The Unity of the Church: Gift and Calling

The purpose of God according to Holy Scripture is to gather the whole of creation under the Lordship of Jesus Christ in whom, by the power of the Holy Spirit, all are brought into communion with God (Eph. 1). The Church is the foretaste of this communion with God and with one another. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit enable the one Church to live as sign of the reign of God and servant of the reconciliation with God, promised and provided for the whole creation. The purpose of the Church is to unite people with Christ in the power of the Spirit, to manifest communion in prayer and action and thus to point to the fullness of communion with God, humanity and the whole creation in the glory of the kingdom.
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Posted: February 20, 1991 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=9714
Categories: Documents • In this article: Christian unity, WCC Assembly, WCC Commission on Faith & Order Transmis : 20 février 1991 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=9714
Catégorie : Documents • Dans cet article : Christian unity, WCC Assembly, WCC Commission on Faith & Order

A Treasure in Earthen Vessels: An Instrument for an Ecumenical Reflection on Hermeneutics

This text explores the complex, potentially conflictual but often creative field of hermeneutics, focused specifically on the hermeneutical task entailed in the ecumenical search for visible church unity. This exploration, carried out at the request of the Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order (Santiago de Compostela, 1993), is a part of the ongoing work of Faith and Order.

Hermeneutical questions emerged in ecumenical work already in its beginnings. The churches’ responses to the Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry text made it especially clear that Faith and Order needed to reflect on what is involved when authors, readers and interpreters of ecumenical documents come from many different contexts and confessions. The significance of the hermeneutical task for the ecumenical movement has deepened and widened since this initial perception. Indeed, representatives of churches from all parts of the world who participated in the Santiago conference made it clear that the work of Faith and Order could progress fruitfully only with serious exploration of the hermeneutical issues.

This text is the product of three study consultations (Dublin 1994, Lyons 1996 and Bossey 1997), and two small drafting meetings (Boston 1994 and Faverges 1998). Participants in these gatherings included members of the World Council of Churches‘ Commission on Faith and Order, joined by scholars particularly interested in hermeneutical questions. Participants came from all parts of the world and represented many ecclesial traditions (e.g. Anglican, Anabaptist/Pietist, Lutheran, Methodist, Old Catholic, Orthodox, Reformed, Roman Catholic). Interim versions were reviewed and critiqued at various stages by the Board of Faith and Order and by its Plenary Commission meeting in Moshi, Tanzania, in 1996. They have also been studied and responded to by a number of scholars in the field. Each and every response along the way has received careful attention.
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Posted: January 1, 1998 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=9731
Categories: Documents • In this article: Christian unity, hermeneutics, WCC Commission on Faith & Order Transmis : 1 janvier 1998 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=9731
Catégorie : Documents • Dans cet article : Christian unity, hermeneutics, WCC Commission on Faith & Order

Faith and Order Commission wrestles with fundamental ecumenical issues

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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Posted: June 16, 1999 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=6542
Categories: WCC News • In this article: WCC Commission on Faith & Order Transmis : 16 juin 1999 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=6542
Catégorie : WCC News • Dans cet article : WCC Commission on Faith & Order

‘Speaking of Unity’ — NCC’s Faith and Order launches an on-line professional journal

The Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches USA has launched an electronic journal for professionals and other interested observers. Called Speaking of Unity, the journal is edited by Dr. Ann K. Riggs, Associate General Secretary of the NCC for Faith and Order. NCC President Michael E. Livingston contributed the foreword: “The
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Posted: January 28, 2006 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=196
Categories: Resources • In this article: National Council of Churches of Christ (USA), USA, WCC Commission on Faith & Order Transmis : 28 janvier 2006 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=196
Catégorie : Resources • Dans cet article : National Council of Churches of Christ (USA), USA, WCC Commission on Faith & Order

Called to be the one church

WCC assemblies have adopted texts offering a vision, or identifying the qualities, of “the unity we seek”. This assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil, is invited to consider and adopt the present invitation to the churches.
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Posted: February 22, 2006 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=209
Categories: News • In this article: 2006, church, ecclesiology, WCC, WCC Assembly, WCC Commission on Faith & Order Transmis : 22 février 2006 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=209
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : 2006, church, ecclesiology, WCC, WCC Assembly, WCC Commission on Faith & Order

Appelés à être l’Église une

Les assemblées du COE ont adopté des textes qui proposaient une vision — ou précisaient les qualités — de « l’unité que nous recherchons ». L’Assemblée de Porto Alegre, au Brésil, est invitée à étudier et à adopter la présente invitation adressée aux Églises.
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Posted: February 22, 2006 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=210
Categories: News • In this article: 2006, WCC, WCC Commission on Faith & Order Transmis : 22 février 2006 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=210
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : 2006, WCC, WCC Commission on Faith & Order

