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Churches now agree more than they disagree on many characteristics of the Church and its faith, mission, and life: the responses to the convergence statement The Church: Towards a Common Vision make this clear. Within this growth in agreement, key themes come to the fore, calling for greater understanding, study, and common conversation: visible unity, communion, mission, the role of the people of God in ministry and decision-making, sin and the church, and more. 
This volume presents essays on sixteen of these key themes. Each essay was written by a member of the subgroup of the WCC Commission on Faith and Order that focused on reading and analyzing the responses. The essays were then discussed by the group and revised in light of the discussions. Some of the themes have been prominent since the 1982 convergence statement Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry. Others have emerged more recently. 

Together with the report What are the Churches Saying about the Church?, the essays illuminate the many ways in which the vision of unity has inspired and changed the churches, as well as critical areas where future work is needed.

Studie der Kommission für Glauben und Kirchenverfassung Nr. 235

Gegenwärtige Spannungen innerhalb und zwischen Kirchen sind oft das Ergebnis von Uneinigkeit in moralisch-ethischen Fragen. Angesichts der Dringlichkeit der Angelegenheit hat es sich die Kommission für Glauben und Kirchenverfassung des Ökumenischen Rates der Kirchen zur Aufgabe gemacht, die Kirchen bei der Suche nach einem Weg, das gegenseitige Verstehen zu vertiefen, zu unterstützen. Aufbauend aus den Lernerfahrungen aus den moralisch-ethischen Urteilsbildungsprozessen verschiedener kirchlicher Traditionen und einer Reihe von historischen Beispielen schlägt dieses Studiendokument ein Analyseinstrument vor, um das Wissen über die Prozesse zu vertiefen, zu erkennen, wie und warum Unterschiede auftreten können, gemeinsame Überzeugungen zu bekräftigen und auf diese Weise Koinonia zu stärken. Anstatt sich nur auf die Ergebnisse eines Urteilsbildungsprozesses zu konzentrieren, kann das Verständnis des Prozesses zu einem neuen Weg für den Dialog führen. Das Studiendokument schlägt die Vorstellung des Gewissens der Kirche vor. Wo anerkannt wird, dass Kirchen danach streben, Gottes Willen zu erkennen und zu tun, um dem Evangelium treu zu bleiben, kann ein Dialog mit der Annahme beginnen, dass der Partner aufrichtig ist, ohne dabei notwendigerweise das Ergebnis seines Urteilsbildungsprozesses zu akzeptieren.

 

Published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the WCC’s Programme on Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation, this volume celebrates a common confidence that dialogue can be linked to liberation in ways that can be both faithful and fruitful.

From the Introduction: “The heartbeat of this book is its concern to reimagine interreligious dialogue as a “dialogue of and for life” by interlinking it with liberation. What drives it is a passion that seeks to hold together two distinct concerns that emerged within theological thinking during the latter half of the 20th century and have since freed theological imagination in manifold ways.”

Faith and Order Paper no. 236

This report was developed by the WCC Commission on Faith and Order as part of an ongoing conversation by churches about the Church that has included various elements. Following the publication of the two volumes of Churches Respond to The Church: Towards a Common Vision, this text provides an accessible summary of the findings of a process that took years of intense and hope-filled listening. It provides some highlights and impressions of what those who have listened have discerned what they heard.

The Commission on Faith and Order hope that readers will find this short text fascinating, challenging, and significant and that it will encourage the churches to take stock of the theological unity made evident here.

Faith and Order Paper No. 235

The study document “Churches and Moral Discernment: Facilitating Dialogue to Build Koinonia,” harvests the fruits of the study process on moral discernment which began in 2015. In its analysis, the document describes patterns in the complex negotiations between continuity and change as churches respond to moral challenges. At its core, the study document invites the churches to more deeply understand the significance of “the conscience of the church” in moral discernment processes and points to its ecumenical potential. The document offers a tool to analyse core elements in the conscience of the church that shape moral discernment.