MINUTES

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ANNECY

Commission on Faith and Order

Faith and Order Paper No.106

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MINUTES
of the Meeting
of the
Standing Commission

held at
the Centre Jean xx111,
Annecy, France
January 3-10, 1981

Commission on Faith and Order

Faith and Order Paper No. 106

World Council of Churches

Commission on Faith and Order
 7 ‘Theology Library

SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY
AT CLAREMONT
California

© World Council of Churches

Geneva 1981

ISBN: 2-8254-0681-3
 C.0LN Ti beNie Ss

page
PREFACE i
I. OPENING SESSION 1

A. Welcome Th
B. Report of the Director

II. BAPTISM, EUCHARIST, MINISTRY 6

A. Report of the Steering Committee 6

1. Completion of revised texts 6
2. Questions to the churches 7
3. Distribution ii
4. Sixth Assembly 8
5. Publications 8
6. Finances 9
7. ‘Timetable 10
B. Plenary Discussion WL
1. Discussion of the texts aL
2. The process of convergence and
reception 12
3. Next steps 13
4. Statements of appreciation 14

[II. CHURCH UNITY DEVELOPMENTS 15

A. Staff Report 15
1. Consultation of United and Uniting
Churches 15
2. Study on Councils of Churches 18
B. Working Group Report 20
1. Consultation of United and Uniting
Churches 20
2. Study on Councils of Churches 22
3. The Bilateral Forum , 23
Cc. Plenary Discussion 24
1. Consultation of United and Uniting
Churches 24
2. Faith and Order's relationship to
bilateral negotiations 25
3. Study on Councils of Churches 25
4. Preparation for Vancouver 26
IV. THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH AND THE RENEWAL
OF HUMAN COMMUNITY 27

A. Staff Discussion Paper 227

B. Working Group Report 34
C. Plenary Discussion 36

V. TOWARDS THE COMMON EXPRESSION OF THE

APOSTOLIC FAITH TODAY 38

A. Staff Report 36
1. The theme 38
2. Aspects 41
3. Implications for the Work of the
Faith and Order Commission 44

B. Working Group Report 46

1. <A proposal for study 46
2. Some theological considerations
in defence of the study 49
C. Plenary Discussion 50
1. General discussion of the proposed
study 50
2. Responses to specific working
group proposals SE

VI. THE COMMUNITY OF WOMEN AND MEN IN THE 53

CHURCH

A. Staff Report a3
1. Introduction 53
2. Background
3. Initial findings 54
4. Sheffield to Dresden 56
5. Funding 56
6. Some initial probings 56
B. Working Group Report 57
C. Plenary Discussion 58
1. International Consultation 58
2. Faith and Order's involvement
in the follow-up 59
3. Additional discussion
4. Official actions 61

VII. PREPARATIONS FOR THE 1982 MEETING OF

THE FAITH AND ORDER PLENARY COMMISSION 62
A. Staff Report 62
B. Plenary Discussion 66
1. Logistical preparations for Lima 66
 2. The programme at Lima 67
3. Working groups

VIII. AMENDMENTS TO THE BY-LAWS OF THE

FAITH AND ORDER COMMISSION eu

A. Staffing By-Law 71
B. Finance By-Law TX

APPENDIX I PARTICIPATION aS

A. Attendance 3
B. Working Group Responsibilities 74
C. Worship Responsibilities ae

APPENDIX II FAITH AND ORDER PUBLICATIONS

1979-1980 75

APPENDIX III 1981 BUDGET 76

APPENDIX IV Letter to the Officers 78

APPENDIX V Provisional Timetable of 1982

Commission Meeting 80

List of Faith and Order Commission Members 82

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PREFACE

The following Minutes are from the meeting

of the Standing Commission of the Faith
and Order Commission which was held January
3-10, 1981, at the Centre Jean XXIII in
Annecy, France. The format of the meeting
called for the small working groups to
formulate brief reports, based on previous-
ly circulated staff reports, prior to ple-
nary discussion on the six major issues or
themes facing the Standing Commission.
The Minutes are designed to reflect this
procedure and to facilitate easy reference
to these issues.
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I. OPENING SESSION

A. Welcome

Dr Nissiotis opened the 1981 Standing Commission meeting by

welcoming all present and thanking them for their parti-
cipation. He noted that the period since the last Standing
Commission meeting (held in Taizé in August, 1979) had been
one of uncertainty and transition for the Faith and Order
Secretariat. He also stated, however, that the period of
staff vacancies, and the arrival of a new Director and two
new members of the programme staff, had gone by more smooth-
ly than expected. Dr Nissiotis expressed appreciation, on
behalf of the Standing Commission to C.S. Song, Constance
Parvey and Max Thurian for their ongoing programmatic work
during the period of transition, to Renate Sbeghen and
Anne Williamson for their efficient and responsible work as
administrative assistants, and to the former Director, Lukas
Vischer, for his cooperation in the transition of authority.
Finally, Dr Nissiotis extended an official welcome to the
new Director of the Secretariat, Dr William H. Lazareth.

Dr Lazareth introduced to the Standing Commission the new

members of the programme staff: The Rev. Dr Michael Kinnamon
from the United States and the Rev. Dr Hans-Georg Link from
the Federal Republic of Germany.

Dr Todor Sabev, Moderator of Unit I of the World Council of

Churches, delivered greetings and best wishes for a success-
ful meeting from the General Secretary, Philip Potter, and
the Acting General Secretary, Konrad Raiser.

B. Report of the Director: Faith and Order Activities,

August - December, 1980
Ft fc ai ca Eat eh i i do Rhee a na

Personal Preface

I wish to repeat an earlier word of deep appreciation to you

for my nomination as the new director of the Secretariat.
is an unexpected privilege to serve the Lord of the Church
It
through this call for service from the World Council of
Churches.

With regard to my own ecclesial orientation, you have

Ie
to know that I view Faith and Order - indeed, the
a right
World Council of Churches itself - as a faithful servant of
its member churches. We are to revere the integrity and
Christian communions which we pro~
authority of those very
manifest God's gift of church unity
phetically challenge to
In the process, we ourselves also
more fully and visibly.
experience a form of fellowship that is sustained and nourish-
ed by other authentic gifts of the Holy Spirit. Moreover,
we witness both in Scripture and Tradition to God's kingly
reign in a New Creation that is to encompass all of human-
kind and the totality of reality. In short, we serve a
servant Church of a Servant Lord. Therefore, our theological-
doxological work should ultimately glorify the Triune God.
It should be dedicated to God's mission in and for the whole
world through a Church that is united and sent by the Holy
Spirit in Jesus Christ.

ae The Director of the Faith and Order Secretariat is

officially authorized to engage in a wide variety of activi-
ties and studies that serve to magnify the ecumenical vision
and commitment of the churches, with special emphasis on
their faith and order, unity and worship. Our good friend,
Lukas Vischer, fulfilled this calling with distinction for
almost two decades. In order for me to build on that impor-
tant work, I pledge to work in close collaboration with the
capable staff members of the Secretariat and other able col-
leagues in the Ecumenical Centre, along with our many loyal
associates in the Standing and Plenary Commissions. I want
especially to intensify solid relations between Faith and
Order and other WCC sub-units as we try to express Christian
truth in love together for our mutual witness and common
service. In all these endeavours, I will continually look
for guidance and support from Professors Nikos Nissiotis
and Todor Sabev, brothers in Christ to whom I am directly
accountable.

Sis At its best, Faith and Order has been dedicated to

serious theological scholarship as an expression of Christian
discipleship. It has been richly blessed by God with a noble
company of intellectual Christians, women and men who without
either apology or ostentation have united love of learning
with devotion to Christ and the Church; lived in obedience
to the great commandment to love the Lord their God with
all their heart and soul and mind; and laboured in the con-
viction, as St Augustine phrased it, that "wherever truth
is to be found, it is the Lord's". We who seek wisdom under
the sign of the cross are the undeserving heirs of this great
tradition of Christian scholarship. As we begin a new chap-
ter together in the life of Faith arid Order, we dare not
betray this holy trust.

Staff organization

After so great a shift in sub-unit staff personnel, it was

necessary to engage in extensive interviews and group dis-
cussion to clarify roles and coordinate assignments in
view of the Commission's chief aim "to proclaim the oneness
of the Church of Jesus Christ and to call the churches to
the goal of visible unity in one faith and one eucharistic
fellowship, expressed in worship and in common life in
Christ, in order that the world may believe". (By-law 2)
In fulfilment of the most recent mandate approved by the
Faith and Order Commission (Bangalore "Conspectus of Studies"),
as augmented by activities also proposed by the WCC Central
Committee, the staff agreed collegially to a set of "Program-
me Priorities 1980-1981". Seven staff persons (or consultants)
assumed responsibility for participation in seven major pro-
grammes in progress. To facilitate both leaderhsip and team
cooperation, time priorities were allocated on a primary,
secondary and tertiary basis. Under the general supervision
of the sub-unit director, this collegial system allows each
staff person to be especially creative in one area of con-
cern and generally supportive of his/her colleague's efforts
in other complementary activities. The priorities will be
periodically re-evaluated and altered in view of experience,
performance, and new recommendations.

These same major areas of staff responsibility will also

serve as the basic structure for this meeting of the Stand-
ing Commission. First, small working groups and then the
entire Standing Commission will review orientation papers,
reports, texts, and programme proposals that relate to all
the main emphases of the work of the Secretariat. The sub-
stantive issues will be raised in direct relation to staff
duties. This procedure should facilitate both the review
and the guidance provided by the Standing Commission for the
benefit of the staff of the Secretariat.

Field involvements

The Standing Commission will be given periodic reports to

summarize the staff visits to churches and ecumenical groups
in the ongoing interpretation of the work of Faith and
Order, as well as the regular implementation of its study
programmes. These trips frequently involve sermons and
lectures, conferences and consultations, seminars and mass-
media interviews, along with participation in the multi-
lateral and bilateral theological dialogues. (These on-site
activities are in addition to the extensive staff involvements
at the Ecumenical Centre in connection with the WCC Staff
Executive Group, Unit I, Assembly Preparation, Staff Working
Groups, Regional Task Forces, etc.)

In the development and improvement of WCC constituency

relationships, the Director has also inaugurated a series
of periodic official visits to leaders of the Eastern and
Oriental Orthodox Churches. Arranged specially through the
good offices of Deputy General Secretary, Todor Sabev, these
visits aim at overcoming past misunderstandings and at in-
suring adequate consideration of these churches' concerns,
especially in the current absence of any Orthodox staff
person in the Secretariat. The initial visits have been
judged extremely helpful.
1982 Plenary Commission

The Standing Commission is asked to devote major attention

at this meeting tothe planning of the arrangements and pro-
gramme of the projected next meeting of the Plenary Commis-
sion in Lima, Peru,in January, 1982. On-site investigations
of facilities have been made; travel schedules and costs
have been explored. In light of the fact that the Latin
American Commission members felt it necessary to cancel
their approved preparatory meeting in Sao Paulo in July,
1980, we are especially grateful that Pastor Felipe Adolf,
Dr Nelson Kirst and Dr Juan Stam are present among us for
our guidance and orientation. ;

Sixth Assembly preparation and budgetary considerations

It will be recalled that the WCC Central Committee (1980)

approved the pre-Assembly project "that the year 1982 be
devoted to a carefully planned series of regional meetings
and visitations to member churches. This would make it pos-
sible for many more people than ever before to learn first-
hand of the work of the Council, and it would permit staff
and committee members to learn of the interests and concerns
of the member churches".

With regard to the composition of the visitation groups,

it was also approved that "members of the Central Committee
and of Unit and sub-unit committees, commissions and working
groups, as well as staff, should take part in such visits
and meetings”.

Furthermore, with regard to the financing of the visitation

groups, the Central Committee approved "the fruitful conclu-
sion of programmes by the end of 1981 and the holding of no
commission, working or advisory group meeting - with the
exception of executive or *core' groups where absolutely
necessary - bewteen then and the 1983-Assembly. All of our
1982 resources of money and personnel should be concentrated
on communicating with and involving the member churches".

As this director's report is now being written in late

December, 1980, the financial implications of those unpre-
cedented decisions for the 1982 = and subsequently, 1981 -
budgets of the Faith and Order Secretariat are not yet fully
clarified. We do know that the mandate and budget for the
Study on the Community of Women and Men in the Church will
end on December 31, 1981. We also know that the holding
of our Plenary Commission meeting in Lima is being allowed
aS an exception in January 1982. Furthermore, we have been
asked to project (tentatively) our 1981 and 1982 staff
travel, in order to allow a WCC staff planning group to
begin to coordinate and consolidate anticipated field con-
tacts. Finally, we have been advised to publish our approved
Sixth Assembly materials (e.g. Baptism, Eucharist and
Ministry; Study on the Community of Women and Men in the
Church, etc.) as early as possible after the January 1982
Plenary Commission meeting, in order to enable their pre-
Assembly consideration during the ecumenical visitations in
1982. How extensively we may add to our present list of
publications is largely dependent on the finances available.

As a general guideline, it is being proposed that sub-units

transfer a percentage of programme funds to a special account
for funding pre-Assembly costs according to the following
schedule (for Faith and Order):

1981 - 8.980 Swiss Francs (5% over '79 base);

1982 - 9.400 Swiss Francs (5% over '81 base);
1983 - 9.900 Swiss Francs (5% over '82 base).

In short, during the period 1981-1983, just to maintain the

same programme support level as in 1980, Faith and Order
must either secure SWFr 28.250 in new funding or diminish
programme proportionately.

All in all, a good deal of ingenuity and flexibility will

have to be cooperatively demonstrated if all sub-units are
to realize the major benefits envisaged for this innovative
programme. In keeping with our commitments, the Faith and
Order Secretariat will cooperate as fully as possible.

William H. Lazareth
LEE BAPTISM, EUCHARIST AND MINISTRY

A. Report of the Steering Committee

Since the meeting of the Standing Commission in Taizé (August,

1979), the Steering Committee on Baptism, Eucharist and Min-
istry has met three times (January, June, October/November 1980).
It now offers to the Standing Commission the completed drafts
of the revised statements on baptism, eucharist and ministry,
together with a preface. Earlier drafts of the statements
on baptism and the eucharist had been shared with the Standing
Commission in Taizé. These were revised in light of the
comments and later shared with all members of the Plenary
Commission. Their proposals have been incorporated in the
present version. The draft of the revised text on the min-
istry was worked out at the first two meetings of the Steer-
ing Committee following the guidance given by the Standing
Commission. It was submitted to members of both the Stand-
ing and Plenary Commissions and re-worked at the third
Steering Committee meeting.

