wfn.org | WCC - Faith and Order marks 75th anniversary

["Sheila Mesa" <smm@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches
Press Information, Info-02-08
For Immediate Use
10 May 2002

Faith and Order marks 75th anniversary
Celebrations to be held in Switzerland on 25 August 2002

The first meeting of the Faith and Order Commission of the World
Council of Churches (WCC), held in Lausanne on 3 August 1927, had
very high hopes. Participants believed that the goal of visible
unity of the churches was really attainable.  

The preacher at the time, Bishop Charles Brent of the Protestant
Episcopal Church of the US, reminded the representatives of the
churches of Christ's hope "that they might all be one".  

"The 75th anniversary of that meeting in Lausanne on 25 August
this year provides an opportunity to call the churches once again
to the goal of visible unity," says the present director of the
WCC's Faith and Order Commission Rev. Dr Alan Falconer.  

The 1927 meeting took place when memories of the first world war
were still fresh. "In 2002, in a deeply divided world, the call
to unity assumes even greater urgency if the church is to provide
an alternative of reconciliation between peoples and with God,"
Falconer explains.  

During the 75 years, Faith and Order has encouraged the search
for unity on a number of levels. For parishes, it provides
worship materials and brings local communities together for the
annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, that serves to
stimulate a vision of the church as wider than the local parish. 
 

Secondly, it brings churches who are seeking to unite, into
dialogue, facilitating the exchange of information on church
union negotiations and bilateral dialogues, and bringing people
together for common reflection. The results of Faith and Order
dialogues have become the basis for many agreements for changed
relationships among churches.   

"The patient work of dialogue in and through Faith and Order
leads to conversion to inclusiveness and communion. It is
essential for the witness of the church," says Falconer.  

The anniversary celebrations will take place in Lausanne,
Switzerland, on the afternoon of Sunday 25 August. They will
begin with the laying of a wreath on the grave of Bishop Charles
Brent, who had been so inspired by the visions spelled out in
Lausanne in 1927, especially as they were manifested in the local
churches, that he later chose to spend his retirement there.  

There will be a convocation with a number of presentations on
the work, impact and future of Faith and Order, and the
celebrations will culminate in an ecumenical service of
celebration in Lausanne's cathedral.  

Arrangements for the celebrations are in the hands of a local
committee of representatives of church communities in the Canton
of Vaud, Switzerland, as well as of Faith and Order staff.  

The WCC Central Committee is due to meet in Geneva the following
week. Thus all WCC officers, Executive Committee and many Central
Committee members will be present, ensuring wide international
representation in the celebrations.  

The celebrations will include significant Roman Catholic
participation. "Since 1968, the Roman Catholic Church has been a
full member of the Faith and Order Commission. They had already
participated in two earlier Faith and Order world conferences
(Lund 1952 and Montreal 1963). Their participation has always
been intense and they have played a seminal role in Faith and
Order since that time," Falconer reports.  

The local Lausanne ecumenical committee will hold

a preliminary PRESS CONFERENCE on 

Tuesday 14 May 2002 at 1130hrs

at the Maison du dialogue L'Arzillier, Av de Rumine 62,
Lausanne

Contact: Pastor Martin Hoegger: tel: 0041 21 635 9708; mobile
0041 79 7744149

The WCC will hold a press conference in Geneva before the August
celebrations.
Details to be announced later.

Faith and Order website:		
http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/index-e.html  (for English)
http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/index-f.html   (for French)
http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/index-g.htm   (for German)
http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/index-s.html   (for Spanish)

-----------------------------------------------
Sunday, 25 August 2002

75th anniversary of the first world conference of the
Commission of Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches
held in Lausanne, 3 August 1927

1500hrs  -  Wreath-laying at the grave of Bishop Charles Brent
of the Episcopal Church of the USA. Bishop Brent preached the
sermon at the first Faith and Order conference. He later retired
to live in Lausanne. The short ceremony will be attended by
officers and staff of the present Faith and Order Commission.  
(Cimetiere du Bois de Vaux, route de Chavannes 2, Lausanne)

1600hrs  -  Presentations on the work, impact and future of
Faith and Order, including a presentation by a young theologian,
Anastasia Vassiliadou of the Church of Greece.  
(Aula of the University of Lausanne, Aula du Palais de Rumine,
Place de la Riponne, Lausanne)

1800hrs  -  Ecumenical service of celebration and thanksgiving
for the work of the Faith and Order movement. The preacher will
be His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana, Durres and all
Albania.  
(Lausanne cathedral, place de la Cathedrale, Lausanne)

Contact people:

Local ecumenical committee:
Pastor Martin Hoegger: tel: 0041 21 635 9708; mobile: 0041 79
7744 149,
e-mail: mhoegger@hotmail.com 

WCC Faith and Order:
Rev Dr Alan Falconer: tel: 0041 22 791 6337, e-mail:
af@wcc-coe.org 

WCC media relations:
Rev. Bob Scott:, Public Information Team, tel: 0041 22 791 6166;
mobile 0041 79 304 7612,
e-mail: bob@wcc-coe.org 

**********
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches,
now 342, in more than 100 countries in all continents from
virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is
not a member church but works cooperatively with the WCC. The
highest governing body is the assembly, which meets approximately
every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in
Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general
secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

World Council of Churches
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