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The Faith and Order Commission is an assembly group within the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
Retrieved October 18, 2016. Other work of the Commission includes facilitating the coordination of results from international bilateral dialogues (the Bilateral Forum), and movements towards local church unions. Its publications are issued in a series of ''Faith and Order Papers'' beginning with no. 1 in 1948. An earlier series of ''Faith and Order Papers'' was issued by the World Conference of Faith and Order from 1937 onwards.
The Faith and Order Commission is an assembly group within the World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...
founded in 1948 which has made numerous and significant contributions to the ecumenical movement
Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...
.
The commission has been successful in working toward consensus on Baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
, Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
, and Ministry
Ministry may refer to:
Government
* Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister
* Ministry (government department), a department of a government
Religion
* Christian ...
, on the date of Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
, on the nature and purpose of the church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
(ecclesiology
In Christian theology, ecclesiology is the study of the Church (congregation), Church, the origins of Christianity, its relationship to Jesus, its role in salvation, its ecclesiastical polity, polity, its Church discipline, discipline, its escha ...
), and on ecumenical hermeneutics
Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. Hermeneutics is more than interpretative principles or methods used when immediate ...
. The 1952 meeting of the Faith and Order Commission, held in Lund, Sweden, produced the Lund Principle for ecumenical co-operation; this was the third of its conferences.
The commission has 120 members, including representation of churches who are not members of the World Council of Churches, among them the Roman Catholic Church, who joined in 1968. Members are men and women from around the world - pastor
A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...
s, laypeople, academic
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...
s, and church leaders nominated by their churches.
A major study on the church was undertaken which examined the question 'What it means to be a church, or the Church?' in particular with a focus on ecclesiology and ethics focusing on the churches/Church's 'prophetic witness and its service to those in need'.
Faith and Order collaborates with ''Justice, Peace and Creation'' to answer the questions:
*'How can the search for unity be a source of renewal for both the Church and the world?
*'What does our increasing cooperation on issues of justice, peace and the creation teach us about the nature of the Church?
*'What is the relationship between ethnicity, nationalism, and church unity?
Material for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is an ecumenical Christian observance in the Christian calendar that is celebrated internationally. It is kept annually between Ascension Day and Pentecost in the Southern Hemisphere and between 18 January ...
is prepared annually in collaboration with the Roman Catholic Church.Retrieved October 18, 2016. Other work of the Commission includes facilitating the coordination of results from international bilateral dialogues (the Bilateral Forum), and movements towards local church unions. Its publications are issued in a series of ''Faith and Order Papers'' beginning with no. 1 in 1948. An earlier series of ''Faith and Order Papers'' was issued by the World Conference of Faith and Order from 1937 onwards.
See also
* Baptism, Eucharist and MinistryReferences