Work on these revisions also provided the opportunity

to reflect on the further process (see timetable below on
completion of revision, publication, distribution, etc.).
The Steering Committee submits to the Standing Commission
the following reflections and recommendations:

dee Completion of revised texts

The drafts will need to receive full attention at the meeting

in January 1981. The Steering Committee hopes that the
Standing Commission will succeed in producing an agreed text
which can be passed on to the Plenary Commission. If neces-
sary, the Steering Committee offers to meet again in spring
1981 to complete the task; otherwise minor editing can be
completed by the staff. It suggests that the agreed texts
be shared a second time with the members of the Plenary Com-
mission with the request that they send written comments to
Geneva by October 1, 1981. The Steering Committee will
meet in November 1981 to review the responses of the Plenary
Commission and to incorporate needed improvements. At the
meeting of the Plenary Commission (January 1982), a number
of hearings should be arranged in order to provide the op-
portunity to suggest further changes, but attention should
concentrate chiefly on ways and means to promote the con-
sensus process in the churches. The revised statements and
accompanying volumes (see below) should be published as soon
as possible after the Plenary Commission meeting.
 Ze Questions to the churches

The revised statements are, of course, addressed to the chur-

ches, primarily the member churches of the World Council of
Churches, but also the non-member churches which are related
to the work of the Faith and Order Commission. They have
all received the Accra texts and many of them have responded.
A revised version has been promised several times in the
course of the last few years.

The churches should be invited to respond to the revised

statements. Since a reasonable period of time needs to be
allotted for the preparation of replies, the Steering Com-
mittee suggests that December 31, 1984, -be fixed as the dead-
line.

The questions in the preface which will accompany the texts

are so phrased that they will encourage the churches to take
new initiatives in deepening their understanding and practice
of baptism, eucharist and ministry and in strengthening their
communion with other churches.

Each church should answer the following questions:

- In what manner or in which form can these statements be

received in and by your church?
- How can your church act upon these statements to strengthen
its liturgical, catechetical and spiritual life?
- What is your church prepared to do in order to establish
baptismal and eucharistic communion with other churches?
- Is your church willing to reconsider its relationships
with other churches which receive the statements in the
same sense and intention?

The assurance should be given that the replies will be reviewed

by the Faith and Order Commission and that a report will
be made available to the churches.

Siz Distribution

When the revised texts are shared with the churches, they
should be sent also to

- the Christian World Communions with the request to evaluate

them in relation to the results of their dialogues;
- National Christian Councils with the request to examine
the possibility of organizing consultations involving
their member churches;
- Ecumenical Institutes with the request to participate in
the promotion of the discussion;
- church union committees with the request to consider the
text in light of their experience.
Generally, it will be very important for securing the de-
sired discussions and responses that the completed texts
be printed in an attractive format and enjoy widespread dis-
tribution. It is therefore recommended, in addition, that
free copies be made available to

- persons interested in the work of the Faith and Order

movement (former Commission members, authors of books on
Faith and Order themes, leaders of local groups, etc.);
- theological schools in all parts of the world with the
request to contribute seminar responses;
- theological journals and church papers.

4. Sixth Assembly

Special attention should be given to the role of the Assembly

in the reception process of the statements by the churches.

- The Central Committee of the World Council of Churches,

in preparation for the Assembly, envisages a period of
visitation with the member churches in 1982. The Stand-
ing Commission should recommend to the Central Committee
that "Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry" be included on
the agenda of this programme. The discussion should aim
at assisting the churches in each country to discover
the best ways of dealing fruitfully with the texts.

- The Sixth Assembly should concentrate its attention on

interpreting the meaning of consensus and suggesting
ways Of advancing towards communion.

- To make possible a meaningful discussion at the Assembly,

the first reactions of the churches to the statements
and the insights gained in the visitation programme should
be summarized in a brief discussion paper. For that pur-
pose a small group should meet in the winter period of
1982/1983.

Sy Publications

In the light of these considerations, the Steering Committee

suggests the following publications:

- The three statements: They should be introduced by a

brief preface which outlines their history and defines
the purpose which they are meant to fulfil. No other
material should be added in order to concentrate attention
on the statements themselves.

- A study guide: This should be a popular statement of

roughly 15 pages containing suggestions about ways of
dealing with the statements. Its general goal would be
to facilitate the widest possible participation of the
people of God in serious reflection on some key elements
of the common Christian tradition. The study guide should
be brief, written in a lively style and primarily addressed
 to lay persons and non-specialists as an aid for the
private or small group understanding and evaluation of
the text. It should simplify and make relevant some of
the major issues that are developed in greater depth in
the accompanying theological volume. It should also
provide practical connections with the related materials
published in the areas of congregational worship, educa-
tion and devotional life. Finally, it should help the
readers to appreciate the text as an important contribution
to the churches' growing together in the quest for visible
unity.
- A volume with theological essays: This should be a
150 - 170 page set of well-documented essays that deal
with different aspects of the texts and be addressed
to persons who will deal with the statements on theological
grounds. The volume should contain:
Preface: giving a description of the process
1. Nature of Consensus
2. Common confession of faith
3. Sacraments - mysteries
4. Rationale of revision - Baptism
5. Baptism - confirmation
6. Rationale of revision - Eucharist
7. Rationale of revision - Ministry
8. Ordination of women
9. Reception (goal of unity - reception)
10. Reception (observations on the first round of the process).

Other Faith and Order papers relating to these issues that

have been or will soon be published include: "How does the
Church Teach Authoritatively Today?"; "Sharing in One Hope";
"Louisville Consultation on Baptism"; "The Bible - Its
Authority and Interpretation in the Ecumenical Movement";
"Towards a Confession of the Common Faith"; "Episcopé and
Episcopate in Eaumenical Perspective"; "Confessing the Faith
Around the World"; "Ordination of Women in Ecumenical Per-
spective"; "Partners in Life: The Handicapped and the Church";
along with theological studies on the filiogue controversy,
eucharist with children, the Nicene Creed, and resources
for the liturgical, educational and doctrinal life of
Christian congregations.

6. Finances

The Standing Commission will need to think in time about

the financial means required for the process. In connection
with Sixth Assembly preparations, a special request will
need to be made for funding the costs of

- the publication and distribution of the three consensus

texts;

- the meeting to interpret the experience of the Assembly

team visitation programme.
 10

Te Timetable

January 1981 Standing Commission

- works on revision of texts, especially
ministry statement
- sends it to members of Plenary Com-
mission for written reactions

April 1981 (if Steering Committee

necessary)
- completes revision of texts

August 1981 Central Committee (Dresden)

- receives progress reports

- authorizes Plenary Commission to decide
on sharing of texts with the churches

November 1981 Working Group

- incorporates reactions of Plenary
Commission
- reviews manuscripts of study volumes

Consultation on Congregational Use of Texts

- reflects on implications of texts for
catechesis, worship, etc.

January 1982 Plenary Commission (Lima)

- discusses texts and especially meaning
of consensus and best ways of communi-
cation ; contribution to "The Unity
We Seek"

Spring 1982 Publication and distribution of texts

and volumes prior to Central Committee
(Geneva)
November 1982 )
7 ) Small group to reflect on Assembly discussion
February 1983 )

August 1983 Sixth Assembly (Vancouver)

- discusses meaning of consensus and
implications for churches
- suggests ways of dealing with texts

December 1984 Replies from churches

1985 Standing Commission (Plenary Commission)

- review of process
- recommendations

Max Thurian,
Chairman
 a

B. Plenary Discussion on "Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry"

Ne Discussion of the texts

a. Since the "Baptism" and "Eucharist" texts have been

thoroughly discussed in previous meetings of the Standing
Commission, primary attention was given in Annecy to the
"Ministry" text. No attempt was made to do precise drafting
in the plenary. Instead, the working group highlighted
seven areas where problems are likely to arise in wider
discussion and invited the Standing Commission to give direc-
tion on these points. They are:

i. The question of the threefold ministry (para 18);

ii. The relationship between charism and ordained ministry
(paras 7, 28 and’.40c);
iii. The ecclesiological implications of ordination (part VI);
iv. The use of the word "sign" (paras 31, 49b and 34b);
Ve The use of the terms "apostle" and "apostolic";
vi. The question of whether a single set of terms is needed,
in a given language, to describe the threefold ministry;
vii. The use of "technical" language in the texts and the
difficulty of translating technical terms into various
(particularly non-western) languages and cultures.

be Most of the textual discussion focussed on the issue of

the threefold ministry. Among the points made were the fol-
lowing:

Le The text should not only stress the symbolic value of the
threefold ministry as a sign of unity, but also the
practical value of realizing ministry's appropriate form.

ii. The fact that the threefold ministry has been part of
the Church's tradition is not a legitimate basis for
maintaining it. The real question is: to what kind of
ministry is God calling us for the effective proclama-
tion of the Gospel in our time?

iii. More exploration is needed to support the contention

(para 18)that in some churches the threefold ministry
functions even if different terms are used. The form can,
and should, be distinguished from the function.

iv. Faith and Order has generally affirmed the threefold

ministry on the assumption 1) that what we seek is not
simply a return to historical forms but a dynamic min-
istry which is appropriate for the Church's current mis-
sion, and 2) that episcopacy (oversight) resides in most
communions regardless of their terminology. Episkopé
and diakoné are of the essence of the Church, but that
does not imply the endorsement of any one pattern for
their manifestation.
 12

Ca As a result of the general discussion, several revisions

were made in the three texts. These changes are reflected in
the "Annecy draft" intended for distribution to Faith and
Order Commission members in March, 1981.

2 The process of convergence and reception

ae The Standing Commission agreed that the baptism, eucharist

and ministry texts reflect a process of "convergence", but that
final "consensus" can only be reached by the churches them-
selves. The texts reflect "convergence"; they are given to the
churches for their "agreement" in hopes that this can be the
basis of future "consensus". The Faith and Order Commission
and the World Council of Churches have no intention of impos-
ing agreement or of proclaiming consensus. Faith and Order's
role is to point towarfd convergences. It is the responsibility
of the churches to acknowledge the reality of agreement or
consensus achieved through the texts. The Standing Commission
also acknowledged that the degree of agreement, at least in
the near future, will undoubtedly vary from church to church
on the different texts.

b. In light of the above discussion, there was lengthy de-

bate on the "preface" to be sent along with the texts to the
churches. Most comments were directed toward the following
issues: What kind of response is Faith and Order expecting
from the churches? What questions should Faith and Order
pose, in the preface, for the churches" consideration and
response? Two dominant opinions were expressed:

ie The questions posed should be direct, specific, and

designed to elicit a substantial degree of commitment.
For example: "Does your church recognize in these texts
the faith of the Church throughout the ages and en-
trusted to Christians today?"

ii. The questions posed should be general and flexible enough

to allow the churches to respond to them in a variety of
ways.

Agreement was reached that the preface should try to elicit

the strongest decision on, and "reception" of, the texts
possible, but that a "questionnaire" form should be avoided
lest Faith and Order appear to be "examining" the churches.
The following formulation, subsequently reworked by the staff,
was advanced as a way of achieving this goal:

The Faith and Order Commission invites all churches to

prepare an official response to these texts at an ap-
propriate authoritative level whether it be a Council,
Synod, Conference, Assembly or other body. The Com-
mission would be pleased to know as precisely as possible
- the extent to which your church can recognize in
these texts the faith of the Church through the ages;
 1:3

- the consequences your church can draw from these

texts for its relations with other churches, parti-
cularly with those churches which also recognize
the texts as expressions of the apostolic faith;
- the guidance your church can take from these texts
for its liturgical, educational, ethical, and
spiritual life and witness;

- the suggestions your church can make for the ongoing

work of Faith and Order as it relates this text
on baptism, eucharist and ministry to its long-
range research project, "Towards the Common Expression
of the Apostolic Faith Today".

3 Next steps

Ble The baptism, eucharist and ministry texts, complete with

corrections made by the Standing Commission, will be sent to
the members of the Faith and Order Commission in March, 1981.
Any suggested changes of specific phrasing should be sent to
the Secretariat by October 1, 1981. These suggested altera-
tions will be considered by a drafting group which will meet
in Annecy., November 11-13, 1981, in order to prepare the texts
for the Lima meeting of the Faith and Order Plenary Commission.
It is expected that the Lima meeting will approve immediate
distribution of the texts to the churches. There was agree-
ment that the Faith and Order Commission, operating under
the mandate received at the Nairobi Assembly, has the authority
to distribute the texts without seeking new authorization
from the Central Committee. The churches will be expected
to respond to the texts by December 31, 1984.

bi The Standing Commission agreed that the process outlined

above is unprecedented in the work of the WCC or Faith and
Order. It must be stressed, therefore, that the distribution
of these texts is not a typical procedure - a part of the
general Assembly preparations - but a new step in the ecumeni-
cal movement. It was suggested (but not officially approved)
that 1) Commission members sign the texts as an indication
of their commitment to baptism, eucharist and ministry, and
2) the texts be personally delivered to the churches by mem-
bers of the Commission.

Cy The Standing Commission authorized the Director to co-

ordinate the preparation of at least three supplementary
volumes to "Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry", and to seek the
necessary funding for their publication. These volumes
would include: 1) a collection of theological essays, 2) a
lay study guide, and 3) a collection of worship materials for
baptism, eucharist and ministry (ordination). It is hoped
that the lay study guide would be sent or delivered to the
churches at the same time as the actual baptism, eucharist
and ministry texts, and that the other material would be
sent as soon thereafter as possible. It was agreed that
these volumes would be a key part of the reception process
in the churches. Several additional points were made:
 14

se The supplementary materials should receive the widest

possible distribution.

ii. These volumes should be regarded as teaching documents.

The theological volume, for example, should not be a
series of abstract essays, but must be clearly related
to the process of reception in the churches.

iii. The volumes should be related, as far as possible, to

the Vancouver Assembly and its theme in order 1) to make
them eligible for pre-Assembly funding, and 2) to demon-
strate that baptism, eucharist and ministry should have
a central place on the Vancouver agenda.

d. It is expected that Vancouver will provide a forum for

serious discussion of BEM. It is not an occasion, however,
for: the churches to vote on the texts. Several members stres-
sed that Vancouver must not lead to a polarization of issues:
baptism, eucharist and ministry on the one hand and, for
example, the "Church of the poor" on the other. Baptism,
eucharist and ministry must be presented at the Assembly for
what it is: a central aspect of the Church's witness to the
modern world. "Ecclesiology" and "missiology" must not be
divorced.

4. Statements of appreciation

The Standing Commission officially expressed its appreciation

to the Steering Committee on Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry -
and especially to Max Thurian - for the work that has been
accomplished. It was acknowledged that the Steering Commit-
tee has completed its work and that the 1982 meeting of the
Faith and Order Plenary Commission will mark a new phase in
the programme. The Standing Commission now assumes responsi-
bility for guiding the process through the Lima meeting of the
Faith and Order Commission and the Vancouver Assembly of the
World Council of Churches.

