On our ecumenical journey we have come to understand more about God’s call to the Church to serve the unity of all creation. The vocation of the Church is to be: foretaste of new creation; prophetic sign to the whole world of the life God intends for all; and servant spreading the good news of God’s Kingdom of justice, peace and love.
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Au cours de notre cheminement œcuménique, nous sommes parvenus à mieux comprendre l’appel lancé par Dieu à l’Église à servir l’unité de l’ensemble de la création. La vocation de l’Église est d’être: un avant-goût de la nouvelle création, un signe prophétique, pour le monde entier, de la vie nouvelle que Dieu veut pour toutes et tous, ainsi qu’un serviteur propageant la Bonne Nouvelle du Royaume de justice, de paix et d’amour de Dieu.
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The first ecumenical affirmation of mission since 1982, invoking a new understanding of mission and evangelism amidst a changing world and ecclesial landscape, has been presented to the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC). The statement, titled “Together towards life: Mission and Evangelism in changing landscapes”, was prepared by the WCC’s Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME). It was presented to the WCC Central Committee on Thursday, 30 August.
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One of Canada’s most eminent theologians and one of the greatest Catholic experts in ecumenism has died. Margaret O’Gara, Professor of Theology at the University of St. Michael’s College, entered the realm of eternal life on Thursday, August 16, at age 65. She had suffered from cancer for two years.

In 37 years of work as a theologian O’Gara was able to foster dialogue among Christians for the sake of overcoming divisions between the churches. Besides her teaching, research, writing, and extensive public lecturing, she was a member of official ecumenical dialogues in Canada, the United States, and at the international level. She served terms as president of both the North American Academy of Ecumenists and the Catholic Theological Society of America.
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The United Church of Canada, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, has approved a recommendation to boycott products produced in Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory. The intent is to bring pressure to bear on the government of Israel to stop expansion of the settlements and end the occupation. The church’s General Council, its senior decision-making body, received the recommendation last week at its meeting in Ottawa. More than 350 elected delegates met for the eight-day event that concluded August 18. The recommendations were approved on August 15 and the policy paper was approved on August 17.
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The sixth meeting of the Anglican-Jewish Commission of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s office took place at Mansfield College, Oxford, on July 31 and Aug. 1, 2012.

The commission’s mandate provides for the archbishop and two chief rabbis (one each from the Ahkenazi and Sephardi communities) to meet each year alternately in England and Jerusalem. It also provides for an annual meeting to study agreed-on themes and the arrangement of other meetings that include the Anglican bishop in Jerusalem, The Rt. Rev. Suheil Dawani.

The meeting’s theme was religion and democracy in both faith traditions. A paper by Dr. Jane Clements on Anglicanism and the secular state explored the dynamic between the kingdom of God and the earthly realm in scriptural interpretation.
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Ecumenical and inter-faith groups across the United States are planning vigils and rallies beginning August 12 to express their solidarity with Sikhs in the wake of a gunman’s attack on August 5 at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin.

Six people were killed and three others injured when Wade Michael Page, 40, a U.S. Army veteran described as a “frustrated neo-Nazi,” stormed into the temple in Oak Creek, a suburb of Milwaukee.

National Council of Churches of Christ (NCCC) President Kathryn Lohre has urged Christians to participate in the events planned by the Groundswell Movement, a multi-faith social justice initiative based in New York City.

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