The WCC is a fellowship of churches, now 337 in more than 120 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian traditions

First World Conference on Faith & Order, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1927 The chief means of Faith and Order activity is the convoking of meetings of theologians and educators from the churches in order to discuss church-dividing issues and church-uniting possibilities.A widely representative historical movement, it has been called "the most comprehensive theological forum in Christendom."

World council of churches faith and order goals and activities include bringing together representative people from different Christian confessions to work towards the visible unity of the Church.

Bishop Walter Kasper - First Visit to the WCC
"The ecumenical movement is one of the bright spots of the past century"


The ecumenical movement is one of the bright spots of the past century, Bishop Walter Kasper said in Geneva on Tuesday, 1 February. Describing as "positive" a two-day visit to the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity said that much had been achieved in the preceding decades, including the making of important contacts and the discovery and development of areas of convergence.

This was Bishop Kasper’s first visit to the WCC’s Geneva headquarters since taking up his new office in the Vatican last summer. In conversation with WCC representatives the Bishop expressed appreciation of the "valuable cooperation with the WCC", and described the work of the Commission on Faith and Order as "central" in this.

One important theme in future cooperation between the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) and the WCC would be the question of baptism, the Bishop said. This will also be among the topics discussed by the Joint Working Group between the RCC and the WCC, which will meet for the first time with its new membership in May of this year in Beirut, Lebanon.

Besides topics like the mutual recognition of baptism, it would also be important to consider how far the significance of baptism as the sacramental basis of Christian unity can be expressed more clearly in liturgy, Kasper stressed: "The question is how we can celebrate our common Christian faith together."

Kasper also mentioned justification as another ecumenical challenge for the future. This was a fundamental question not only for Lutherans, but for all the Reformation churches. It would now be a case of examining how far the differentiated consensus worked out with the Lutherans could be extended to other Reformation churches and so broaden the basis of consensus, he said.

The WCC and the RCC maintain regular, close working relations. The Executive Committee of the Joint Working Groups meets twice a year, while its 35-member Plenary meets once a year. The RCC has twelve representatives on the WCC’s Commission on Faith and Order, three members on the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism and consultants in other advisory bodies of the WCC. The RCC is also a member of several regional and national councils of churches.

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WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES
FAITH AND ORDER, CHRISTIAN UNITY AND THE WORLD
 


The following essay represents personal reflections on Faith and Order, written for the internet by staff members. It is an attempt at a beginner's introduction to the Faith and Order Commission, the reason why it was formed, the questions which occupy its agenda, and the way in which it operates. Several other essays by different authors, which probe deeper into the subject, can be consulted on our essays page.

The problem of the divided churches

Since the foundations of Christianity, Christians have confessed one Christian Church. St. Paul wrote that "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all" (Eph. 4:4-6). Yet it can also be said that since the foundations of the Christian Church history has seen Christendom divided into countless communities, separated either geographically, culturally or doctrinally. Even as it can be said about some of these divisions that they might represent something of a healthy diversity, or that they have occurred through some sort of necessity, be it historical or cultural, it is impossible to view our divided life as Christians with complacency. The Christian Church cannot be divided -- for it identifies itself with the undivided Body of Christ!


The attempts to heal: discussing and doing

Many factors have divided Christians. Some are doctrinal in nature, some historical, some cultural, some are a matter of political or even financial concerns. As soon as one senses the tragedy of Christian divisions, the question must be asked: what can be done about them? Is there a way to heal? In some Christian churches it is felt that Christian unity can only be effected by a universal "return" or assimilation into that church. In other quarters, it is felt that one needs only to peel away the cultural and formal layers to find that we really are in fact one already. There are surely other ways of regarding the task of Christian unity. Yet the question remains: looking at Christianity today, what can be done to bring Christian denominational families and Christian churches closer together, closer towards the unity to which they are called (John 17:21)?

The desire to heal or prevent Christian division is as old as Christian division itself, which, as the New Testament testifies, dates to the very origins of Christianity. Yet in the modern Ecumenical Movement of the past century, the attempts to heal have quite broadly taken two complementary forms, which might be characterized as "discussing together" and "doing together." In any human division, whether on the level of a family, a friendship or an institution, reunion needs to be a combination of discussing -- what happened to bring about the division, what is it that really divides us, what can be done to bring us together, and doing -- beginning already to act in some way together and build, or rebuild, some kind of common life.

