue, offering a platform for debate to those who want to build bridges across religious divides and to their partners of different faiths.

In face of unprecedented awareness of religious diversity, as well as the dangers of conflict, interreligious dialogue has become vital. Yet, these authors maintain, it is the commitment to think together about religious faith and our inherited traditions that genuinely moves mutual understanding to new levels.

Sharing Good News is a comprehensive and timely contribution to the field of evangelism that takes full measure of the distinct challenges and opportunities that Christians face in contemporary Europe for students, professors, clergy and practitioners. Sharing Good News offers important keys to revitalizing Christian evangelism in the lives and discipleship of Christians across Europe.

Developed in a years-long consultative process, the volume includes expert contributions from around Europe and from a variety of confessional traditions keenly tuned to the particular challenges raised by secularization, migration, interreligious and cross-cultural encounter; a systematic, ecumenical framework for understanding evangelism in the present context; probing theological work on the meaning of evangelism in relation to mission, ecclesiology, and spirituality; and eight case studies that illustrate best practices and new paradigms in evangelism.

''At this critical juncture, this book brings together 'texts and voices' that reveal both the profound legacy of the ecumenical movement and the spiritual, theological basis on which it can build to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.'' -- Editor Michael Kinnamon

Included in this exhaustive collection are significant passages from the most widely influential texts produced by assemblies, consultations, and statements of the World Council of Churches, carefully selected, edited, and introduced. They address the most important aspects of the ecumenical movement from its beginnings more than a century ago to toda

Exploring hybridity, embracing hospitality— While we tend to think of religions as distinct, univocal, even competing traditions, the phenomenon of multiple religious belonging is widespread, both historically and today. Alive to a variety of traditions and regions, this volume explores the reality of religious hybridity—whether because of cultural inheritance, family circumstances, or explicit choice— its confounding of traditional categories in theology and the study of religion, and its meaning for Christian theology. Even as it complexifies the idea of religious identity, the authors show, it enriches our understanding of ultimate reality and the whole range of practices by which humans relate to it.

Perhaps more than ever, in our globalized context we meet persons of other faiths and religious traditions. When empathetic, such meetings can be revealing about their lives and commitments. Yet how do they change our own identity and illuminate our own faith?

In light of interreligious encounter, who do we say that we are?

This brief work, distilled from lengthy and broad theological consultation facilitated by the World Council of Churches, suggests ways in which our faith is deepened and exciting new vistas opened on traditional Christian faith commitments through interreligious dialogue and engagement.

Our sincere engagements with the other can lead to a growing grasp of our own faith identity and, indeed, more profound encounter with the mystery of God.

Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem!—

The symbolic axis of the world, the birthplace of great religious traditions, the ancient site and contemporary center of mighty contention, Jerusalem evokes fascination, devotion, and deep pain. Clare Amos’s lifelong engagement with the city, its people, and its history yields this loving yet insightful view of the city’s dynamic identity.

What does Christian identity mean in the face of religious pluralism? In some ways the frontier of global Christianity lies not in repairing its past divisions so much as bravely facing its future in a world of many other faiths and conflicting convictions. Douglas Pratt’s new work is a brief history, astute analysis, and trustworthy guide for Christian encounter in this pluralistic environment.

In an era in which life itself is imperilled, Christians around the world are challenged to authentic witness to the God of life and to justice and peace. Ecumenical Visions, prepared as a core resource for theological education and reflection in advance of the 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, equips Christians to discern and develop relevant and responsible insights in many arenas of Christian engagement.

Focusing on the global picture and on all religions, not least Christianity, in this book author Konrad Raiser closely probes the relationship between religion and politics in all its rich, promising, and sometimes deadly combinations.