Dr Todor Sabev expressed deep appreciation, on behalf of the

General Secretary and the entire World Council of Churches,
to the Faith and Order Commission and members of the Steer-
ing Committee on Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry. He noted
that future histories of the Church may acknowledge the
baptism, eucharist and ministry study as a seminal contribu-
tion to church unity. -
 15

EL. CHURCH UNITY DEVELOPMENTS

A. Staff Report

Recent work in the category of "church unity developments"

has come under the heading "At the service of the Concerted
Approach to Unity" and is summarized in the conspectus of
studies mandated by the 1978 Plenary Commission (Faith and
Order Paper no. 93, p. 44) and in the minutes of the 1979
Standing Commission (Faith and Order Paper no. 98, pp. 11-12).
Three areas of activity within this general category deserve
significant attention at the 1981 Standing Commission meeting
in Annecy:

Ane Consultation of United and Uniting Churches

ae Since 1967, the Faith and Order Secretariat has convened

three Consultations of United and Uniting Churches (at Bossey
in 1967, at Limuru in 1970 and at Toronto in 1975) in order
1) to help facilitate better communication among those chur-
ches which share a common heritage of struggle for union;
2) to:seek solutions for problems faced by churches during
the process of organic union; 3) to lift up publicly the
concerns of united and uniting churches; and 4) to enable
these churches to serve more visibly as witnesses to the
cause of unity.

At the Limuru Consultation, the Faith and Order Secretariat

was urged to convene these international meetings every three
years. The Continuation Committee of the Toronto Consultation
similarly recommended that

"the series of meetings of united churches and union

committees should be continued. A consultation of
representatives should take place in the setting of
some celebratory event, linked with specific steps
towards union - an event to capture the imagination
of churches as well as their best theological
thinking"

Since that time, several leaders of united churches have also

expressed, in correspondence with one another and with the
Faith and Order Secretariat, their desire that another inter-
national consultation take place.

b. Responding to these initiatives, the Secretariat recom-

mends that a fourth Consultation of United and Uniting Chur-
ches be held and suggests November 1981 as a tentative date.
The suggested date is dictated by two considerations: 1) the
Central Committee of the WCC recently urged that no major
consultations be held between January 1982 and the Vancouver
Assembly in order that staff may be free to concentrate on
an intensive programme of Assembly preparation. 2) If the
 16

results of a united churches consultation are to be fully

incorporated into Assembly planning, they should be available
to the Faith and Order Commission. The Commission's final
plenary meeting before Vancouver is in January 1982.

Gre Following general staff confirmation of the above recom-

mendation, letters were sent to leaders of united churches
and church union negotiating committees announcing the pos-
sibility of another consultation and requesting suggestions
for the consultation's agenda. Similar letters were sent to
former members of the Toronto Continuation Committee. In
addition, several WCC executives from united churches were ask-
ed to recommend possible agenda items. The responses re-
ceived as of November 18, 1980 suggest the following subject
areas for discussion at the proposed consultation:

ab Unity after Union

- How to create "real" unity after union
How to experience unity at the congregational level
after union
The tension between diversity and uniformity in
united churches
- How to deal with disappointments and rekindle en-
thusiasm after union
Different models of church growth that take into
account the letdown after union
- The search for further unity after union

ii. Forms of Unity

- Covenanting proposals as an alternative to organic
union
- The relationship between "conciliar unity" and
"organic unity"
- The ecumenical contribution of councils of churches

iii. Non-doctrinal Obstacles to Unity

- The role of women as an issue in church union
- The issues of racism and "racial balance" in
church union negotiations
- "Non-theological" factors (e.g. traditions, missionary
ties, personal relationships) as obstacles to unity

iv. Doctrinal Obstacles to Unity

- The impact of baptism, eucharist and ministry agree-
ments on church union negotiations
- Towards a common confession of faith: insights from
united and uniting churches
 Any

Ve Unity and Mission

- How can unity assist mission?
Has unity actually helped mission and evangelism
in particular situations?

vi. Steps Towards Union

- Church cooperation as a prelude to church unity
efforts

vii. Relationship of this Consultation to Other Ecumenical

Events
- Development of .a statement addressed to the 1983 Assembly
- Review of Toronto proposals and their implementation

viii.International Relationships
- The relationship between united churches and the
Christian World Communions
- The relationship between united churches and interna-
tional bilateral dialogues.

di The letters mentioned above also solicited invitations

to host the consultation. As of November 18, 1980, the
Secretariat has received firm invitations from the follow-
ing: 1) the United Reformed Church in England and Wales,
and 2) the Church of Christ in Zaire. There has also been
an encouraging response from the Venerable James L.H.
Amerasekera, church union contact person in Sri Lanka.
Final decision to host the consultation must come from the
churches represented by Mr Amerasekera and the church union
negotiating committee, but it seems likely that an invita-
tion will be forthcoming. Since the three previous con-
sultations have been heid in Europe, Africa and North America,
the Secretariat has recommended that this consultation be held,
if possible, in Asia or the Pacific.

An invitation from Sri Lanka would have several positive

features: 1) There has not been a major Faith and Order
meeting in Sri Lanka in recent years. 2) According to
Mr Amerasekera, such a consultation would give church union
efforts in Sri Lanka, long frustrated by legal problems,
a needed "shot in the arm". 3) According to Faith and Order
Commission member, Wesley Ariarajah, there are several satis-
factory yet inexpensive facilities where such a consultation
(for 50-60 persons) could be held.

e. The special fund for united church concerns, administered

by the Faith and Order Secretariat, currently totals 124,600
Swiss Francs. It is assumed, for the purpose of determining
a preliminary budget, that a host church in Asia (or else-
where in the third world) will not be able to supply board
and lodging (as the United Church of Canada did in 1975).
Despite this fact, the above total seems sufficient to meet
the financial requirements of such a consultation, If we
 18

assume that the consultation will have 50 participants, and

that it will last for 8 days in an Asian setting, the follow-
ing figures provide a rough idea of projected major expense:

Board and lodging: SFr 25,000

Travel subsidies: SFr 50,000 - 60,000

These figures assume that at least half of the participants

will have their travel expenses paid by their sponsoring
church.

le In summary, it is hoped that the Standing Commission will

- confirm the provisional decision to hold such a consultation
- determine the exact date and location
- help determine a general theme and rough agenda
- give suggestions for possible speakers
- offer additional guidance for the planning of this
consultation.

In addition, it is hoped that criteria can be established

to guide the Secretariat in its invitations for the consul-
tation. It would be helpful if such questions as the follow-
ing could be considered: What constitutes a "united Church"?
Should a negotiating committee have reached a certain stage
in the process before it is invited to participate? How many
representatives from each church should be invited? Should a
special appeal be made for female representation? Should
youth participation be especially encouraged?

2. Study on councils of churches

The general question of ecumenical collaboration at local,

national and regional levels (and the particular issue of
the role of ecumenical councils) has been a concern of the.
World Council of Churches for the past decade. Persons inter-
ested in the history of this concern should consult the report
of Section II from the Nairobi Assembly (Breaking Barriers,
p- 68)-and the document "Ecumenical Collaboration at the
Regional, National and Local Levels" (July 1975) which was pro-
duced by the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity on
the basis of discussion initiated by the Joint Working Group
(JWG) of the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of
Churches.

In line with this concern, the conspectus of studies mandated

by the 1978 Faith and Order Commission meeting contains the
following paragraph:

"The Commission drew special attention to the role of

councils (conseils) in the ecumenical movement. It
sought to analyze their strengths and their weaknesses.
It recommends that, in close collaboration with people
 19

engaged in the work of councils, a study be initiated

on the ways in which councils, at the world, regional,
national and local levels, can best contribute to the
advance of the unity of the Church." (Bangalore
Minutes, p. 44)

In November 1980 the Executive of the JWG took a further

step by recommending that a paper be prepared in time for the
June 1981 JWG on the significance and contribution of councils
in the ecumenical movement. The JWG Executive has specifically
requested that this study be done in appropriate collaboration
with the Faith and Order Commission.

In a preliminary outline prepared for the JWG study, the follow-

ing issues were raised for possible discussion:

i. How should councils of churches rank among the forms

of ecumenical collaboration noted by the 1978 meeting of
the Faith and Order Commission? How important a role do
councils perform in furthering ecumenical collaboration?
Do councils understand themselves as essential instru-
ments in enabling the renewal, unity and common witness
of the member churches? How good is their actual per-
formance in these fields? Do they effectively serve
the cause of unity, or do they perpetrate divisions by
institutionalizing a limited degree of unity? To what
extent should councils consider the search for unity
something that is necessary if they are to be truly
councils?

ii. What is the significance of the role of councils in terms

of the relations between churches, including the Roman
Catholic Church? To what extent do councils engage member
churches in ecumenical collaboration? How do councils
relate to the various forms of bilateral doctrinal con-
versations and the new awareness of confessional identity
discernible in many places? How do councils relate to
other less formal, issue-oriented forms of collaboration
on the various levels, forms which are sometimes "more
ecumenical" than the councils but have no ecclesiastical
standing? Do councils serve to root the ecumenical
movement in the local setting? Do they serve to over-
come the parochialism of the local situation?

atsbake What is the significance of the fact that, in some

“countries, churches’ are obliged by the government to
collaborate with each other in the framework of a coun-
cil since the government prefers to deal with only one
partner instead of a multiplicity of agencies? What
might this signify for church/state relations?

iv. To what extent can "preconciliar structures" ("conseils"

as opposed to "conciles") give a foretaste of the goal
of unity (i.e. organic unity or "conciliar fellowship
of local churches which are themselves truly united")?
 20

Do councils of churches, as they are presently struc-

tured, and as they presently operate, provide some
elements of what could become such a "conciliar fellow-
ship"?

The Secretariat hopes that the Standing Commission will

Clarify Faith and Order's responsibility in this area of
study by

- welcoming the JWG initiative

- discussing the relationship of this issue ("councils
of churches in the ecumenical movement") to other
Faith and Order studies on unity
- proposing directions for future activity.

One, alternative might’be for Faith and Order to seek special

authorization to convene a 1982 consultation of secretaries
of regional and national councils of churches for the general
purpose of 1) sharing information and 2) discussing the
significance of councils in the wider search for unity. The
Secretariat welcomes discussion on this particular proposal.

3. Members of the Standing Commission should be aware that

the third session of the Forum on Bilateral Conversations
was held October 6-10, 1980, in Glion, Switzerland. Dr
Lazareth and Dr Kinnamon attended the Forum, and handled
administrative details related to it, on behalf of the
Faith and Order Commission and Secretariat.

Michael K. Kinnamon

B. Working Group Report

Ns Consultation of United and Uniting Churches

ae We strongly endorse, for the reasons outlined in the

staff memorandum, the proposal that such a consultation be held.

Die We ask that the Standing Commission express its appre-

ciation to those churches, and church union negotiating com-
mittees, which offered to host this consultation. We urge
that the offer from Sri Lanka (i.e. from those churches in
Sri Lanka engaged in church union negotiations) be accepted
for the reasons outlined in the staff memorandum.

(ole In view of the considerations outlined in the memorandun, .

we endorse the idea that this consultation be held in
 21

November 1981, and we suggest that November 18-25 be con-~

sidered as the exact date.

at Though the exact wording of a theme remains to be de-

termined, we feel that the general concept of "Growth in
Consensus" must be central to the consultation's discussions.
More specifically, this then would encourage the following:

i. A discussion of what elements, doctrinal and non-

doctrinal, must be included before union can be
successfully achieved;
Lis Perhaps more importantly, a discussion of how
churches can grow in unity and consensus after
official union;
bis A discussion of how such growth in consensus can
help united churches to realize their own catholi-
city and, thus, strengthen and clarify their re-
lationships to the Church universal.

e. Several additional factors should be pointed out with

regard to the theme of "Growth in Consensus".

at This formulation is positive not negative. It

stresses those factors which aid the movement to-
ward the unity, not those obstacles which prevent
union. It stresses the need for common, positive
‘goals - both doctrinal and non-doctrinal.
at Iie This formulation acknowledges that union, without
an ongoing commitment to the deepening of the
union consensus, is counter-productive. It also
acknowledges that the consenses on which unions are
based are often not received into the life of the
local churches. A serious consideration of this
problem must deal with
- how consensus grows after union;
- how consensus, on which union is based, can
be "received" in the life of the churches;
- how such individual union consenses are related
to the wider catholicity of the Church.

iii. This formulation shifts the question away from

that of mutual recognition of united churches (which
was sO prominent at Toronto). The real issue now
is not their relationship to each other but how,
in their own life and faith, these united churches
express the catholicity of the faith. A focus din
this direction would help to avoid the polar dangers
of isolationism and the development of a new con-
fessional family.

i A closely related theme which should be given serious

attention at the consultation is that of forms or models of
 22

unity. Despite the great amount of work done on this issue

in recent years, justifiable confusion remains on the shape
of the visible unity we seek, and particularly with regard
to the relationship of "organic union" to the various propo-
sals for "conciliar" or "pre-conciliar" fellowship. In
some sense, these ecumenical models have become a hindrance
to unity because they focus undue attention on form rather
than content. This returns us to our earlier point: the
search must be for an ever deepening consensus in the one
apostolic faith, in eucharistic fellowship, in the Church's
mission to the world. We affirm that this growth in consensus
may take various forms that are appropriate to different
circumstances. Union negotiations are one avenue for the
movement toward the catholicity of faith, but only if union
is seen as a dynamic, ongoing process. We also affirm that
covenanting relationships among churches may be valuable steps
towards unity, but we do not see them as "alternatives" to
the final goal of visible unity (expressed as “organic union"
or as the "conciliar fellowship") which we seek.

Cis With regard to participation at the Consultation, we

recommend the following:
ne that the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches
be represented;
ii. that preference be given to multilateral church
union negotiations;
iii. that, if financially possible, each united church
and church union negotiating committee be invited
to send two representatives.