The movements which arose at the end of the last century and the beginning of the current one, movements which spawned the modern Ecumenical Movement, reflected these forms. The doing was represented by the Life and Work movement, while the discussing was the task of the Faith and Order movement. It needs to be emphasized once again that these two areas of activity and their concerns were always seen as complementary: the discussing is about what Christians do and what they are, and the doing involves a great deal of cooperative discussion!

Today, the Life and Work movement is represented in the World Council of Churches in those areas of activity where the Christian churches act cooperatively: e.g., in education, humanitarian response, and programmes aimed against injustice and the abuse of people and the environment.


The Faith and Order Movement Today

The Faith and Order movement is represented in the World Council of Churches by a staff which administers the work of the world-wide Faith and Order Commission. The aim of the Faith and Order movement has always been, and still is, "to proclaim the oneness of the Church of Jesus Christ and to call the churches to the goal of visible unity". The chief means of achieving this goal is through study programmes which deal with the theological questions that divide the churches. Below are just some of the main issues being explored today:

1) Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry
Today's main issues in the discussion were also the main issues at the beginning of the Faith and Order movement in 1927, e.g.,


The discussion on these fundamental issues found its first clear results in 1982, in the widespread Faith and Order publication, Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (BEM). BEM tried to express the convergences that had been found over the years. This document was sent to all the churches, together with questions and the request to study it carefully. Six volumes of responses were compiled and testify to a broad process of reception and critical reflection on the convergence of BEM. The BEM document continues to be received widely and as a result some churches have changed their liturgical forms, and some have entered into discussions which in turn led to further agreements and steps towards unity.

2) The Church
It also became apparent that the main question behind divisions which still exist between Christians is our different understanding of what it means to be a church, or the Church. Therefore Faith and Order is at present engaged in a major study on ecclesiology, concerning precisely these questions. This area of study involves the question of how the Church relates to the world, and will attempt to show the close relationship between faith questions and ethical questions. Also connected to this is an effort to find common ground among the various ways of intepreting the Bible and other sources of our faith.

3) The Faith
Another related issue is the question of how we can express together the faith that we do have in common. A study project has been looking into how the churches might understand together the Nicene Creed, which is one of the oldest and still most universal expressions of the Christian faith. This project includes a Study Guide which is intended for use in parish groups around the world.

4) Worship and Spirituality
Doctrinal questions are closely related to issues of worship and spirituality. Therefore Faith and Order also deals with the question of the role of the kind of Christian worship which would be acceptable to all and which, at the same time, would help churches in their search for a greater unity. A significant project in this area is the annual preparation, done in cooperation between Faith and Order and the Roman Catholic Church, of the material for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

5) Ecclesiology and Ethics
What the church is and believes is intimately related to what the church does - to its prophetic witness and its service to those in need. Therefore Faith and Order works to understand the nature of the Church in relation to its life in and for the world. A collaborative program with the World Council's Justice, Peace and Creation team (reflecting the tradition of the Life and Work movement) is asking such questions as:

6) Other ongoing work
Faith and Order's ongoing work includes shared responsibility for the material for the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, as noted above. It also facilitates the coordination of results from international bilateral dialogues (the Bilateral Forum), as well as the movements towards local church unions (United and Uniting Churches).


The Structure and Method of Faith and Order Work

The Faith and Order Commission has 120 members. These are men and women from around the world -- pastors, laypersons, academics, church leaders -- each nominated by his or her church. (Faith and Order enjoys the full membership and participation of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as several other churches who are not members of the World Council of Churches.) Thirty member of this Commission constitute the Faith and Order Board or Standing Commission, who meet at least every 18 months and guide the study programmes of Faith and Order.

Faith and Order's chief method of approaching and studying the questions described earlier on is through consultations which are organised around the world. Members of the Faith and Order Commission, together with other invited church members, meet in groups which can vary in size from ten to a hundred people. Whatever the size, the groups continue the dialogue process and produce texts and study documents which, while having no authority of their own over any church, are of significance and use by virtue of having been composed by a widely representative group of people from various Christian traditions. Most of these texts are sent to the churches for study and comment. The administration of these meetings and the publication of their results is the responsibility of the Faith and Order Secretariat at the World Council of Churches' headquarters in Geneva.

Faith and Order meetings are characterised by the strong commitment of each member to his or her own tradition, together with a deep enthusiasm and dedication to the vision and task of the unity of the Church. Participants not only seek to work out the many problems that they face in trying to overcome Christian divisions, they also uncover the many opportunities that exist to further Christian unity. The process of dialogue is supported by common prayer and worship.


(Source: wcc-coe.org)

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