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The webinar was moderated by Rev. Dr Kirsten L. Guidero, ecumenical and interreligious officer of the Episcopal Church.
Dr Andrej Jeftić, director of the WCC Commission on Faith and Order, offered an introduction to the WCC Commission on Faith and Order, describing it as “the space where churches come together to wrestle with some of the deepest questions of the Christian faith.”
He also reflected on a brief history of the commission and its influential publications.
Rev. Dr Angelique Walker-Smith, WCC president from North America, expressed gratitude to the Episcopal Church for promoting the North America-Turtle Island Regional Ecumenical Theological Institute, which will convene 3-16 August under the theme “Where Now for Visible Justice?”
“We have about 25 different students already who have said yes,” said Walker-Smith.
She also offered an overview of some of the trending projects and priorities of the WCC.
Rev. Nicole Ashwood, WCC programme executive for a Just Community of Women and Men, introduced the Thursdays in Black campaign for a world free from rape and violence. “We resist discrimination, exclusivism, abuse of power, and all forms of violence and oppression,” she said.
Rev. Dr Kuzipa Nalwamba, WCC programme director for Unity, Mission, and Ecumenical Formation, spoke of how churches come together to become prophetic witnesses, and that no one church can lay claim to the truth. “That is an important foundation to lay not only for teaching but for living,” she said. “We do not boil everything down to the simple, lowest common denominator.”
Doug Chial, WCC director of the Office of the General Secretariat, reflected on his own 30 years of engagement with the WCC, and how the global fellowship has changed over the decades. He spoke of broadening the WCC table, and held up the example of Pentecostal churches and their representatives, who now serve on many of the WCC commissions.
“From my perspective, the most powerful mechanism we used along the way was Bible studies,” he said.