2 Study on Councils of Churches

a. We recommend that the Standing Commission

cits commend the Joint Working Group for its study of
the significance and contribution of councils in
the ecumenical movement;
ii. encourage the Faith and Order Secretariat to co-
Operate with the JWG in the development of this
study;
iii. call for the collaboration, where appropriate, of
the JWG and Faith and Order working groups on «¢
issues of this sort;
iv. authorize the Faith and Order Secretariat to convene
a consultation of representatives of regional and
national councils of churches. We recognize that,
since such a consultation could not be held before
1982, it would also require special authorization
from the WCC. The rationale for this special
authorization might be the benefits such a con-
sultation would bring to the vital, ongoing work
of the JWG. It is hoped that such a consultation
could be jointly sponsored by Faith and Order and JWG.
 23

b. It is our opinion that this proposed consultation of

representatives from regional and national councils would help
to clarify some of the issues raised above with regard to the
consultation of united and uniting churches. As the JWG
suggested at its 1979 meeting, "A common assessment of the
role of regional and national councils of churches, especial-
ly in terms of collaboration with the Roman Catholic Church,
would be:a particularly useful contribution to the clarifica-
tion of ‘the way to unity'." We would hope that such a con-
sultation would move considerably beyond the discussion of
councils (conseils) as structures of cooperation to a search
for the deeper meaning of "pre-conciliar" life. To what
extent can conseils call the churches to visible unity and
give a foretaste of the goal of unity, which has been described
as “organic unity" and as "conciliar fellowship of local chur-
ches which are themselves truly united"? Do councils of chur-
ches as presently structured provide elements of, or directions
toward, such true "conciliar fellowship" (concile)? In order
for these questions to be profitably explored, the proposed
consultation should include theologians as well as the secre-
taries (or other leaders) of regional and national councils.

3. The Bilateral Forum

a. We recommend that the Standing Commission

she receive with appreciation the Report of the
Third Forum on Bilateral Conversations;
ii. express its deep appreciation for the work that
was accomplished by the three sessions (now
completed) of the Bilateral Forum;
iii. authorize the Secretariat to convene, and make the
necessary administrative preparations for, a future
forum should the Secretaries of those Christian
World Communions involved in international bilaterals
request this cooperation (in line with part II,
Section V of the Report of the Third Bilateral Forum)
in 1982.

De We offer the following minute as a summary statement of

Faith and Order's approach to international bilateral con-
versations:
The Standing Commission affirms that bilateral, inter-
church dialogues can be, and have been, a fruitful,
creative, part of the search for Christian unity. We
also affirm, in the words of the Report from the Thinxd
Forum on Bilateral Conversations, “that bilateral and
multilateral approaches to the unity we seek are, and
must always be, interrelated". The Report acknow-
ledges that "the multilateral documents of Faith and
Order have proved to be very important for our discus-
sions within the bilateral context". Our experience
confirms, in turn, that bilateral discussions have made
a significant contribution to the work of the Faith and
 24

Order Commission. In short, the two approaches are com-

plementary, a fact that is widely recognized by persons
engaged in both types of negotiations.

With this in mind, we express the willingness of the Faith

and Order Commission, and its Secretariat, to serve the
cause of this complementarity in appropriate ways. At
times, such service may mean facilitating communication
among the various bilateral partners or between the
bilateral and multilateral conversations. At other
moments, it may entail a more prophetic role, urging
the multilaterals to acknowledge the concrete urgency
of their task or the bilaterals to avoid an isolating
sense of self-sufficiency. In either case, the work must
be seen as integral to Faith and Order's unshakeable
commitment to Christian unity.

(Gi Plenary Discussion on "Church Unity Developments"

Le Consultation of United and Uniting Churches

a. The Standing Commission was presented with a verbal

invitation to hold the consultation in Sri Lanka by the
Rev. Soma Perera, acting on behalf of the negotiating churches
in that country.

b. The Standing Commission enthusiastically endorsed the

small group recommendation to hold the consultation in Colombo,
Sri Lanka, from November 18-25, 1981.

Qo Members of the Standing Commission stressed the importance

of the following issues for the consultation:

te Education before union. It was noted that what

happens before union is key to what happens after.
This ties directly into work on the Expression of
the Apostolic Faith Today, since the re-emergence
of confessional differences after union has raised
serious problems for united churches. It was ob-
served, however, that preliminary discussions can
also serve as a convenient way of postponing the
decision to unite.
ii. The churches "left behind" by union.
iii. The relationship between local united churches and
larger confessional bodies. How can the claim
that union does not mean a breaking of fellowship
be supported when it often puts old relationships
under great strain?
iv. The day-to-day concerns of united churches. It
was urged that the consultation not be simply a
general discussion of "the unity we seek".
 25

Ze Faith and Order's relationship to bilateral negotiations

ite The opinion was expressed that certain proposals found

in the Report of the Third Bilateral Forum ask the Faith and
Order Secretariat to do administrative chores: e.g. prepare
a list of the secretaries and chairpersons of the international
bilaterals, collaborate with the Centro Pro Unione to prepare
a brief annual or biennial survey of bilateral conversations,
and publish the results of the Forum's three meetings in a
single volume. Faith and Order's role should be more creative.
Others noted that the Report reflects a self-imposed cautious-
ness on the part of the Faith and Order Secretariat given
certain suspicions about Faith and Order's place in the bi-
lateral process. Faith and Order's actual role at the Forum
has been more significant than the proposals would indicate.

b. There was a general discussion of the relationship between

multilateral and bilateral approaches to unity. It was general-
ly agreed that Faith and Order must serve, wherever possible,
as a bridge between these two. The Standing Commission re-
quested that the conclusions reached during the discussion
be summarized in a minute drafted by the working group (see p. 23).

efe A major problem, it was argued, is that the results of

international bilateral dialogues are often not "received"
within the churches. Thought needs to be given to the role
Faith and Order can playin promoting the reception, and
creative implementation, of these results. It was also noted,
however, that no bilateral documents have been produced which
demand "authoritative" reception. Dialogue can be stopped
rather than deepened if the churches are urged to adopt
authoritative positions too quickly; but Faith and Order must
constantly remind the churches of their final goal of visible
unity.

(he The suggestion was made (though not officially acted

upon) that Faith and Order study the issue of "unity by stages".
This would encourage church authorities to take preliminary
conclusions seriously and to see that unity is not an "all
or nothing" proposition.

ara Study on Councils of Churches

a. The Standing Commission authorized the Secretariat to

seek approval for a small consultation in 1982 dealing with
this issue (see working group recommendations). It was noted
that such a consultation could be an important part of the
Joint Working Group's preparations for Vancouver.

b. The observation was made that councils (conseils) operate

at all levels of the Church. Attention should be given to
these various levels of "conciliar" activity, many of which
have little ecumenical contact.
 26

4. Preparation for Vancouver

a. It was agreed that the "requirements for unity", refined

by Faith and Order since Nairobi, should receive prominent
attention in Vancouver. The suggestim was made that a
memorandum, Outlining Faith and Order's insights into the
question of church unity and its desire that these be repre-
sented in Vancouver, be sent to the Assembly Planning Committee.

be. It was recalled that the 1979 Standing Commission meeting

called for "a consultation on the unity of the Church which
would bring together representatives of different World Coun-
cil sub-units" (Taizé minutes, p. 20). Though small, issue-
oriented meetings have taken place between Faith and Order
and other WCC sub-units, there has not been a consultation
which focussed on the developments in "church unity" between
Nairobi and Vancouver. The Director indicated that he would
welcome new prompting from the Standing Commission for this
idea.
 oi

IV. THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH AND THE RENEWAL OF HUMAN COMMUNITY

A. Staff Discussion Paper: "That the World May Believe"

With deep spiritual insight, John the Evangelist captured

one fundamental challenge in Jesus' valedictory prayer: "May
they all be one ... that the world may believe that thou didst
send me" (Jn 17:21). Who are "they"? Christians, of course.
Even at that "primitive" stage in the development of Christian
community, John already grasped a fundamental truth vital to
the Church: Christian unity would make true to the world its
witness to Jesus as one sent by God. Although John did not
go on to say it, the reverse must also be true: the disunity
of Christian community would discredit its witness in the eyes
of the world. John thus placed the question of unity right
at the centre of the life and ministry of the Church. United,
the Church becomes true to Jesus and to itself; disunited,
the Church becomes untrue to Jesus and to itself. The question
of church unity, in the last analysis, is as simple as that.

But this simple truth has been the cause of both agony and
inspiration to the Church throughout its history. No period
in its long history has seen the Church free from disunity
and division in its faith, life and ministry. It has always
been in danger of being discredited by the world. What agony
could be greater than this for the Church, which is expected
to live in the world for the saving love of God in Jesus
Christ? But such agony has not made the Church moribund.
Rather, it has inspired it to search for ways to unity so
that "the world may believe". In a very real sense, the
history of the Church is the history of a continual search
for unity. And in the modern ecumenical movement, this search
for church unity has become intensified and deepened.

The ecumenical vision of the Church united, therefore, is a

biblical vision profoundly expressed in John's Gospel. The
Church and the world are closely correlated. The unity of
the Church has to do with how humankind lives and what it
believes. The vision of unity seen by John the Evangelist
and followed by churches and Christians is a "missiological"
vision. This is how the World Missionary Conference in Edin-
burgh (1910) saw it. This is also how the inaugural Assembly
of the World Council of Churches in Amsterdam (1948) inter-
preted it. What was said in its report of Section 2, "The
Church's Witness to God's Design", was true not only then
but now. One finds these words in that report:
"What does the World see, or think it sees, when it
looks at the Church?
It is a Church divided, and in its separated parts
are often found hesitancy, complacency, or the desire
to domineer. It is a Church that has largely lost
touch with the dominant realities of modern life, and
 28

still tries to meet the modern world with language and

a technique that may have been appropriate two hundred
years ago.
Rejas awchurch) that, bys its failure to speak effectively
on the subject of war, has appeared impotent to deal
with the realities of the human situation.
It is a Church accused by many of having been blind to
the movement of God in history, of having sided with the
vested interests of society and state, and of having
failed to kindle the vision and to purify the wills of
people Zmen in the original text/ in a changing world.
It is a Church under suspicion in many quarters of
having used its missionary enterprise to further the
foreign policies of states and the imperialistic de-
signs of the powers of the West." (1)

The report goes on to contend that "much in this indictment

may be untrue", but it does confess that "the Church is cal-
led to deep shame and penitence for its failure to manifest
Jesus Christ to people / men in the original report/ as He
really is". (2)

Repentence has been very much at the heart of the ecumenical

vision of church unity during the past thirty years. Without
this constant call to .repentence, the ecumenical movement
might have died a premature death. In this repentence of
the Church, one cannot emphasize enough the role of the
world. The world questions the Church. It challenges the
Church's claims to the truth. It tests the Church's faith-
fulness to Jesus Christ. The correlation between the Church
and the world is thus a critical one. The Church exists to
bring the message of reconciliation and salvation in Christ
to the world, and the world demands that the Church live up
to its own message. The world has not been a mere disinterested
spectator in the churches' efforts towards unity, nor has it
been passively waiting for the Church to bring unity to it.
Critical involvement of the world in church unity has to be
recognized and appreciated. The slogan that expresses the
churches' efforts towards unity in the past few decades -
the unity of the Church is a sign for the unity of humankind -
cannot be taken at face value. The Church and the world are
signs one to the other. It is out of the interaction of these
signs that the Church and the world can wrestle with the unity
that may manifest God's saving design for the whole of human-
kind.

1. Man's Disorder and God's Design. Vol II The Church's

Witness to God's Design (New York: Harper and Brothers, pub-
lisher, 1949), “pp."213=4..
2. Ibid. pae2id.
 29

Elusive Unity

In the meantime, however, unity has continued to be elusive

for the Church. The churches have not been idle, allowing
disunity to follow its course. On the contrary, they have
been diligent. They have been talking to one another bilat-
erally and multilaterally. Christian fellowship among them
has increased both in extent and in depth. Studies and
discussions on issues and problems related to the faith and
ministry of the Church have produced some notable results,
among them the agreed statements on baptism, eucharist and
ministry. But the unity that would enable "the world to
believe that God did send Jesus" has not been reached. It
looks as if church unity will remain on the churches' escha-
tological agenda indefinitely.

As unity remains elusive, the ecumenical vision that made

such a powerful impact on the Church of modern times has
become divided. On the one hand, the churches have found
themselves under strong pressure to struggle with the people
who suffer from socio-political oppression, economic in-
justice, racism, or sexual discrimination. This is a recovery
of prophetic ministry of the churches in the contemporary
world. In the message from the Fourth Assembly of the World
Council of Churches in Uppsala (1968), one hears a strong
echo of the prophetic voice in the Bible:

"We heard the cry of those who long for peace; of the
hungry and exploited who demand bread and justice; of
the victims of discrimination who claim human dignity;
and of the increasing millions who seek for the meaning
of lite.
God hears these cries and judges us. He also speaks
the liberating Word. We hear him say - I go before you.
Now that Christ carries away your sinful past, the Spirit
frees you to live for others. Anticipate my Kingdom in
joyful worship and daring acts. The Lord says, 'I make
all things new'." (3)

The agenda of the world has become the agenda of the World
Council of Churches. The World Council is quick to respond
to cries of refugees of war and people stricken by natural
disasters. It moves into sensitive areas of the world torn
by racial conflict. It seeks solidarity with the poor and
the oppressed.

Through such "prophetic" ministry, the churches have re-

gained credibility in many parts of the world, especially
in the third world. This has brought about an organic
change in the concept and reality of church unity. As

3. The Uppsala Report 1968, ed. Norman Goodall (Geneva:

wec, 1968), p. 5.
 30

churches and Christians become engaged in human problems

and issues in particular socio-political and cultural-
historical contexts, they find themselves in unity that
transcends confessional backgrounds and ecclesiastical
barriers. By force of circumstances and in exercising
"prophetic" ministry, many Christians have come to regard
theological and ecclesiological issues that have divided
the churches as irrelevant. As a result, basic ecclesial
communities have emerged in many parts of the world, enjoying
spontaneous unity without, in most cases, the sanction of
official churches. But the question of what such unity would
mean for church unity in the traditional sense remains un-
answered.

Unity resulting from realignments of Christians under socio-

political pressures represents a significant trend in the
ecumenical movement in recent years. Meanwhile, however,
the theological and ecclesiological search for unity has
continued with unabated zeal. And it is the Commission on
Faith and Order which has carried on the mandate of "visible
unity in one eucharistic fellowship". The measure of under-
standing among the churches which has come about through
the efforts of Faith and Order is considerable. The churches
have come to have a more profound knawledge :of Christian
traditions. The study on baptism, eucharist and ministry
has revealed that, in fact, they have much in common, that
there is less than previously thought which prevents them
from becoming "one eucharistic fellowship". The Commission
meeting in Bangalore in 1978 said, among other things:

"The vision of full visible unity in conciliar fellowship

provides the frame for working in concert. The agree-
ments which have emerged or are emerging from multilateral
and bilateral dialogues must be taken seriously by all
churches and, as far as they are acceptable to each church,
translated into practical decisions which affect the
relations with other churches. The far-reaching results
of dialogues present the churches with the challenge to
give new expression to the oneness in Christ for the sake
of the Gospel and to the glory of God." (4)

The Commission here speaks of "far-reaching results of

dialogues". One critical question is how these results can
be "translated into practical decisions which affect the
relations with other churches". This is one of the challeng-
ing questions which will engage the Commission in the coming
years.

