Eduqas Alevel RS Christianity 4D The world council of churches

what is the world council of churches

"Fellowship of Churches which accept our Lord Jesus Christ as God and Savior" many denominations are represented

What is the Ecumenical Council?

An official gathering of the bishops of the world under the direction of the pope

What is the ecumenical movement?

This movement brings about understanding among the various Christian groups.

what are the origins of the ecumenical movement

- evidence of ecumenicalism in the early church such as meetings to follow disagreements e.g Barnabas and Paul organised church council

- ecumenical council following increase in heresies, the council of Nicaea lead to the creation of the nicene creed

information about the WCC

- formed in 1948 and it was formed on the backdrop of WW2

- first meeting was held in Amsterdam in 1948, 147 church bodies were represented

- Often described as an ecclesiastical United nations (church version)

- Not all churches are full members, some are observers but it still forms a important part of the Christian worldwide landscape

- there are now 350 church members including methodist and baptists but not the RC they are observers.

when does the WCC meet and why

- they meet every 7 years except there is a central committee that meets more often

- in 1961 they discussed: Expansion of the definition of the Trinity, International missionary council became a full part of the WCC, RC ambassadors attended for the first time to observe, Russian orthodox and Eastern Orthodox church became members, first pentecostal churches joined from latin America.

how does the WCC bring about unity within the christian landscape

1. confession and profession of the apostolic faith

2. common sacramental life - eucharist and baptism

3. mutual recognition of all members

4. common interest in missionary work and separating the gospel

5. working and participating in churches with agreed structures

6. service to the world so that all might believe

- the final three have a focus on evangelism

Doctrine divides but service unites

Edinburgh Missionary Conference, they had clear differences in their doctrine but the service that they all strived to provide was the same and followed by everyone

what happened at the Edinburgh missionary conference (before WCC)

- brought together Christian groups, led to formation of church organisations, lasted 10 days, 160 different missionary boards, 1910.

- All groups were united in the belief that there should be a self supporting church in non christian nations that would reflect the undivided church. This sought to work about the divisions in the church that were emerging

- tried to work beyond the doctrine as this was what divided the church, they chose to focus only on service and spreading the christian message. The movement agreed to focus on missionary but neither orthodox or RC were invited

what was the RC church response to the Edinburgh missionary conference

Pope Pius XI published a letter that said that the only way to understand the will of christ was to return to the church in Rome. This downgrades the other denominations and didn't help with the ecumenical push. He feared that it watered down the religion and became a irreligion.

what are the WCC main areas

1. unity, mission and ecumenical relations - evangelism

2. Public witness and service - how can christians help others

3. ecumenical formation - training and study

how does the WCC uphold unity, mission and ecumenical relations - evangelism

this area involves spreading the message of the gospel, it strengths the relationships between the Christian churches.

The WCC works to tackle social injustices, working with those who are vulnerable such as migrants or those with disabilities, they also work on interfaith relations.

It includes the commission of Faith and Order which is one of the main movements that formed the WCC. They produced the most influential ecumenical documents called 'Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry' in 1982 and it explores the agreements and disagreements between the churches

how does the WCC uphold Public witness and service - how can christians help others

This pioneers that christians have a social responsibility, this is building on the legacy and life work movement in 1948

this seeks to offer a prophetic voice which raises awareness to these areas and churches which need particular attention. Such as peace building in conflict areas, sending observers to countries at conflict similar to the UN

The service refers particularly to the work needed to help the poor and oppressed. This may mean working for global health, climate change, HIV rights or education rights.

how does the WCC uphold ecumenical formation - training and study

The area of study and education so that all of the projects above can take pace, they have a teaching institute in Switzerland and it can grant diplomas through the university of Geneva. They believe that training and education can prevent inward looking tendencies

what was the reaction from the RC

progress was being made, when Pope John XXIII was elected and supported ecumenism, he decided to promote someone to be the secretary of state thats job was to promote christian unity. The WCC allowed RC to observe the event in 1961. The RC then allowed non RC to attend and observe the second Vatican.

