In one of his first major sermons since becoming general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ (USA), clergyman and former politician Robert Edgar renewed his call for America’s faith community to tackle the issue of poverty.
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The face of ecumenism in the United States may be changing. Recently, the National Council of Churches (NCC) has taken a first step to broaden its reach to include conservative Protestants, Roman Catholics, and charismatics.
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DENVER (ELCA) — “The Episcopal Church is now, as of today, in full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) on the basis of a shared ministry in the historic episcopate and for the sake of common mission in proclaiming and serving the gospel,” the Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold, presiding bishop of
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Provinces de l’ouest La fin de semaine de la Pentecôte, le Conseil des Églises de Regina a organisé une foire religieuse et un service œcuménique pour célébrer l’année jubilaire. L’événement a eu lieu le 10 juin, veille de la Pentecôte, et a débuté par la marche annuelle pour Jésus. Des stands tenus par des représentants
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Les résultats d un sondage Angus Reid, en avril, indiquent que 84 % des Canadiens croient en Dieu et que deux tiers admettent que leur foi religieuse est très importante dans leur vie de tous les jours. Ces résultats sont les mêmes pour tous les niveaux de revenus et le pourcentage le plus élevé se
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Les Églises du Canada et des États-Unis sont invitées à participer à une seconde conférence nord-américaine sur Foi et Constitution ayant pour thème « L’Église : sa foi et son unité ». Cette conférence aura lieu en 2003, marquant ainsi le 40e anniversaire de la IVe Conférence mondiale ( Montréal, 1963 ) et le 10e
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by Lisa Schmidt, Regina Leader Post One of the largest ecumenical services ever held in Regina brought together thousands of Christians from all denominations for an afternoon of celebration at the Agridome Saturday. More than 3,500 people attended the service, which was the highlight of a day-long festival and tradeshow at the exhibition grounds. The
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LOUISVILLE, Ky (ELCA) — Tears of joy and tears of sadness were often the same tears the morning of May 17, as worshipers approached the altar of the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville, Ky. The Lutheran-Reformed celebration of the Lord’s Supper was a symbol of unity and an illustration of separation for
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The Pope, His Holiness John Paul II sent a message of greeting to the historic May 2000 gathering of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops in Mississauga, Toronto, Canada. On the eve of his 80th birthday, the Pope expressed his hope that the meeting would “bear lasting fruit” and hasten unity of the two churches.

“For more than 30 years the Anglican and the Catholic Church have been on a journey towards the restoration of unity,” said the Pope in a statement read by Cardinal Edward Cassidy to 2,000 worshippers in St Michael’s Roman Catholic Cathedral in Toronto. “In some places there have been very positive developments … in other places we are not so far along the road [and] new and serious obstacles have slowed our progress. I pray that the spiritual bonds that have always lifted Catholics and Anglicans will be strengthened and deepened even further.”
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“Evangelization” was the major focus of a May 18-24 meeting of the 16-member Disciples of Christ-Roman Catholic International Dialogue Commission which gathered at the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
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GENEVA, 26 May 2000 (LWI) – The Rt. Rev Michael Bourke, Anglican Bishop of Wolverhampton, England, gave a lecture on “Meissen – Fragile Porcelain or Robust Relationship?” at the Annual General Meeting of the Anglican – Lutheran Society on 18 March 2000. He co-chairs the Committee, which oversees the 1991 “Meissen Agreement” between the Church of England and the Evangelical Churches in Germany. Below is a lightly edited version of relevant excerpts from his address, which appeared in the May 2000 edition of “The Window”, the newsletter of the Anglican – Lutheran Society.
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The “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification,” signed by representatives of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Vatican on Oct. 31, 1999, in Augsburg, Germany, did more than declare that certain 16th century condemnations between Lutherans and Catholics no longer apply. The formula used to reach that conclusion will influence talks between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
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Together with Cardinal Cassidy and our colleagues at our ecumenical forum, I want to say how pleased we are to be here this evening and to share in this act of worship. As you will be aware, for the first time, Anglican and Roman Catholic Leaders from around the world are meeting together in order to discuss the problems and challenges that lie before us on the road to the full visible unity of our two Churches. Of course, our two Churches have travelled a long way together during the last forty or so years and we have much in common. This evening gives us an opportunity to celebrate that fact.