It must be pointed out, however, that the Commission on Faith

and Order, by the very nature of its mandate and by its firm
commitment to that mandate, has come to stand for a forceful

4. Sharing in One Hope, Commission on Faith and Order,

Bangalore 1978. Faith and Order Paper no. 92 (Geneva: WCC),
Dam2Zaisie
 Sit

trend within the ecumenical movement which is parallel to,

if not in conflict with, the ather trend discussed above.
The work of Faith and Order is perceived as strongly theo-
logical and ecclesiological, not quite related to issues
and problems which face humankind today. Faith and Order is
said to be asking questions which no one engaged in the strug-
gles of daily life is asking and giving answers that do not
concern the life of the pecple in today's world. Such an
accusation is undoubtedly biased and simplistic, but it
points out the need for Faith and Order to re-examine the
ways it has gone about its work, re-examine the methods by
which it explores the "historical sources" that have theo-
logically and ecclesiologically divided the churches.

The strange thing is that it was in fact Faith and Order

which took seriously the challenge enunciated by the Uppsala
Assembly. The report of the Assembly on "The Holy Spirit
and the Catholicity of the Church" stated:

"God's gift of catholicity is received in faith and

obedience. The Church must express this catholicity in
its worship by providing a home for all sorts and
conditions of men and women; and in its witness and ser-
vice by working for the realization of genuine humanity.
The Church hinders the manifestation of its given
catholicity when it breaks down at any of these points." (5)

This provided the basic impetus for the Commission on Faith

and Order, at its meeting in Louvain in 1971, to begin a
study on "The Unity of the Church and the Unity of Human-
kind". Out of that Commission meeting were developed the
studies on racism, the disabled in the Church, and the full
programme of the Community of Women and Men in the Church.

Still, the two trends - the Church's solidarity with the

world and church unity - have not become interrelated.
Faith and Order has not developed ways of dealing with the
"ecclesial" implications of its studies on racism, the dis-
abled in the Church orthe community of women and men in the
Church. It has become obvious that a fresh beginning is cal-
led for on the subject of the unity of the Church and the
unity of humankind.

An Ecumenical Vision: A Renewed Human Community

"The Unity of the Church - The Unity of Humankind" expresses

in essence an ecumenical vision towards which the Church
and the world can strive together. It is a "catholicity"

Bie The Uppsala Report, op.cit., p. 14

 Bia

which embraces both Christians and all other people. The

Uppsala Assembly already had such a vision. To quote again
from its report on "The Holy Spirit and the Catholicity of
the Church":

"Catholicity is ... a constant possession and pursuit of

the mystery of faith, the sacramental experience of that
incorporation into Christ and involvement with humankind
of which the Church is the form and the Eucharist the
substantial focus. In its deepest sense, liturgy is
the hallowing of all we are for the sake of all that
is, that God may be all in all. ... Only in the fulness
of redeemed humanity shall we experience the fulness
of the Spirit's gifts. (6)

Here is an opening into a full catholicity, a catholicity

within which the unity which the churches pursue and the unity
which the world needs can become inter-connected. It also
points out the main areas of concern that must engage our
efforts towards an ecumenical vision of a renewed human com-
munity.

First of all, it needs to be stressed that creation constitutes

the common denominator for the Church and the world. It is no
accident that the Bible begins with the story of creation and
ends with a vision of a new creation. It is also a fact that
all nations and peoples have their own versions of creation.
Lives of people, human civilization and community building
all bear the power of divine creation. That divine power
takes form in pluralistic cultures, becomes embodied in di-
verse ethical conventions and in different religious beliefs
and practices. "In the beginning of creation, when God made
heaven and earth...", says Genesis 1:1. How are Christians
to understand "theologically" cultures, religions and ethical
codes of different nations and peoples in the light of their
faith in God as the creator of heaven and earth? God the
creator speaks to the world through the Church. But does this
God also speak to the Church through the world he has created?

Secondly, the world has not remained good, as God created it

in the beginning. God's creation has become corrupted. This
is the main background from which the Christian understanding
of redemption arises. Regarding this, St Paul has a most
insightful thing to say. "Up to the present," he tells us,
"we know the whole created universe groans in all its parts
as if in the pangs of childbirth" (Rom 8:22). For many
nations and peoples suffering in this created universe is
also recognized as a fact of life. If we speak of the catho-
licity of creation, we can also speak of the catholicity of
suffering. The created universe is not what it should be.

6. The Uppsala Report, op.cit., p. 19

 33

"Theological" understanding of the world as God's creaticn

is thus closely followed by "soteriological" insight into the
suffering of humankind. And this is the heart of the Christian
Gospel: the Word become flesh. The incarnation is both poten-
tially and actually a powerful impact of God which has sus-
tained humankind in different times and places. The world as
well as the Church is being redeemed by God the redeemer.
Such thought forces the churches to serve God's mission of the
incarnation not "over against" but "in solidarity with" the
world. Here we have a basic soteriological ground for the
churches' involvement in struggle against the forces that
corrupt God's creation - the forces of racism, sccio-political
Oppression, sexual discrimination, human exploitation, or
economic injustice. The unity with which people from diverse
religious and socio-cultural backgrounds bind thenselves in
their struggle against forces of evil is deeply soteriolcgical
in meaning and significance. The study on "The Unity of the
Church - The Unity of Humankind" must explore the implications
of such unity for God's redemptive work in the world.

there is a third dimension in the relation between the Church

and the world. It is a "missiological" dimension. Christians
have emphasized that the Church has a mission to the world -
the mission to bring people to God's salvation in Christ. The
Church is mission. Mission is the Church's main raison d'étre.
This is true despite the fact that the churches have not always
lived up to it. But as we begin to think of the whole creation
in the company of those outside the Christian Church, we are
compelled to think more seriously about what is said, for
example, about Cyrus, king of Persia, in Second Isaiah. As
Second Isaiah tells it, God says to Cyrus: "You shall be my
shepherd to carry out all my purpose" (Is 44:28). Second Isaiah
even calls him "God's anointed". In the history of the nations,
there must have been many Cyruses. How is the Church to iden-
tify them? How do we as Christians reconstruct our mission
in the world together with known and unknown Cyruses?

Fourthly, such "missiological" re-orientation will lead the

Church and humankind to a common quest for a "renewed community".
By now it has become clear to us that science and technology»
hailed as hope for a future world, have proved to be a threat
to the survival of humankind, due to ecological problems they
have created and the arms race in which they have become deep-
ly involved. Ironically, the future of humankind does not seem
to rest with humankind as "rational" beings. This must be the
time when human spiritual resources should be mobilized for
the emergence of a community in which people become reconciled
to one another. There must be a community in which men and
women can be in communion with one another, where people can
share spiritual and physical resources from God, where a
Kingdom of God with justice, peace and love may prevail.
This, in short, is a vision of a renewed human community
on the way to fulfilling God's purpose of creation and redemp-
tion for the whole of humanity. What role, then, should the
Christian Church play in the coming into being of such a
renewed human community? How and where does the vision of a
renewed human community interact with the vision of the Church
united?
 34

These are some of the important areas to which we must direct

our attention in our exploration of the theme "The Unity of
the Church - The Unity of Humankind". What we envisage at
this critical juncture of human history must not be a Church
united in self-defence against the world. The Church must
be bold and faithful enough to die to itself, to its own
divided past and present, so that it can begin to live for
God and for the world in the midst of suffering humanity.
What the Church is involved in here is a recovery of its true
self as a creative and redemptive part of the whole human
community, and a discovery of God's design for the whole of
humankind in nature and in history. An ecumenical vision
such as this must be at the heart of the theme of the Sixth
Assembly of the World Council of Churches to be held in Vancouver
in 1983: "Jesus Christ - the Life of the World". What is the
shape and content of the life which God has offered to the
world in Jesus Christ? How are the churches to commit them-
selves anew to this life? And in what way could there be
ample room in this life to accommodate not only Christians
but the rest of humankind? In a word, how could unity and
catholicity of the Church sarve the unity and catholicity of
the life God has given to the whole of humankind in Jesus
Christ? Questions such as these may guide the Commission on
Faith and Order in its continuing service to the ecumenical
movement through its study on the theme "The Unity of the Church -
The Unity of Humankind".

C.S. Song

B. Working Group Report

The staff discussion paper prepared by C.S. Song was discussed

with critical appreciation. The importance of the issues
raised and the potential significance of the theme for our
future studies were generally recognized. We asked some
questions concerning the theological rationale behind the paper.
A strong emphasis on creation and incarnation as the link
between Church and humankind is present in the paper; but
the Easter message, i.e. the Cross of Jesus Christ and his
resurrection were given much less consideration. The under-
lying concept of the "world" also appeared one-sided to some
of us. The concept of "kosmos" in the New Testament refers
not only to God's good creation but also to humankind captive
in sin. This should be given more consideration in our work.

A particularly intensive discussion concentrated on the concept

of unity within our theme. Is it not misleading to use the
word “unity" both about the Church and about humankind? What
do we mean by the "unity of humankind"? There are dangerous
and ambiguous programmes of unity in our world - monolithic
political systems and ideologies which so often champion
 35

"unity" which hardly present desirable models. A Christian

contribution to the unity of humankind cannot be developed in
a one-dimensional way, but rather in a "dialectical" way. The
unity in Christ and its eschatological vision of the One King-
dom is at the same time the fulfilment of our hopes for unity
and the judgment on falsified dreams and "realizations" of
human unity.

From these deiiberations, a proposal for reformulating the

theme of the study emerged: "Unity of the Church for Renewal
of Human Community". At a later stage in the plenary dis-
cussion the Standing Commission adopted this proposal with one
modification: "The Unity of the Church and the Renewal of
Human Community". This change was introduced and accepted in
an attempt to avoid a misunderstanding that unity of the Church
be just an instrument of general cosmopolitan or generally
humanitarian unity. The unity of the Church is the gift of
the Spirit. It has its doxological and sacramental integrity
which cannot be measured in terms of its secular efficacity
for other goals only. It is the classical task of Faith and
Order to stand for this paramount concern of Christian unity,
if. the suspicion that "the WCC is just a religious sub-section
of the UNO" is to be credibly overcome. "It would falsify
this theme to assume that commitment to the renewal of human
community permits us to ignore or minimize our calling to
visible unity in Christ. Through its visible unity the Church
becomes a sign to a broken world of God's reconciling purpose
for all humanity." And vice-versa: the scandal of its visible
disunity jeopardizes the credibility of our churches' witness
to Christ. Thus it is in no way the aim of the proposed
study to relativize the classical Faith and Order concern, but
rather to place it in a broadened horizon and to develop its
implications for Christian service and mission in the contemporary
world.

Much attention was given to the question of a topical "spread-

ing out" of the study. This was later combined with an attempt
to propose thematic areas for working groups at Lima. Finally,
the following five areas were recommended and approved:

te Cosmological context of the theme: unity within the one

creation - humankind's place within, its responsibility
for, and common destiny with, nature. Implications for
struggling with “ecological issues".

ie Historical challenges to, and the opportunities for, unity

in the contemporary world : the divisions between poor
and rich, problems of power within human community,
tensions between races, classes, nations....

Bie Cultural dimension: relations between different cultures,

religions and ideologies.

4. Alienation between the generations in different parts

of the world. The disintegration of "common ground of
meaning" between parents and children. Protest and
despair of younger people vis-a-vis inherited values
and institutions.
 36

5 Missiological aspects of our search for renewal of human

community. "That the world may believe ...". Inter-
relatedness between unity of the Church and humankind
in the perspective of the Kingdom.

These areas are closely related to many concerns represented

by manifold activities of the WCC. They are a clear invita-
tion to our colleagues in other departments of ecumenical
activity to join in the efforts of this study and to invest
in it their wisdom; experiences - and frustrations. This
could become particularly important with respect to the pre-
parations for the Vancouver Assembly whose theme "Jesus
Christ - the Life of the World",in both its’ interrelated
emphases, i.e. in its christological concentration and in
its cosmological horizon, provides the focus and the frame-
work in which our study could and should be cooperatively
developed.

It will be a special concern of Faith and Order to set the

focus of its own study and possibly also of the preparatory
process: the centrality of Jesus Christ and the emphasis of
the unity of the Church founded in him. For the Lima Commis-
sion meeting, which was very much on our mind, this means the
obligation to take seriously the relation between the five
groups working on the theme with the other groups dealing with
other studies of Faith and Order. The unity of the Church
has to do with the apostolic faith, with the studies on
baptism, eucharist and ministry, with the study on the com-
munity of women and men in the Church. "The Unity of the
Church and the Renewal of Human Community” is to be understood
as one contribution to that common concern - with a specific
assignment: to work out the implications of Christian unity
work in relation to some of the most crucial challenges con-
fronting us in the broken communities of our world.

C3 Plenary Discussion of "The Unity of the Church and the

Renewal of Human Community"

Ae There was general agreement that previous work done by

Faith and Order under the heading "The Unity of the Church
and the Unity of Humankind" should be followed up and developed.
The Standing Commission affirmed, after extensive discussion,
the theme and sub-themes as presented in the working group
report.

es It was recalled that the theme has been irrepressible in

Faith and Order work since the 1950s. It is interesting that
just when Faith and Order moved away from Unity of humankind
issues to baptism, eucharist and ministry, the Central Commit-
tee heard the message and called on Faith and Order to focus
once more on "The Unity of the Church and the Unity of Human- -
kind". Faith and Order shouldtake up this study again because
1) the wcc is more receptive to the study and 2) there are
newly-emerging dimensions to the theme, e.g. the focus on the
 37

poor. Other speakers argued that previous Faith and Order

work in the area had often failed to interrelate the concern
for church unity with divisive factors in the world. The new
study must learn from past mistakes.

Se The Standing Commission agreed that the study must avoid

a one-dimensional conception of the theme which would iden-
tify the unity of the Church with the unity of the world; the
unique gift of Christian unity in Christ cannot be ignored.
The study must also avoid, however, a dualistic approach or
a triumphalism that would seem to pit the Church against
the sinful world. The division of the Church points to and
reflects the division of the world. Discussions of church
union cannot be divorced from the social context of the
churches since humankind is the inevitable context for the
unity of the Church. But neither can church unity be overlook=
ed by those Christians who are struggling with the evils and
divisions of the world. Several other points, dealing with
the substance of the study, were made by individual speakers:

a. The study should state clearly the Christian eschatological

vision of redemption and transfiguration of the cosmos.

De The study should stress the need for the Church to be

judgmental and prophetic about the "progress" of humanity.