Oikumene Film Festival

The Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches USA hopes people will see a new connection between film and theology when it holds its first ever Oikumene Film Festival to promote further exploration of visual media as a form of ecumenical expression. The festival will be part of the commission’s 50th anniversary
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Posted: June 13, 2006 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=239
Categories: Conferences • In this article: 2007, events, National Council of Churches of Christ (USA), WCC Commission on Faith & Order Transmis : 13 juin 2006 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=239
Catégorie : Conferences • Dans cet article : 2007, events, National Council of Churches of Christ (USA), WCC Commission on Faith & Order

Canadian Anglican appointed to prestigious Communion position

[Anglican Journal] Canon Alyson Barnett-Cowan has been appointed director for Unity, Faith and Order for the Anglican Communion. Ms. Barnett-Cowan is currently director of faith, worship and ministry of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada, a post she has held since 1995. She was recently appointed to the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission for Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO).
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Posted: August 14, 2009 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=596
Categories: Anglican Journal • In this article: Alyson Barnett-Cowan, Anglican, Christian unity, IASCUFO, WCC Commission on Faith & Order Transmis : 14 aoüt 2009 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=596
Catégorie : Anglican Journal • Dans cet article : Alyson Barnett-Cowan, Anglican, Christian unity, IASCUFO, WCC Commission on Faith & Order

Faith and Order at 100

Tuesday 19 October 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of the Faith and Order movement. “Faith and Order” seeks Christian unity through theological dialogue among representatives of various churches.
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Posted: October 14, 2010 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=648
Categories: News • In this article: 1927, WCC, WCC Commission on Faith & Order Transmis : 14 octobre 2010 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=648
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : 1927, WCC, WCC Commission on Faith & Order

WCC F&O Commission approves new theological agreement

At a historic meeting in Malaysia, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Faith and Order approved a new theological agreement and proposed a major restructuring of its work in the future.

The commission approved the text on “The Church: Towards a Common Vision” the second convergence document in the history of Faith and Order. The WCC director of Faith and Order, Canon John Gibaut, explains that “this ‘convergence’ text show how closely the members of the commission are able to come together to agree on what it means to be the one Church of Jesus Christ. The agreement reached by the commission then will be tested among the churches.”

— Read the complete story on our website
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Posted: July 3, 2012 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=2199
Categories: WCC News • In this article: church, ecclesiology, ecumenism, WCC, WCC Commission on Faith & Order Transmis : 3 juillet 2012 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=2199
Catégorie : WCC News • Dans cet article : church, ecclesiology, ecumenism, WCC, WCC Commission on Faith & Order

Guide to WCC Common Vision document published

Aptly released for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the Anglican Communion Office has produced a study guide to the World Council of Churches (WCC) document The Church: Towards a Common Vision, the result of 20 years of study and dialogue among the council’s member churches, who represent most of the world’s churches.

The WCC published Towards a Common Vision in March 2013 and asked its members to study it and comment on it. According to the WCC’s introduction, the document asks and offers answers to the questions “What can we say together about the Church of the Triune God in order to grow in communion, to struggle together for justice and peace in the world, and to overcome together our past and present divisions?” It begins by addressing “the Church’s mission, unity, and its being in the Trinitarian life of God” and then looks at ecumenical “growth in communion – in apostolic faith, sacramental life, and ministry – as churches called to live in and for the world.”
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Posted: January 20, 2014 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=7195
Categories: Anglican Journal • In this article: church, dialogue, ecclesiology, ecumenism, WCC, WCC Commission on Faith & Order Transmis : 20 janvier 2014 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=7195
Catégorie : Anglican Journal • Dans cet article : church, dialogue, ecclesiology, ecumenism, WCC, WCC Commission on Faith & Order

New initiatives explore relationships between ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue

Addressing the urgency of witnessing to the gospel in current ecumenical and multi-religious situations, the World Council of Churches (WCC) will develop materials to assist churches engaged in both ecumenical dialogue and inter-religious dialogue.

Ecumenical dialogue is about conversations between different Christian churches while inter-religious dialogue is concerned with the conversations between different world religions.

The agreement to produce these materials were an outcome of vigorous conversations in a recent meeting, organized by the WCC’s Commission on Faith and Order and the WCC’s programme for inter-religious dialogue and cooperation, from 12 to14 May at the Ecumenical Institute, Bossey, Switzerland.