Although they are not part of the WCC they are part of one of its sub sections, the faith and order commission.

1965 - redacted the excommunication between the churches in 1054

1966- Pope gave the arch bishop of Canterbury a special ring

1967- Anglican catholic international committee formed to work on ecumenical progress between two chirhce s

what was Pope John Pauls response to the WCC

- he had a positive outlook towards it and recognises the CC plan for ecumenicalism and their engagement in to too.

- unity is maintained in the church and it cannot be lost

- Pope says goal is ecumenicalism but it is given and achieved at the church in Rome

- Ecumenical price is to accept RC

- all other views were only partially christian

what happened after the conference in Edinburgh

1925 - Life and Work movement focused on how christians should respond In the aftermath of WW1

1927 - faith and order movement met to discuss the theological and doctrinal differences between denominations

1937 - leaders from life and work movement met to discuss the merging of the WCC, this never happened due to WW2

1947 - church of south India formed which merged Anglican, Presbyterian Lutheran and Methodist churches into one denomination

was the WCC a failure?

- some fractions and factions In the programmes such as the orthodox church are not always happy with the level of involvement or feel mis/under represented, this has lead to more denominations arguably not

- not a lot of coverage about the WCC outside the church, people see the division more than at the church and don't see the unity they are trying to build

- in recent studies it is seen that there are 43,000 denominations of christianity compared to 1600 in the 1900s. Surely that show that there has been a revers impact of the WCC and lead to more separation. It can also be argued that it is impossible to have unity between that many denominations and different theological perspectives.

- The RC church remains out of the WCC yet it is the biggest denomination, will that lead people to believe that the WCC is not as great as it seems if the greatest denomination is not included. Suggests also that the beliefs are not substantial enough as they are not in the WCC

- there is also lots of disagreement between the doctrine, how can you try and progress to unity when you can't agree on the cornerstone of the religion, the wrong that surely only have one

was the WCC a success?

- membership levels have reached 348 churches , this shows that there is outreach and want to join despite their differences they all can come together to work to evangelise and help others

- three main denominations participate in some way in the WCC, even if they are not full members such as the RC which only participates in the faith and order movement

- Even if not all denominations are part of the WCC the ecumenical effect has spread worldwide and throughout christianity seen when the pope and the archbishop travelled together to south Sudan

- RC fail to join is down to them and not the WCC they have the opportunity to join and are slightly involved already

- works above the doctrine to include all, they are able to put different theological differences aside to focus on helping others first

- meet fully every 7 years but have regular smaller meetings showing that they are bale to follow recent events and have full meetings where everyone gets a word

does the non membership of the RCC affect the WCC - yes

- the RCC is the largest denomination and has the greatest affect within christianity, if they are not involved then surely that would lead to a inner religion rift or could be seen as a indirect discredit of the WCC and what it stands for. It will arguments.

- The Rc is not a member shows how the WCC is not universal or inclusive as it it does not help others progress with ecumenicalism, the success of the WCC is lost due to the lack of support from th RC, if it had that support to would be universal and known about globally due to the larger outreach that the RC has.

- the Catholic Church has the most sacraments that allow someone to become closer to God and join in body with christ. Without the RC then the WCC cannot be as close as it could possibly be with God or in the body with christ

- the fact that they are to members is detrimental to ecumenicalism it makes one see more important than the other, defeating the point of mission itself.

does the non membership of the RCC affect the WCC - no

- - The RCC is one denomination of many and its presence has never stopped others from existing and having different views so their absence from the WCC should affect others plans of belief

- they all share the same core beliefs and the goal of the WCC is to evangelise which is a goal that the RC also has they just go about it themselves nit within a larger organisation, it doesn't hinder them and is still working towards the sae thing

- they mat t be a full member but they do attend as a visitor meaning they are still included and knowledgable on the ne decisions, they even showed progression by inviting non RC to the vatical council 2

- RC seems to suggest that they have a fear that the WCC would water down their beliefs such as the doctrines and the eucharist

- socially they have a unique approach meaning that it helps to make decisions easier