Ce The study must take account of the Christian anthropo- -

logical vision that human suffering is rooted in the sins
of the world.

dis The sense of Christian mission in the world must go beyond

political liberation, which has its model in Cyrus, to
speak of the liberation of human hearts (i.e. from sin)
as a basis for real freedom.

e. The study should acknowledge, as Latin American theology

has done, that theology cannot be undertaken from a poli-
tically neutral position and that the churches cannot
be divorced from the ideologies of their social context.

Ese Faith and Order must not avoid the area of Christian
ethics fot fear of overlapping with the work of other
wcc sub-units. Instead, this study should serve as a
bridge to other WCC concerns.
 38

V. TOWARDS THE COMMON EXPRESSION OF THE APOSTOLIC FAITH TODAY

A. Staff Report

Th The theme

a. The point of departure:

The question of unity in faith has belonged to the main agenda
of the ecumenical movement since the movement's beginnings
(i.e. since the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh in
1910 and the First World Conference on Faith and Order in
Lausanne in 1927). The theme committee preparing the Lausanne
meeting formulated its first question as: "What degree of
unity in faith will be necessary in a re-united Church?" (1)
At the conference itself, group IV dealt with the theme "The
Church's Common Confession of Faith" on which it produced
a short final report. (2)

After the theological basis of the World Council of Churches

was formulated in Amsterdam in 1948 and a further trinitarian
clause was added in New Delhi in 1961, the Fifth Assembly in
Nairobi, 1975, made the following recommendation to the
member churches:

"We ask the churches to undertake a common effort to re-

ceive, re-appropriate and confess together, as contempo-
rary Occasion requires, the Christian truth and faith,
delivered through the Apostles and handed down through
the centuries. Such common action, arising from free
and inclusive discussion under the commonly acknowledged
authority of God's Word, must aim both to clarify and
to embody the unity and the diversity which are proper
to the Church's life and mission." (3)

Following on this recommendation, the Commission on Faith and

Order, at its Bangalore meeting in 1978, gave a short report
on its first attempt to tackle the question of the common
faith:

1. Quoted by W.A. Visser't Hooft in "The 1927 Lausanne Con-

ference in Retrospect", Lausanne 77, Faith and Order Paper
TXKO}G, {iA JSi5. AlkA
2. 4H.N. Bate (ed), Faith and Order. Proceedings of the World
Conference, Lausanne, August 3-21, 1927, pp. l6O0ff., 229ff.,
423ff., 466f.
3. D.M. Paton (ed), Breaking Barriers, Nairobi 1975, London:
SPCK, New York: Eerdmanns, I976, p. 66.
 39

"The Study 'Giving Account of the Hope' has raised a

new question which will demand detailed study. What
way of confessing the apostolic faith is required for
the Church to live in visible unity? At Bangalore,
the Commission made a first attempt to offer a 'common
confession of faith’. The attempt brought into sharp
focus the problems which need to be examined in the coming
years, e.g. the role of Tradition, and, more particularly,
the ancient creeds in the Church, the relationship
between the common confession and the doctrinal contro-
versies which arose in the history of the Church, the
role of the liturgical confession of faith, etc." (4)

b. Review of the work to the present time:

A first colloquium on "Unity in Faith" took place in Venice

in June 1978. Its results were submitted to the Joint Working
Group between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council
of Churches and, after further revision, were published in
summer 1980 as Faith and Order Paper no. 100 , "Towards a
Confession of the Common Faith". (5)

Two, consultations on the question of the filioque were held

at Schloss Klingenthal near Strasbourg, France, in October
1978 and May 1979. The presentations and recommendations of
these meetings will be published in early 1981. (6)

During the last meeting of the Faith and Order Commission in

Bangalore, 1978, working group 2 dealt with "the common ex-
pression of the apostolic faith". This group workdd out a
"Common Statement of our Faith" which was approved by the
Commission and recommended for further study. (7)

At its last meeting in Taizé, 1979, the Standing Commission

underlined the three requirements for the realization of
visible unity which had previously been stated at Bangalore (8):
- unity in one faith
- consensus on baptism, eucharist and ministry
- common ways of teaching and decision-making. (9)

4. Minutes, Bangalore 1978, Faith and Order Paper no. 93, p. 40.
5. Towards a Confession of the Common Faith, Faith and Order
Paper no. 100;

6. Spirit of God, Spirit:of Christ, ed. Lukas Vischer.

Geneva: WCC, London:SPCK, 1981.
7. Sharing in One Hope, Bangalore 1978. Faith and Order
Paper no. 92, pp. 243ff.
8. Minutes, Bangalore 1978, op.cit. p. 40f.
9. Minutes of the Meeting of the Standing Commission, Taizé
1979. Faith and Order Paper no. 98, p. of.
 40

With regard to unity in faith, the Standing Commission dealt

with five areas (10):

- The place of the ancient creeds in the Church today.

- Setting the goal: what can be achieved?
- The relation between corporate and individual renewal
of the faith.
- The different interconfessional and intercultural
understandings of the authority of Scripture and of
the Gospel.
- The form(s) in which the common faith is to be expressed.

Dr C. S. Song has edited a first collection of contemporary

confessions of faith from all over the world under the title
"Confessing our Faith Around the World" (11). In his preface,
Dr Song distinguishes, with the help of the Petrine confession
of Caesarea Philippi, between pre-confessional, confessing and
post-confessional situations. (12)

From November 3-8, 1980 in Rome, the Institute for Ecumenical

Research in Strasbourg and the Pontifical University San
Anselmo organized an international colloquium on the theme
"Confessio Fidei" which dealt both with the indicative role
of early church and Reformation confessions, and with the need
for a confession of the Christian faith appropriate for today.
The lectures and group reports from the colloquium are to
be published in "Studia Anselmiana" and "Okumenische Perspek-
tiven".

In November 1980, the staff of Faith and Order and other

colleagues in the WCC met for an informal theological discus-
sion on the common expression of the Christian faith today.
The main focus was a discussion with Orthodox theologians.
These informal discussions are to continue. (13)

Finally, it should be noted that the "Evangelische Arbeits-

stelle Okumene Schweiz" in Bern, under the direction of
Dr Lukas Vischer, is working on questions of Reformed

10. Minutes of Taizé Standing Commission, op.cit., p. 30f.

ll. Confessing our Faith Around the World, Faith and Order
Paper no. 104.
Uo ANSRKClaTT Nee A /e
13. Cf. Response of Msgr Emilianos Timiadis to Faith and Order
Paper 100: "Common and Uncommon Faith", The Ecumenical Review,
VOl.7 32,7 1980, pp. 396frs
 41

formulations of confessions. The Ecumenical Institute of the

University of Utrecht (Dr Anton Houtepen), in cooperation with
the Institute for Mission and Culture of the University of
Leiden (Professor Dr M.R. Spindler), is occupied with the
collection, analysis and evaluation of contemporary confes-
sions of faith from all over the world. (14)

2% Aspects

a. The traditional confessions:

Anyone wishing to undertake an authoritative expression of

the Christian faith today would do well to recall the con-
fessions accepted and developed in the course of Church his-
tory. Three stages in the formulation of a confession are to
be taken into account:

i) the biblical, Old and New Testament, confessional

formulations
ii) the early Church confessions of the Ecumenical
Councils
iii) the confessional writings of the Reformation period.

This enriching and yet restrictive diversity of traditional

confessions calls today for consideration of the following
tasks:

i) Reference to the authoritative Old Testament (e.g. Dt

6:4ff., 26:6b-9; Ps 107, 136) and New Testament (e.g. Phil 2:
5b-11; Eph 1:3-14) confessional texts allows us to preserve
Jewish-Christian roots.

ii) The expressions "apostolic faith" and "apostolic times"

need more precise clarification.

iii) The conflict between the eastern and western church

traditions on the West's addition of the filiogue to the
Nicene Creed of 381 must be resolved.

iv) It fosters better understanding if the biblical and

church confessions are seen and considered in the restricted
frame of their historical context.

v) There= is need of a thorough examination of the place

which the formulated confessions in general and the Nicene
Creed in particular hold in the different churches.

vi) A general acceptance of the Nicene Creed and mutual recog-

nition of important confessions of faith (e.g. the Confessio
Augustana) is desirable as a basis for a confession of the
Christian faith today.

14. Cf. Collection of materials by P.A.P.E. Kattenberg,

Credaal getuigen in Context, Utrecht-Leiden, May 1980,
Mschr. 277pp.
 42

Oe The different contexts:

It is a distinguishing mark of our times that in many places

individuals, groups and churches are trying to express the
Christian faith authoritatively for their particular area.
And in this process the traditional faith necessarily comes
up against different contexts. The most important are the
different confessions, religions and cultures. A Common
confession of the Christian faith which attempts to relate to
the incarnational movement of God is faced, therefore, with
several tasks:

a) The numerous contemporary confessions of faith must be

collected and made available to all those involved.

ii) The variety of contexts makes it necessary to take

into consideration the confessions of faith of the various
regions (e.g. Asia, Latin America, Africa, Europe) and their
confessional, religious and cultural characteristics, to examine
their particular contribution and, in general, to value them
positively.

iii) At,the same time, the mutual exchange of -confessions of

faithof different life-contexts can be a challenge, extension
and enrichment of the whole Christian community.

iv) In the meeting of the different contexts of confession,

the common understanding of the apostolic faith serves as a
critical, effective measuring rod.

(ors Contemporary challenges of the content of faith:

A common confession of the Christian faith today is only

fully meaningful if it does not only repeat what earlier con-
fessions had expressed but tackles the problems and needs of
our time. In addition to the themes expressed in the Banga-
lore 1978 Common Account of Hope, some other areas should be
mentioned here which are important for a contemporary ex-
pression of the Christian faith:

i) History and the Kingdom of God: Over against other

kingdoms, powers and histories, as Christians we confess God's
saving presence in our history and his promised Kingdom.

ii) Creation: In face of the exploitation and destruction

of our environment, as Christians we confess our thanks for
God's creation and our responsibility as his commissioners.

iii) Person: In view of the countless violations of human

rights, dignity and freedom, as Christians we confess the
creation of human beings as men and women in the image of
God and the revelation of our true humanity in the person
of Jesus Christ.
 43

iv) Universal community: With the scandal of divided

Christendom before us, as Christians we confess our quilt
in the splintering of the one body of Christ and our calling
to unity of the people of God in particular solidarity with
the poor and the suffering.

v) Resurrection: In our world marked with fear of death and

hopelessness, as Christians we confess the life-giving presence
of the resurrection crucified one in the celebration of the
eucharist, in the worldwide community of Jesus Christ and in
the daily hope of Christians for our common world.

ads On the question of forms:

It would contradict the ecumenical diversity of confessional

traditions and present practices to consider only one parti-
cular and possibly pure dogmatic form (as, for example, the
Nicene Creed). This would probably lead to a highly general
and abstract teaching document, whose power of influence would
not reach beyond the circle of those involved in its formula-
tion. Today's confession of the Christian faith, however, is
something more, and something:other, than an,expression of
dogmatic consensus formulations. In the ecumenical circle,
in addition to liturgy, teaching and the life of the Church,
several possibilities offer themselves for an appropriate ex-
pression of the faith:

i) In each worship service, biblical doxologies, e.g. the

hymns of Eph 1:3-23, suggested in Faith and Order Paper
no. 100, could be used.

ii) In eucharist celebrations, eucharistic prayers (anaphora)

could be used which may emerge from common liturgical studies.

iii) Jointly elaborated and celebrated baptismal liturgies can

meaningfully summarize the Christian faith , especially for
the person receiving baptism.

iv) The dogmatic agreements reached in bilateral and multi-

lateral discussions can be worked into an ecumenical catechism.
For example, the consensus texts on baptism, eucharist and
ministry.

v) A common statement about our understanding today of the

Christian faith would have to begin from the present ecumenical
situation and could contain three basic aspects:

- Acceptance of the early church confessions and mutual

acknowledgement of other important historical confessions.
- A declaration on church-dividing themes such as eucharist,
ministry, authority in the Church.
- A confession of our faith with a view to the challenges
of our time to the themes mentioned above under (e),
as well as others.
 44

vi) A new ecumenical and liturgical formulation of a Christian

confession of faith, binding for all Christian churches, must
- if it is at all attainable - be left to a general Christian
council (including the Roman Catholic Church) and to the
indisposable kairos of future times.

e. On setting the goal:

Our effort towardsan expression of the common Christian faith ~-

helps make us certain of the calling of the one people of God;
it also helps us realize that calling more appropriately
than in the past. In this regard, the theme today belongs
more than ever in the centre of the ecumenical movement.
The process towards a common confession of the Christian faith
can only succeed if it is accompanied by an intensified dis-
covery, celebration and transplantation of the faith in the
various churches. On the road of suffering, praying and hoping,
we shall come closer, step by step, to the unity in faith
for which we strive. Such striving also demands a clarifi-
cation of the question of authority in the churches, the lifting
of church divisions and the calling of a joint Christian
council. "That all may be one, so that the world may believe
that you have sent me” (Jn 17:21). The more we keep this goal
in mind, the clearer will be to us the necessity of pushing
forward to unity in faith.

3. Implications for the Work of the Faith and Order Commission

a. Meetings:

In order to clarify the basic questions connected with the

confession of the Christian faith today, a meeting of about
10-15 theologians from different Christian traditions would
be helpful. Suggested location: Switzerland (Geneva or Berne);
date: beginning of April 1981. The following points might be
on the agenda:

- What pointers for content, context, and structure do

the major Old Testament and New Testament confessions
offer us?
- What is the content of the so-called "apostolic" faith?
- What place do the formulated creeds, especially those
of the early Church, have in the different church
traditions?
- What contextual, structural and church framework is
necessary for confessing the Christian faith today?

In 1981, the Orthodox Churches, in particular, will commem-

orate the 1600th anniversary of the proclamation of the so-
called Nicene Creed (Niceno=Constantinopolitanum, AD 381).
Following the 1978 and 1979 consultations on the issue of the
filiogue, the anniversary should not pass unused. Therefore,
 45

it is planned that a meeting of 20-30 eastern and western

theologians be held in fall 1981 in Russia. The task of the
meeting will be to work out contributions to our theme of the
apostolic faith from a variety of perspectives:

- Ecumenical councils and creeds of the early Church.

- Origin and consequences of the Nicene Creed

- Addition and withdrawal of the filiogque in the credal
text.

Talking about God in appropriate trinitarian terms.

In view of the proposal for a common confession of faith,

the next plenary Commission on Faith and Order in Lima
(January 1982) should undertake the following tasks:

- To analyze the various (especially Latin American)

contexts of Christian confessions.
- To examine the challenges of our time to which our
Christian confession should respond.
- To work out a statement on our present understanding
of the Christian faith.

Subsequently, this first comprehensive draft on our understand-

ing of the Christian faith today - similar to the account of
our hope which was formulated in Accra (1974) - should be
sent to all member churches for study, examination and com-
ment.