Questions related to the relationship between ecumenical and inter-religious dialogues, their commonalities and distinctive features, were in focus at the meeting.
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Posted: May 16, 2014 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=7565
Categories: Communiqué, WCC News • In this article: dialogue, ecumenism, interfaith, WCC, WCC Commission on Faith & Order Transmis : 16 mai 2014 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=7565
Catégorie : Communiqué, WCC News • Dans cet article : dialogue, ecumenism, interfaith, WCC, WCC Commission on Faith & Order

Canadian ecumenist heads to Anglican Communion

The Revd Canon Dr John Gibaut has been appointed to succeed the Revd Canon Dr Alyson Barnett-Cowan in March as Director for Unity, Faith and Order of the Anglican Communion. Canon Gibaut is currently the Director of the World Council of Churches’ Commission on Faith and Order based in Geneva Switzerland. Faith and Order is the theological commission that resolves issues of Christian disunity, and promotes a vision of the Church as a communion of unity in diversity. A priest and canon theologian of the Diocese of Ottawa, Anglican Church of Canada, Canon Gibaut is currently an assistant priest of Eglise St-Germain, Geneva, église catholique-chrétienne (Old Catholic Diocese of Switzerland). Previously to his appointment to the WCC position, he was a professor at Faculty of Theology, Saint Paul University, Ottawa. Here he taught in the areas of ecumenism, liturgy, church history, historical theology, homiletics, and Anglican studies. Canon Gibaut has also served at Toronto’s St James’s Cathedral and St Clement’s Mission Centre in the Diocese of Quebec. Well known in ecumenical circles, the 55-year-old Canadian has served on several national and international dialogues and commissions including the International Commission for Anglican-Orthodox Theological Dialogue, the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations, and the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order.
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Posted: October 10, 2014 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=7855
Categories: ACNS • In this article: Anglican Communion, John Gibaut, WCC Commission on Faith & Order Transmis : 10 octobre 2014 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=7855
Catégorie : ACNS • Dans cet article : Anglican Communion, John Gibaut, WCC Commission on Faith & Order

Odair Pedroso Mateus named director of WCC Faith and Order Commission

Rev. Dr Odair Pedroso Mateus, professor of ecumenical theology at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland and acting director of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Faith and Order, has been confirmed as the new Faith and Order director. He has been appointed by the executive committee of the WCC, at their meeting in Armenia 8-12 June, on the recommendation of the general secretary, supported by the clear and unanimous recommendation from a search panel representing the Faith and Order Commission and senior staff of the WCC. A pastor of the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil, Odair Mateus has worked for the World Alliance of Reformed Churches where he run its bilateral ecumenical dialogues and edited its quarterly journal. He has served both the Faith and Order secretariat in Geneva and the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey since 2007. The director’s position fell open after the Rev. Canon Dr John Gibaut left Geneva for London in early 2015 to become director for Unity, Faith and Order of the world-wide Anglican Communion. Mateus has been supervising the work of Faith and Order office as acting director.
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Posted: June 12, 2015 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=8573
Categories: WCC News • In this article: Odair Mateus, WCC, WCC Commission on Faith & Order Transmis : 12 juin 2015 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=8573
Catégorie : WCC News • Dans cet article : Odair Mateus, WCC, WCC Commission on Faith & Order

French ecumenical delegation considers WCC convergence text

The Faith and Order Commission’s convergence text “The Church: Towards a Common Vision” continues to be discussed by churches on a journey toward revealing the unity of the church and how it is inextricably bound on a pilgrimage of justice and peace.

As part of this worldwide ongoing dialogue, ecumenical delegates from three departments of France — Ain, Savoie and Haute Savoie — met on 17 March with Dr Ani Ghazaryan Drissi, a member of the Secretariat of the Faith and Order Commission, in La Roche-sur-Foron. Together, they had a presentation and debate on the document.

The French delegates will prepare a response to the document by December 2016.

“It is essential to have official answers to ‘The Church: Towards a Common Vision’ not only from churches, but also from ecumenical groups such as this,” said Ghazaryan Drissi. “The first objective of the text is the renewal of ecclesial life.”
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Posted: March 31, 2016 • Permanent link: ecu.net/?p=9133
Categories: WCC News • In this article: church, dialogue, ecclesiology, WCC Commission on Faith & Order Transmis : 31 mars 2016 • Lien permanente : ecu.net/?p=9133
Catégorie : WCC News • Dans cet article : church, dialogue, ecclesiology, WCC Commission on Faith & Order