The traditional period in the northern hemisphere for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is 18-25 January. Those dates were proposed in 1908 by Paul Wattson to cover the days between the feasts of St Peter and St Paul, and therefore have a symbolic significance. In the southern hemisphere where January is a vacation time churches often find other days to celebrate the week of prayer, for example around Pentecost (suggested by the Faith and Order movement in 1926), which is also a symbolic date for the unity of the church.
Mindful of the need for flexibility, we invite you to use this material …
Mission belongs to the very being of the church. Proclaiming the word of God and witnessing to the world is essential for every Christian. At the same time, it is necessary to do so according to gospel principles, with full respect and love for all human beings.
Aware of the tensions between people and communities of different religious convictions and the varied interpretations of Christian witness, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID), the World Council of Churches (WCC) and, at the invitation of the WCC, the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), met during a period of 5 years to reflect and produce this document to serve as …
A Report of the Catholic Reformed Dialogue in United States 2003 - 2007
The purpose of this report is twofold. It is the review committee’s intention not only to fulfill the requirements established by the General Assembly but also to provide a resource that will educate our church on the goals of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (NCCC) and the nature of the church’s commitment to the NCCC. It is important to remind our church that the NCCC is not just a religious organization but also a council of which we as the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are members.
“As an expression of the one holy catholic and apostolic church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has never been able to live in comfortable detachment from other churches. Instead, we search for diverse patterns of the visible unity of Christ’s church, seeking concord in essential things: faith, sacraments, mission, and ministry. Such forms of communion are both signs of the church’s unity and means by which the church’s unity is achieved… The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), in gratitude for God’s grace and mercy, commits itself to faithful use of God’s gifts in the search for fuller expression of the visible unity to which we
are called.” Among the …
At the 212th General Assembly (2000), and in response to concerns voiced within the General Assembly Council (GAC), the General Assembly Committee on Ecumenical Relations (GACER) was
asked to design a process “for review of councils and other ecumenical alliances to which the PC(USA) belongs.” The 213th General Assembly (2001) approved the decision, and the 214th General Assembly
(2002) received the first such review document, which reported on the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. This year a review team will bring to the assembly the second in the series, a review of the
World Council of Churches (WCC). The team who conducted this …
Christians live among people groundcd in other religions and ideologies, or in none. If our immediate circle of neighbors or friends does nor reveal the religious plurality of the world, we need look no further than our cities, our nation, and our globally-connected world to see the diverse religious traditions which increasingly intermingle there. In this environment, persons and communities affect one another even when they are unaware of doin g so.
Our common baptism, which unites us to Christ in faith, is thus a basic bond of unity.... Therefore, our one baptism into Christ constitutes a call to the churches to overcome their divisions and visibly manifest their fellowship,
During the years 2006-08, representatives of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Christian Reformed Church in North America and the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists met for a series of church to church conversations. Through exchange of scholarly papers and hours spent in discussion, the two churches reached a deeper understanding and appreciation of each other's beliefs and practices, removed many false stereotypes, and explored possible areas of cooperation. A deep level of friendship and fellowship developed as we acknowledged one another as brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ.
The 219th General Assembly (2010) approved a …