Nevertheless we know that some Protestant Christians object to this theological dialogue. They fear that Reformation principles are being abandoned and gospel faith is being traduced. I reply that the journey the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion have taken since the Second Vatican Council has not been a journey away from the Christian faith but a pilgrimage together into its heart. Polemics lead to hatred and division. Partnership leads to the promise of mutual service and eventual union.
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Roman Catholic and Anglican bishops, paired from thirteen regions around the world, have begun their meeting in Canada in which they are reviewing and evaluating the accomplishment of thirty years of ecumenical relationship between Anglicans and Catholics in their areas. The pairs of bishops come from New Zealand, Canada, England, United States, Ireland, India, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Southern Africa, Uganda, Australia, Brazil and the West Indies.

The bishops are gathered in private session at the Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre near Toronto, Ontario, under the joint chairmanship of Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey and Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy, President of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Their first day has begun with a morning of prayer and scriptural reflection. The following days will begin and end with common prayer.
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While the vision of one, great Church may be unachievable, a different type of unity is possible among the world’s Christians, according to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

“I abandoned a long time ago a theology of unity that assumes it means uniformity and sameness,” the Most Rev. George Carey told the United Methodist General Conference during a May 10 ecumenical worship service. “Human nature cannot accept that.”

His sermon was a first for the denomination’s top legislative body, which had never before been addressed by an Archbishop of Canterbury. In his introduction, Bishop William Oden spoke of Carey’s love for Methodism and the Wesleyan tradition and noted that his visit came at a time when an international dialogue between the Anglican and Methodist communions had concluded and a dialogue between the United Methodists and Episcopal Church USA was to begin.
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by Ned Powers, Saskatoon Star Phoenix Sister Kay MacDonald has seen the Easter sun rise over Rome and Jerusalem, two of the world’s oldest and most historically significant holy cities. The Saskatoon-born MacDonald landed in Rome when she was selected to the general council of the Sisters of Sion in 1970 and she became the
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Roman Catholic and Anglican bishops from thirteen regions around the world are to gather in Canada May 14-20 to review and evaluate the accomplishment of thirty years of ecumenical dialogue between the two traditions and to reflect on how the special relationship between them has been developing in different parts of the world.

This high level meeting is happening at a time when Anglicans and Roman Catholics around the world are exploring the possibilities for further steps toward visible unity.
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ST. LOUIS (DNS) — A first-time meeting here of ecumenical bodies from the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ discussed their communions’ roles in a new church union proposal and the 2001 gathering of their plenary bodies. Board members of the Disciples Council on Christian Unity and the United Church
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CHICAGO (ELCA) — The Lutheran-Catholic Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification was the focus of an international ecumenical symposium Feb. 4-6 at the Yale University Divinity School and the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, New Haven, Conn. Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed and Roman Catholic leaders attended “The Yale Conference on Ecumenism: Justification and the Future
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It was a Valentine in the form of a covenant signed by a Roman Catholic bishop, a United Church Presbytery chair, two local pastors and members of their congregations on the eve of Feb. 14.

The covenant was the formalization of a long friendship between McClure United Church and Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Parish. The covenant was written, according to the document itself “in response to the call of Jesus, “that they may all be one and that the world may believe that you have sent me” (Jn 17:21-23).

“You must have been listening to the Spirit,” said Sister Anne Keffer, director of Saskatoon’s Centre for Ecumenism, where the official document signing took place.

“On behalf of the whole church, I thank you. I thank God.”

In total, some 40 members from the two congregations were present for the signing ceremony which involved joint prayer and reflections on healing and reconciliation.