The year 1982 has been assigned by the WCC for an extended
visitation programme with member churches in preparation for
the Sixth Assembly in Vancouver (1983). This offers the op-
portunity to explain the Lima statement to the grass-roots
and to talk about appropriate expressions of the Christian
faith today.

Following the experience gained during the visitation pro-

gramme, on the one hand and official church comments on the
Lima statement on the other, it will be necessary for the small
working group to gather again in early 1983 to evaluate the
experience and comments and to revise the Lima statement
accordingly.

At the Sixth Assembly of the WCC in Vancouver (1983), one

section may deal with the theme "Unity in Faith". The re-
vised draft on "The Common Confession of Faith Today" could
be the basis of discussion.

b. Publications:

On the basis of Faith and Order Papers nos. 100 and 104, it
is proposed that a series of synopses be prepared, documenting
the richness of biblical, historical and contemporary con-
fessions, which could then be made available for the ecumenical
 46

discussion on the Christian faith:

a3) In connection with "basic’ questions" of confessing, a

booklet compiling the main Old Testament, Jewish (e.g. the
18 prayers), and New Testament confessions.

ii) For discussion with the Orthodox Churches on the filiogue

a compilation of basic early church confessions, doxologies
and liturgies would be useful.

iii) In preparation for the Lima Commission meeting, possibly

a collection of Latin American confessions of faith.

iv) Prior to the 1983 Assembly, collections of contemporary

confessions of faith for the Asian, Africa, European and
North American areas should be made available.

Moreover, the papers, -reports and results of any future

meetings should be published, as in the past.

GH Proposals for the Standing Commission (1981):

i) A clarification of the basic questions connected with

the confession of the Christian faith today.

ii) Preparation for a third meeting with Orthodox theologians

on the filiogue issue.

iii) Elaboration of themes for the Plenary Commission in

Lima.

Hans-Georg Link

B. Working Group Report

ake A proposal for study

a. The statements on baptism, eucharist and ministry which

Faith and Order is going to share with the churches should
"not be seen in isolation in the process of growing together.
In many other ways the churches grow closer together as, for
example, in common service and witness to the world and in
together giving account of the hope that is within them"
(Bangalore, p./252). At the same time, baptism, eucharist
and ministry are so central to the communion of the churches,
so full of meaning, that they implicitly contain other
"requirements for unity", most of all the intention to share
 47

the one apostolic faith, without which the koinonia of the

churches would be impossible.

Faith as the human response to the grace of God, as commit-

ment with love and hope, is essential for the right under-
standing and the right celebration of the sacraments and for
Christian unity. In a way, the attempt to give it a doctrinal
formulation is secondary. Nevertheless, the need for a common
expression of the one faith, in continuity with the faith of
the Apostles, was felt from the very beginning of the Faith
and Order movement. As a consequence of the process of grow-
ing together in baptism, eucharist and ministry, therefore,
the churches might ‘take up the task to study the possibilities
of further convergence and consensus in the understanding
of the one apostolic faith - the form of expression and
formulation, the relation of new expressions to those delivered
to us through the tradition of the Church.

b. In order to help the churches to fulfil this mission, the

Faith and Order Standing Commission should plan an intense
study project on the theme of the One Apostolic Faith. We
‘appreciate the work that has been done in this field already,
like the Bangalore "Common Account of our Hope", the Bangalore
"Statement of Faith", the two meetings of the Joint Working
Group together with Faith and Order at Venice and Le Louverain
(Paith and Order Paper no. 100), the collection of modern
confessions of faith from around the world (Faith and Order
Paper no. 104), and the detailed memorandum given to this
Commission by the staff. We learned from this work, discussing
it in our group, that the problems are extremely complex and
that several approaches might be chosen. If Faith and Order
adopts such a project, it will be a long-term project. Never-
theless, on the basis of a provisional rationale, given below,
we plead for the adoption of such a project in the years after
the Lima meeting.

(ets To prepare for a more detailed plan of studies, to be

discussed at the Lima meeting, the Standing Commission should
call a small study group (10-15 persons, including staff). The
group must be recruited from people already engaged in the
study, like the members of the group which met in Venice and
Le Louverain, representatives from churches engaged in the
formulation of new confessions of faith, and of some theo-
logical institutes preparing collections and analyzing materials.

d. The group shall perhaps have to meet twice before Lima,

e.g. in May and November. As suggestions for a working pro-
gramme we list the following:

i) To study carefully the Status Quaestionis formulations

in Faith and Order Paper no. 100.

ii) To indicate the main challenges that could lead chur-

ches towards the search for new and common confessions
Of faith. (Those mentioned by the San Anselmo colloquium
include the interpretation of the Kingdom of God in
history, the threatened view of creation, the violation
of human dignity, the questioning of resurrection, nuclear
 48

threat, world poverty, and the lack of community between

women and men in church and society.) In fact, we see
at least five contexts which urge for a new consideration
of the one apostolic faith: the missionary situation
(how to gain disciples again in confessing the faith),
the socio-political challenge or even persecution of
Christians in many parts of the world, the cultural
circumstances (like the struggle of women for a more
adequate role in the Church), the hermeneutical problem
(mainly in the West: how to interpret old texts. from dif-
ferent times and circumstances), historical controversies
(e.g. on the filioque, addition), the need for reunion on
the basis of a common confession (united churches). Of
course, our divisions as such are reason enough to look
for a more common expression of our apostolic faith or
to study again the role of the ancient creeds. The other
factors, however, emphasize this need for our times.

iii) The planning group should formulate the implications

of the baptism, eucharist and ministry statements and
of the related liturgical and catechetical material used
in the churches, as well as of the Bangalore "Account of
Hope", in view of a possible common expression of faith.

iv) The group should prepare a set of questions to be

put before the churches by the Lima meeting about their
relation to the ancient creeds and/or about their tentative
new confessional formulae :as well as to their mutual ex-
change of confessional statements.

v) The group should also edit a further collection of

confessions around the world before the Lima meeting,
paying special attention to Latin American materials.

vi) Finally the group should forward to the Lima meeting

detailed proposals for a project strategy for the years
after Lima, including possible cooperation with regional
Faith and Order Commissions, the Joint Working Group and
the Assembly Preparatory Committee.

e. The purpose of the whole study project would be to

prepare for a kind of "preliminary plateau" of common confes-
sing that would be necessary and sufficient to convene a
universal ecumenical council, the only instrument that really
could receive such confessing as an articulation of our common
apostolic faith.

Ee We welcome the scheduled consultation in the USSR on

the Nicene Creed in October 1981.

ge We propose that the studies on the teaching authority

of the Church be postponed until after the Vancouver Assembly
in 1983.
 49

Pag Some theological considerations in defence of the study

a. The unity of the Church and Christian community - in the

deep sense of koinonia, communion: participation in Jesus
Christ (I Cor 1:9), in the Spirit (II Cor 13:13) and in divine
life itself (I Jn 1:3,6,7) - are fundamentally based on con-
fessing together Jesus as the Christ of God, the Son of Man,
the Son of God, the Lord or whatever title might be found in
human language to refer to God's initiative of grace in Him.

To confess Jesus as Lord is only possible "in the Spirit"

(I Cor 12:3) on the basis of a new life given to people, a
conversion (metanoia) wrought by the Word of God (Rom 10:14).
To confess means to answer God's initiative of grace, to
glorify the suffering servant and the crucified Christ as
the risen Lord for all ages before the world (Lk 12:8-9).

On this fundamental level of confessing Christ in a personal

way, Christians already live in koinonia. As long as they
share their same intention of faith, they live in a funda-
mental communion which itself is, considered in faith, a gift
of God.

b. The problem, however, in the situation of divided churches,

is how to make visible that common sharing and how to judge
about this fundamental intention of faith. The Church has
already developed during the crystallization of the New
Testament writings criteria and models for its "homology" -
with regard to liturgical forms, sacramental celebrations,
catechetical instruction and theological argumentation.
Gradually such symbols of homology were exchanged between lo-
cal communities and became, to a certain extent, harmonized.
They were used as signs of reconciliation for sinners who had
betrayed the cause of Christ and as summaries (summa capitula)
of the faith in an early missionary context (cf. Acts 2:36-
46; Rom 1:4; I Thess 1:10; I Cor 15). In the course of history
certain formulations got a definite canonized value because
they had been able to settle large disputes within Christian-
ity itself and because they were received by the Councils of
the Universal Church.

Cie Of course, they were never meant as a replacement for

actual confessing nor were they considered to contain the
whole Gospel. They were part of a living tradition process.
Other instruments, like Scripture, the sacraments, the
ministry and a commonly accepted discipline were fostered and
celebrated alongside the credal forms of homology. The idea,
however, of such formulated summaries of the common inten-
tion of faith was inherited from the Jewish tradition (cf.:
Dt 6). So they could be seen, in an analogous way, as the
symbols of Christian identity, both in the Jewish and in the
Greek-Roman world.

di The Creeds, instruments for liturgical and catechetical

homology, symbols of Christian identity, got also a new function
 50

of guaranteeing the continuity with the apostolic faith as

confessed by the Church. Indeed, the continuity of the creeds
of the ancient Church has served the unity of the Church, even
Ntimes of deep division. Up to now most Christian churches
would accept, or at least not seriously oppose, these ancient
symbols of homology. Even the more elaborate catechetical
articles of faith, written for the sake of reconciliation or
for the reformation of the Church (like the confessions of
faith from the Reformation period), were based on the creeds
of the ancient Church.

fis Nevertheless, several problems have appeared in modern

times with regard to the function of these ancient formula--
tions of Christian faith. Like the ancient creeds which were
formulated in dialogue with historical circumstances, Chris-
tians are now expressing anew the need for a contemporary
formulation of faith that could again guide and inspire their
actual confessing life of faith. "The Church needs to dis-
cover how to live its faith in such a way that it will meet
the aspirations on which people and persons set their hopes
today and how to proclaim the faith unanimously by overcoming
its divisions" (Faith and Order Paper no. 100, p.8).

Cr Plenary Discussion on "Towards the Common Expression of

the Apostolic Faith Today”

ie, General discussion of the proposed study

ae The Standing Commission was agreed that any new study

of confessions of faith must be done in continuity with
baptism, eucharist and ministry and the Account of Hope
study. The study must show that there is no separation
between. liturgical confessions and the confession of Christ in
service and mission.

iS}e There was also agreement that Faith and Order must not
attempt to formulate a new creed. The study would aim to put
into words the faith which the churches are living out in their
own situations. The diversity of contexts makes different con-
fessional statements necessary; but there is also a need to
identify that common heritage of faith which allows the chur-
ches to recognize their common stance in Christ.

Ce Several speakers pointed to the need for a careful con-

sideration of the language used in confessions. Some warned
that we must not fall back on "group language" which makes
little sense to those outside the circle of faith. Some spoke
of the need for a common "professional language" which could
then be translated into local contexts, while others noted
that Christians have a:common language in the stories and
metaphors of Scripture.
 51

a. Several additional questions were raised for consideration

during the course of the study:

4) Should not the idea of the “remission of sin" - so

central to the ancient creeds but missing from our prepa-
ratory documents - be given major attention in any study
on the confession of faith today?

ii) What is the role of the ancient creeds in expressing

the faith today?

iii) How, in a universal Church or conciliar fellowship, can

we "test" other people's confessions of faith? Should this
study try to identify the criteria by which we can say "no"
to certain confessions while still affirming the contextual
nature of true confessions?

iv) Should the issue of "teaching authority" be made a

part of any long-term study on the common faith?

Die Responses to specific working group proposals

ae The Standing Commission affirmed the basic conception

of this study as presented by the working group. It was agreed
that the study should extend well beyond Vancouver.

b. The Standing Commission recommended that the study pro-

ceed modestly until Lima (where it is hoped that a final
design for the study will be formulated) by pursuing several
"simultaneous small steps". These would certainly include:

- A summer consultation, probably in Turkey,on present

challenges for confessing the Christian faith. The
purpose of the consultation will be to develop a design
for the study.

- An autumn consultation in the USSR which would give

special recognition to the 1600th anniversary of the
Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed.

The latter would look at how the ancient Church spoke author-
itatively through the conciliar formulation of creeds.

Ce With regard to point lc of the working group report

(see page 47), the Director stressed that this study must
not rely solely on a narrow international group of theological
specialists. Faith and Order, in order to ensure that its
studies are received into the life of the churches, must de-
centralize its working groups. Regionally oriented groups
would help re-establish Faith and Order's relation to its
constituent churches and would develop a greater sense of
"corporate ownership" on the part of the Commission.

dis The Standing Commission agreed that the publication of

selected confessional texts (one volume of which is already
in print) is an important part of the study. The Standing
 52

Commission left it to the staff to determine what texts should

be published and in what form. It was stressed that these
publications should receive wide distribution.

e. Several members urged that the Secretariat take serious

account of the implicit foundation for this study found
in the baptism, eucharist and ministry, and the account of
hope studies. A preliminary text for Lima might be extra-
polated from past documents.
 53

Vi. THE COMMUNITY OF WOMEN AND MEN IN THE CHURCH

A. Staff Report

Vige Introduction

The international consultation on the Community of Women and

Men in the Church Study, scheduled for Sheffield, England,
July 10-19, 1981, takes its aims and shape from a three-year
preparatory process, providing a forum for exchange and dia-
logue on issues that have surfaced on local levels and through
various regional and specialized consultations. The mandate
for the Study ends December 31, 1981. The concrete follow-up
of the August, 1981 Dresden Central Committee recommendations
will be proposed to the Faith and Order Commission (Lima) and
to appropriate WCC units and sub-units. In tandem with this,
the findings of Sheffield and supporting documents will be
published and,in accord with the recommendations of the Banga-
lore Faith and Order meeting, a full report on the Community
Study is expected at the Commission meeting in Lima (January,
UIS2)rs

2h Background

The Community of Women and Men in the Church Study is a special

programme emphasis of the World Council of Churches, lifted
up at the Nairobi Assembly and having its origins in the 1974
Berlin Consultation on "Sexism in Church and Society" and the
Accra meeting of the Faith and Order Commission. It was at
Accra that the programme was initiated as part of the Faith
and Order emphasis on "The Unity of the Church and the Unity
of Humankind". After Nairobi, the 1976 Central Committee
implemented this Assembly recommendation by making the Com-
munity Study a programme of the Faith and Order Commission
in cooperation with the sub-unit on Women in Church and
Society. From the beginning, the programme has been formula-
ted in Faith and Order; the first broad outlines were estab-
lished by the Faith and Order Core Group (published in Faith
and Order Paper no. 80, 1976, For the Years Ahead). These
were later affirmed and detailed at the Loccum Standing
Commission (July, 1977). Following these guidelines, the
Study Desk began the concrete steps of this programme in
January, 1978.

