30 days + 30 amazing United Church leaders and over a dozen posts by special guests (Shane Claiborne, Lois Wilson, Dennis Gruending, Donna Sinclair, Fulata Lusungu Moyo, Gary Paterson (the UCC Moderator) and more…) = one of the coolest, free (yep-free) social media based Bible studies ever. For the whole month of June, join spiritual seekers coast to coast to rock the Bible from various perspectives and have a rockin’ time doing it. Get ready! Join the Facebook Group “Rock The Bible” today.

The visit of Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, “strengthens the bonds of friendship and brotherhood that already exist between the See of Peter and the See of Mark, heir to an inestimable heritage of martyrs, theologians, holy monks, and faithful disciples of Christ, who have borne witness to the Gospel from generation to generation, often in situations of great adversity,” said Pope Francis on receiving the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt this morning. The pontiff remarked on the memorable meeting that took place, 40 years ago, between the predecessors of both, Pope Paul VI and Pope Shenouda III, which united them “in an embrace of peace and fraternity, after centuries of mutual distance.”

For the first time, Lutherans and Roman Catholics at the global level have worked together to tell the story of the Reformation as part of their commitment to deepen Christian unity. The publication From Conflict to Communion will be published this month by the Lutheran – Roman Catholic Commission on Unity. The commission is mandated by The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) to facilitate the global ecumenical dialogue between the two Christian World Communions. LWF Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Relations Rev. Dr Kaisamari Hintikka said the publication From Conflict to Communion: Lutheran–Roman Catholic Common Commemoration of the Reformation in 2017 contributes to strengthening the commitment to work for the visible unity of the Church. It will be presented to the LWF Council at its meeting this June. “After centuries of mistrust and prejudging between Lutherans and Catholics, we see this [publication] as a great opportunity to reflect together on the burdens of history, and to open more possibilities for witnessing together, not just as individual Christians but as Christian churches,” Hintikka said. The publication takes into context the 500th anniversary of the Reformation and the 50th anniversary of the Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue in 2017. It builds on important ecumenical milestones especially the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ).

Catholic and Anglican ecumenical experts meeting in Rio de Janeiro have made progress towards their goal of a common statement on relations between the local and universal Church. This third meeting of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC III) has also been exploring the ways in which both communities make decisions regarding moral and ethical issues. During the week-long meeting which concluded on Monday, participants met with local Anglican and Catholic leaders to find out about local ecumenical initiatives. They spent a day in the ‘Cidade de Deus’ or City of God, one of the many slum areas around Rio de Janeiro, where the churches are working closely with police and other civic authorities to provide services and support community development.Members of the Commission described the meeting as a hope filled encounter and plan to hold the next ARCIC III session from May 12th to 20th, 2014.

Le Centre canadien d’œcuménisme est à la recherche d’un directeur général. Situé au centre-ville de Montréal, le Centre, à caractère national, a pour mission de promouvoir l’œcuménisme et les relations interreligieuses au Canada par l’éducation, le dialogue et la spiritualité.

The Canadian Centre for Ecumenism invites applications for the full-time position of Executive Director. The mission of this national centre, based in Montreal, is to promote ecumenism and interfaith relations through education, dialogue and spirituality.

Reformed and Catholic theologians recently concluded the latest in a decades-long series of ongoing international talks on a matter theologians see as central to the disputes of the Reformation era. Theologians from the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity met from April 7-13 as part of the third session in the fourth phase of the Catholic-Reformed dialogue which will conclude in 2017. The theme of the phase is “Justification and Sacramentality: The Christian Community as an Agent for Justice.” The talks began in 1970. The next meeting in the series will take place in Scotland. The themes to be covered are Justification: Holy Communion/Eucharist and Justice” and “Justification and Justice: Sanctification/ Universal Call to Holiness.” The ongoing dialogue could eventually determine if the World Communion of Reformed Churches aligns itself with a joint document on the doctrine of justification agreed to by Roman Catholics and a top Lutheran body in 1999.