Rev. Bernard de Margerie of Holy Spirit Parish, a past director of the Centre for Ecumenism, said the stages of the relationship between the churches were like any other. It first involved a courtship, which built into a relationship. The covenant itself was a gesture of solidarity, followed by the joint celebration of the formal covenant on Sunday. The last step will be ongoing faithfulness.
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It was more than 30 years in the making but on Sunday, parishioners from Holy Spirit Roman Catholic and McClure United parishes stood side by side.

Old and young sang beautifully together. They taught their children together, hugged, prayed and worshipped as brothers and sisters in Christ at Holy Spirit Parish. Afterward, they walked together through the streets of Saskatoon to break bread together at a community lunch at McClure United.

This was done to mark the signing of a new covenant between the parishes which has been discussed since 1966 and which both pastors hope will mark the beginning of an even better relationship.

“I believe this to be the will and the work of the Holy Spirit that has brought us to this moment. It is not merely our efforts or our decisions,” said McClure’s Rev. Ron McConnell.

Holy Spirit pastor, Rev. Bernard de Margerie, agreed. He said the covenant means that the two congregations pledge to grow together to “help create a more stable relationship that is more worthy of life within the Body of Christ.”

In his portion of the joint sermon, McConnell compared the covenant relationship to a marriage.

“The questions people most often ask about the covenant include: ‘Does this mean you’re exactly the same now? Do you now see everything the same way? There are no more differences?” The answer is — are you kidding? Does that sound like any marriage you have ever known?’ ” he said.
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Good neighbours: McClure United and Holy Spirit congregations have always been close; now they’ve put it in writing If Covenant 2000 were a play, Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Church and McClure United Church would be well into the second act. The two churches recently signed a formal ecumenical covenant, committing themselves to breaking down barriers
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U.S. theology professors discuss its implications [HANOVER, Germany/GENEVA | LWI] Reformed, Anglican, Roman-Catholic and Lutheran church leaders and professors of theology in the United States have acknowledged the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification as a “groundbreaking document.” The theological implications of Joint Declaration was one of the major points discussed at a symposium
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CHICAGO (ELCA) – Representatives from most of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s (ELCA) 65 synods met here Feb. 11-12 to discuss ecumenism and its connection to the mission and identity of the church. Speakers addressed these issues from national and global perspectives. The representatives are part of the Lutheran Ecumenical Representatives Network (LERN). All
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Windows To The East, an annual public lecture series on Eastern Christianity, will take place Thursday and Friday at St. Thomas More College. Dr. Myroslaw Tataryn, associate professor of religious studies at University of Saskatchewan, is one of the organizers. As he explains, Windows To The East is part of an on-going lecture series that
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by Cameron Hoffman, Regina Leader Post Ken Cyr, pastor of Fort Qu’Appelle’s Valley Alliance Church, and his congregation will spend next week in churches other than their own, praying in the same pews as Lutherans, Anglicans, Catholics and United Church members, worshiping as a unified faith community. Christians in Fort Qu’Appelle will participate in the
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by John Goranson, Saskatchewan News Network Saskatoon’s largest-ever church service drew thousands of Christians intent on celebrating their faith together at Saskatchewan Place, despite -22 degree temperatures and a frustrating 45-minute traffic jam Sunday. “It’s so packed. I’ve never seen it this full for anything — and for a church thing that’s really great,” said
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What will you be doing on Jan. 2, 2000 — the first Sunday of the new millennium? Church leaders in Saskatoon hope you’ll be among the many thousands expected at SaskPlace to attend SONday 2000, a “city-wide day of celebration of Our Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ.” The 15-member task force organizing the event explains
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With our short ecclesiastical memories, we have almost forgotten that in the run-up to its dogmatic definition in 1854, Mary’s Immaculate Conception was often justified on the grounds of her being a priest. Tradition frequently applied the words found in Hebrews 7:26 to her: “It is fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens.” The Benedictine prior Jacques Biroat wrote in 1666 that “Paul’s reasoning” in Hebrews 7:26 “is relevant to Christ’s mother. She shares in the priesthood of her son and is the origin of our reconciliation to God. Therefore, she had to be entirely innocent and separate from sinners. She had to be preserved from original sin.” Mary was immaculately conceived because she had to be a priest without stain. Mary has captured the Catholic imagination more than any other person except Jesus. Generation after generation has seen in her the highest reflection of saintliness and love. Catholics have been fond of Mary because she is Jesus’ own mother. They also respected her as his closest associate in redemption, as his first “priest”.
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[WCC News] The Special Commission on Orthodox participation in the World Council of Churches (WCC) will meet from 6 to 8 December in Morges, on Lac Léman, Switzerland. At its inaugural meeting the Commission will deal chiefly with matters of planning and procedure for the series of its Protestant-Orthodox discussions to be held over the
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Participants discuss homosexuality without apology or discomfort by John Filiatreau, PCUSA News Service [ATLANTA, Ga] Homosexuality, the seldom-mentioned “elephant in the living room” during previous meetings of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, emerged – came out, if you will – during the group’s national conference last week. Speakers and participants discussed homosexuality without apology and
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BALTIMORE (ELCA) — The Committee on Lutheran Cooperation, a group that includes top officials of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) met here Oct. 25. The officials discussed a variety of current concerns and issues. The meeting was held here to mark the dedication of the Lutheran Center
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The World Council of Churches (WCC) warmly welcomes the forthcoming signing of the Joint Declaration on the doctrine of justification by the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church. The signing will take place on 31 October, in Augsburg, Germany. According to the Rev. Dr Dagmar Heller, WCC Faith and Order, bilateral relations and
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Dear Cardinal Cassidy and Dr Noko,

The signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine Of Justification between the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church is an event which encourages Christians of all traditions and is a cause of rejoicing for all who pray and work for the unity of Christ’s Church.

The significance of this agreement cannot be underestimated, dealing as it does with a question right at the heart of Christian faith and theology, the question of how we are saved. As we all are aware, this was a primary point of conflict during the Reformation period, which led not only to bitter theological disputes but even wars and Persecutions and created divisions that were exported beyond the shores of Europe through the missionary expansion of the Church.
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The Rev. H. George Anderson, 67, was appointed a Vice-President of the Lutheran Federation (LWF) in 1997. He has been the Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America since 1995. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate from Yale, Anderson earned graduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia,
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Anglican, United church dialogue goes one step further [Belleville, Ontario] Talks between the Anglican and United churches in Canada — the first formal dialogue since the collapse of a proposed Plan of Union in 1975 — are progressing slowly, but enough to warrant two meetings this month. A recent gathering of church representatives in eastern
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An effort to make an existing Protestant-Roman Catholic committee the top ecumenical body for Ireland has been stymied by a vote of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI).

The plan, which had been approved by the three other major denominations in both the Republic and in Northern Ireland – the Anglicans, the Methodists and the Roman Catholics – went down by a 224-144 vote during the Belfast General Assembly in June. Its opponents say it was defeated by the fact that an institutional identification with the Roman Catholic Church would imply approval of its doctrine.

And that is, in a word, apostasy.

If this all sounds like theological separatism, it is. But this is Northern Ireland, where politics and religion stay unintelligibly and painfully entangled – no matter how much distance Catholics and Protestants put between themselves, and no matter how many centuries go by.

The political stalemate isn’t so dissimilar.

Ulster’s major unionist (and largely Protestant) party is refusing to form a four-party administration to govern Northern Ireland – including Sinn Fein, the radical republican party – because the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) has refused to disarm, and because of apparent breaches of the outlawed group’s 1997 cease-fire.
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by Stephen Brown, Ecumenical News Service [GENEVA] A special commission set up by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in a bid to resolve complaints by its Orthodox member churches is scheduled to hold its first meeting in December. The scheduling of the meeting follows a series of delays and apparent unwillingness by some Orthodox
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The founding director of “No More Violence” will reveal the numerous community factors that influence youth violence at a special conference, 8:15 a.m. – 2:15 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 9 at the Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville. The event will preview the Dec. 1 -8 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Cape Town, South Africa.
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GENEVA – The ecumenical movement of the 21st century must focus less on church institutions and more on the church as “the whole people of God,” the moderator of the World Council of Churches‘ (WCC) central committee said on August 26. At a press conference following his report to the 158 members of the central
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DENVER (ELCA) — The 1999 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Churchwide Assembly received greetings from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) and three Reformed churches that are in full communion with the ELCA the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Reformed Church in America, and United Church of Christ. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority
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Catholics are permitted to support attempts to limit the evil aspects of an abortion law, says Pope John Paul in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae. In Germany, however, the moral complexities have made the Church draw back, which threatens to reduce its influence in society. A journalist on the weekly Rheinischer Merkur highlights the German bishops’ dilemma.
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by Jonathan Luxmoore, Ecumenical News International [WARSAW] Minority churches in Poland plan to celebrate the new millennium by joining Roman Catholics in a mutual recognition of baptism. The churches are also considering a joint acknowledgment – with the Roman Catholic Church – of “guilt and forgiveness” for past wrongs. “Many people have warmed to these
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In a very Anglican way, the Church of England sought to solve its internal crisis over women in the priesthood by legislation which made concessions to opponents. These provisions were remarkable — and, some would say, indefensible. One of them, the Episcopal Ministry Act of Synod 1993, allowing for alternative episcopal oversight, is now up for review, and under attack from the supporters of women priests, some of whom are campaigning for its repeal by 2002. But opponents, who believe their Catholic doctrine of the Church to be, if anything, more compromised by the concessions than by the ordinations themselves, are also looking for new solutions. Why are they still not satisfied, despite having been given so-called flying bishops and parochial autonomy? What are the issues at stake?

Let us not (for the moment) rake over the embers of the arguments that were carried on before the General Synod voted in 1992. Let women’s ordination be known, not by its roots but by its fruits. And by fruits I do not mean that experience of women’s ministry which it was confidently claimed would win every heart — no one has ever doubted the pastoral skills and sensitivity of women. I mean its theological and doctrinal consequences.
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CHICAGO (ELCA) — A vote on a proposed Lutheran-Episcopal full communion agreement is “an enormously momentous decision,” said five leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), who this month sent informational statements and endorsements of the proposal to voting members of the 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. The assembly will be asked to approve
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A 20-member panel of participants from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) met for the first in a series of three two-day discussion sessions on topics of mutual concern to the two church bodies. The first discussion session was held June 14-15 at the Lutheran Center in Chicago,
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by Jason Warick, Saskatoon Star Phoenix More than 37,000 Saskatchewan residents have joined 20 million people worldwide in signing a petition calling for Third World debt relief. The petition will be presented to the leaders of the world’s seven wealthiest countries at their meeting this weekend in Germany. Nick Jesson, director for the Saskatoon Centre
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When theologians from nearly all Christian traditions – Protestant, Orthodox and Roman Catholic – and more than 20 nations gather in Toronto this month, they hope to shed some light on some of the oldest and most difficult issues facing the church of Jesus Christ.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Faith and Order Standing Commission will meet June 15-24 on the campus of Emmanuel College to explore such issues as the nature of the church, different understandings of baptism, how ethnic and national identities relate to the universal Christian faith, and who may be ordained to the ministry of the church.

The WCC’s 336 member churches confess a common faith in Jesus Christ as Son of God and Saviour, and testify together to the Holy Trinity of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They are united in their commitment to proclaim Christ’s gospel to all, and to work for God’s justice and reconciliation in the world.
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The World Council of Churches (WCC) has strongly criticised the G8 proposals for solving the debt crisis in a statement released during a press conference here on Wednesday, June 9. In the statement, WCC general secretary Konrad Raiser with Sam Kobia, director of the WCC cluster “Issues and Themes” called on G8 leaders to adopt a more radical approach at their meeting beginning in Cologne, Germany, on June 18.
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As Alice through the looking glass, when we enter the world of ecumenism everything seems to be a little bit different. Through the looking glass, everything looks different, we look at it differently and we experience it differently. The Saskatoon Centre for Ecumenism is hosting a national Summer Ecumenical Institute that will assist us to
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