The first task was to design a studybook appropriate to the

participatory, reflection/action nature of the Study mandate.
After eight months of engagement with over 200 people from all
churches and parts of the world, a trial edition of the Study
was published. This was used at the first regional consulta-
tion in Asia and it was then submitted for approval and recom-
mendation for future steps to the Bangalore Faith and Order
Commission. After a few modifications, 3000 copies in English,
French and German were printed and invitations were sent to
 54

all WCC member churches, concerned Christian organizations,

members of the Faith and Order Commission, and the Working
Group on Women in Church and Society.. It is estimated that
the studybook now exists in 65,000 copies, translated at local
initiative into 13 languages, republished several times in
English and German, mimeographed and adapted to community
situations in every continental area, mainly by women's organi-
zations and women's desks of ecumenical and national councils.
As anticipated, the Community Study brings a:new ecumenical
constituency into Faith and Order.

The goal of the Study as outlined in the preface to the study-

book is to discover means to live out the unity and wholeness
of man/woman partnership envisioned in Genesis 1: 27-28, that
both woman and man are created in the imageof God, and to make
real the shared community life of Christians in the body of
Christ, envisioned in Galatians 3: 27-28, that in Christ the
differences between male and female, rich and poor, Jew and
Gentile, are overcome. The old religious community is libera-
ted and transformed into a new ecclesia. An initial step
toward what this could mean took place in the Bangalore
section work, the discussion "Toward an Account of Hope from
Women", the response to which is published in Sharing in One
Hope, "Towards a Fuller Community of Women and Men in the
Church”.

To date, regional meetings have been held in India, Lebanon,

Thailand, the Federal Republic of Germany, and Nigeria (see
attached conspectus). Two such meetings are still to be held
in Costa Rica and the United States. In addition, three
specialized consultations were planned, two of which have
been completed: "Ordination of Women in Ecumenical Perspective"
(published as Faith and Order Paper no. 105), and “Towards
a Theology of Human Wholeness" (see November 1980 One World
for a brief report). The third, "The Authority of Scripture
in the Light of the New Experiences of Women" will take place
in December,1980, in Amsterdam. Each of these specialized
meetings is mdde possible through cooperation with local
host groups who shared in the programme and funding. By the
end of March, 1981, all preparatory steps at grassroots,
regional and specialized levels will have occurred, involving
about 600 people in the consultation process itself. In
addition, over 200 reports have been submitted from church,
ecumenical and local groups, representing the engagement of
thousands of women and men in local contexts.

She Initial findings

Some of the initial findings of the Study to be reflected on

include:

- confessional differences are not that significant in

terms of the status of women. Even in those churches
that have a long tradition of ordaining women, women
Pon readily surface in authority and key leadership.
roles.
 55

In most parts of the world, the status of women and the

Opportunities for women in leadership are greater in
society than in the church.
There is a questioning as to whether the Bible and
the tradition is basically "anti-woman" or whether in
Jesus’ relationship with women and his teachings a
fundamental human breakthrough is made upon which new
community can be built.
The issue of sexual attitudes toward women is universal-
ly raised: just what difference does the difference
make and how should this impact on, or transform, the
roles of women and men in family life, church, church
teachings, and interpersonal relationships and
expectations?
New partnership between women and men and issues of
family life and work. Here there are considerable
differences of opinion, yet stated within a common goal
of equality and mutuality between women and men.
In church structures, women are, by and large, a large
part of the educated laity, who, along with laymen,
have little influence over theological teachings and
church policies. Therefore, theological education of
women, and of adult laity in general, is a priority for
the renewal of the Church.
Men have been interested, but not as committed to the
programme as women. About 85% of the active participa-
tion thus far has been women.
In some areas, serious questions are raised about the
use of the word "church" and whether or not our present
institutional structures can adequately symbolize the
Church when their policies are exclusive of women and
other peoples in minority positions (though not neces-
sarily numerical minorities).
Many churches and ecumenical councils are establishing
long-term studies on the Community of Women and Men as
a result of their initial work. They find that they
must create new structures to make possible structural
changes. The issues arenotonly those of dialogue,
but of power.
One question which has been raised is whether it is not
in fact too soon to talk about "community" in this
context. The Community Study has helped in clarifying
what issues need to be addressed, and it has given the
impulse for dialogue, but until there is much more real
exchange and signs of change, some feel that renewed
community is too idealistic and tends to cover over
the depth of the issues at sake.
 56

aye Sheffield to Dresden

The international consultation will bring together 140 parti-

cipants from churches, groups and accountable bodies related
to the Community Study. Co-moderators of the meeting will
be Florence Mahoney and Jorge Lara-Braud. The first two days
of the meeting will be spent in working groups, "global units"
of local discussions,and the next five days will be given to
section work for in-depth study of specialized issues raised
through the Community Study findings. Four plenaries will
give a broad canvas to the issues and plenary Bible studies
will sharpen the theological focus. The task of the inter-
national meeting will be to highlight and evaluate the find-
ings of the Community Study, including an envisioning of
what a renewed community of women and men in the Church might
look like (in the form of a message to the churches), and to
make recommendations to the Dresden Central Committee through
the Advisory Committee, which is composed of representatives
of- both Faith and Order and the sub-unit on Women. In the
words of the 1980 Geneva Central Committee recommendation,
there should be a report as complete as possible on the Study
and its implementation in the future work of the World Coun-
cil given to the 1981 Central Committee. Preparatory work on
this recommendation is to be presented through the Advisory
Committee to the February, 1981, Executive Committee.

Bre Funding

From the beginning, the programme has been supported by special

funding. In 1979, the problem regarding insufficient funding
for the international consultation, then scheduled for 1980,
was brought to the Jamaica Central Committee. The programme
was reviewed and the budget approved. The broad base of the
programme, the regional and specialized meetings, and the un-
certainty of not raising the financial support in time, led to
a postponement of the international meeting to 1981.

To ensure the completion of the Study mandate, the Faith and

Order Taizé Standing Commission, meeting in July, 1979, recom-
mended that the Study Desk be continued for one year and the
international meeting be reduced in size. It presented a com-
bined new budget to continue the Desk for one year including
the expenditures of the international meeting. By February
of 1980, over 75% of the projected total funds had been ob-
tained and the Executive Committee authorized the 1981 budget.
The question of 1981 expenditures will be brought before the
February 1981 Executive Committee along with preparatory recom-
mendations for the post-1981 follow-up.

6. Some initial probings - the study implications for

Faith and Order

- The Community Study is a theological study both in

its method and content. Along with other Faith and
Order studies, it raises theological issues of
 Sil

hermeneutics and authority: Who decides what is norma-

tive theology for all people and how it is to be done?
- The nature of the Study is a continual interplay:
reflection about God's relation to humanity as experi-
enced in social, psychological, spiritual and structural
realities of church, family and work.
- The findings raise another dimension of the discussion
on authoritative teaching in relation to questions of
the authority and uses of the Bible.
- The Study is an ecclesial study in that at the basis
of new experience, renewed hope and vision for the
Church, new modes of living the Church in authenticity
are projected and new experiments are underway.
- The Community Study has implications for other aspects
of Faith and Order, e.g. the search for a common af-
firmation of faith (how to be inclusive and open, yet
limited) and the work on consensus and what a renewed
self-understanding of the Church as an inclusive community
can mean for common accord on baptism, eucharist and
ministry.
- The Community Study raises the question of sexuality
and personhood, and how being women or men makes a
difference in our Christian vocation, identity, and
servanthood in the Church.
Constance F. Parvey’

B. Working Group Report

The following recommendations are offered to the Standing

-Commission for its consideration:

ibe That the seven topics which have emerged from staff
review of the specialized consultations, the regional con-
sultations, and the local study groups (Scripture, worship and
the sacraments, the identity of men and the identity of women,
ministry, marriage/family/and alternative life styles, authority
in community, and liberation from oppression) be summarized
with descriptive discussion, in approximately 10-page papers
each, as preparatory materials for the Sheffield work groups
by the end of April.

ave That among the people to be invited to Sheffield be those

known as competent authors in their own cultural areas, in
order to produce books with special interest to specific regions,
delineating the development of the study process and summari-
zing the Sheffield results. Standing Commission members are
invited to suggest names of possible authors on the basis of
which the Advisory Committee will draw up a list to be shared
with the WCC publications office for implementation.

a5 That, in the Sheffield meeting, a group be asked to draw

up "A Message" which the Central Committee can subsequently
be asked to send to the churches.
 58

4. That Faith and Order members present at Sheffield be asked

(following careful preparation, briefing and planning) to
ensure (with the help of the Faith and Order staff) that the
concerns arising in the Community Study are brought into the
work of the Lima Faith and Order Commission meeting. These
are presently expected to be in at least the following areas:

a. biblical authority
ba enMinistry
c. unity of the Church and unity of humankind

Sie That the Advisory Committee, at its meeting in January,

1981, ask the planning group for the Dresden meeting of the
wccC Central Committee for time for a full presentation on
the Community Study. Details of this must be settled by the
Advisory Committee at its meeting immediately after Sheffield.

6. That the Advisory Committee, through the Faith and Order

staff, be in contact with the Assembly Planning Committee
(for Vancouver), indicating that the Planning Committee can
expect to receive specific recommendations after Sheffield,
materials to be transmitted to the Central Committee for the
Assembly's programme and processes.

Tere That the Advisory Committee draw out of the Sheffield

recommendations the basic themes for referral to relevant
bodies within the WCC for implementation.

8. That the Advisory Committee recommend that the Community

Study Secretary prepare the papers of the Sheffield Consultation
as a WCC publication between Dresden and the end of December.
In order to enable this to happen, she should be released from
immediate Faith and Order staff responsibilities in preparation
for Lima and Michael Kinnamon and other colleagues be assigned
responsibility for integrating Community Study issues into
the Lima planning.

9. That the Faith and Order staff be asked in the follow-up

of Lima to include in their report to the new Standing Com-
mission those Community Study issues which have particular
relevance for the future work of Faith and Order.

(Ge Plenary Discussion on "The Community of Women and Men

in the Church"

1. International Consultation at Sheffield (July 10-19 ,1981)

A report on preparations for Sheffield was presented. Among

the points made were the following:

ae There will be 140 official representatives and approxi-

mately 220 total participants/observers at Sheffield. That
makes it the major WCC meeting of 1981.
 59

b. Invitations have been sent on the basis of both official

church recommendations and involvement in the community study
process. Staff have been forced to keep a delicate balance
between these two.

cr The work at Sheffield will be done in two parts: groups

(where participants will share their own experience of the
issues) and sections (where they will formulate common state-
ments on selected topics of central concern throughout the
study). The staff is currently preparing background documents
- drawing on local group reports and the reports from the
regional and specialized consultations - for the sections.

as All British churches have been asked to join a Committee

of Reference that will assist in the preparation for, and the
promotion of, Sheffield. It is expected that the consultation
will receive significant attention in Britain.

Phe Faith and Order's involvement in the follow-up of the

Community Study after Sheffield

a. It was stressed that, since the Community Study pro-

gramme does not continue past 1981, ways must be found to keep
the issues alive and to ensure that they are included on the
Vancouver agenda. It was affirmed that many issues of the
Community Study - e.g. scriptural authority in light of the
new experiences of women, and the search for inclusive communi-
ty - are central to the future work of Faith and Order. There
can be no retreat from a confrontation with these issues, but
it must be recognized that they will take many years of serious
study.

Loe After much debate, there was a general agreement that

the "process" of the study and its follow-up involve the
following steps and lines of accountability:

i) Until the end of 1981, the Community Study Desk is

‘directly responsible to its Advisory Committee. The
Advisory Committee is a sub-committee of the WCC's Central
Committee. Recommendations from the Advisory Committee
(which will meet in January, July, and November, 1981)
should go to the Executive Committee of the Central
Committee (at its February, 1981 meeting) and to the
Central Committee (at its August, 1981, meeting in Dresden).
It is anticipated that the Central Committee will, in
turn, offer recommendations for consideration by the
Faith and Order Plenary Commission in Lima.

ii) Advisory Committee recommendations should also

be directed to the Assembly Planning Committee by the
Director or other representatives from the Secretariat.

iii) The Sheffield consultation will produce a report

and recommendations in its own name - not that of Faith
 60

and Order. The Advisory Committee will be responsible

for directing recommendations from Sheffield to the Cen-
tral Committee and to the Faith and Order Commission. The
Commission, meeting in Lima, will receive these recommen-
dations (as well as any that might come to it from the
Central Committee) and then decide what actions to take
in its own name.

iv) It is hoped that the Faith and Order Commission mem-

bers who attend the Sheffield meeting will also carry the
Community Study concerns into the Lima discussions. The
study must continue to benefit from such "unofficial
advocates" if its results are to infuse qualitatively the
entire work of Faith and Order.

v) It is expected that Dr Parvey will prepare a final

report of the entire study before the end of 1981. This
report should be received by the Faith and Order Commis-
sion in Lima before it goes to the Central Committee in
1982. It is also expected that - on the basis of this
report and the recommendations mentioned above - the
Faith and Order Commission will develop a strategy for
presenting the Community Study's issues and results in
Vancouver. This is in keeping with the 1980 Central
Committee mandate that the follow-up of the Community
Study be primarily lodged in Faith and Order. (It also
acknowledges that the Advisory Committee comes to an end,
along with the study programme, at the end of 1981.)

Stic Additional discussion

a. Question was raised about the role of Mary in the Com-

munity Study. It was noted that there had been large dis-
agreement on this issue. Generally, the study results saw
Christ as the model of a new inclusive anthropology and spoke
of Mary (particularly as exemplified in the Magnificat). as a
prophet of human liberation.

bie It was urged that the drafter and editors of the Sheffield
report exercise restraint in order to avoid a backlash against
women in the churches.

Cis The hope was expressed that the language of traditional

worship texts not be changed for use at Sheffield. Worship
should be enriched by addition not alteration.

ais It was stressed that churches must reserve the right to

disagree with the content of the Sheffield report and with
the general Community Study results. This is particularly
true with regard to the question of the ordination of women.
The Orthodox opposition to women in the priesthood, for
example, should not be seen as "discrimination" but as a
theological principle based on the Orthodox sense of SpocEaic
tradition.
 61

e. The Director noted that he is uncompromisingly favourable

to the continuation of these issues in Faith and Order because
of their ecclesiological significance. There should be no
attempt to impose a pattern of ecclesiology that is at odds
with any church's self-understanding; but it is Faith and
Order's role to be a provocative and prophetic servant by
encouraging the churches to deal with those issues which keep
them divided. This is not a "women's study" but a "community
study" which calls our attention to the churches" lack of
inclusiveness. It is appropriate for Faith and Order to ana-
lyse sexual distortions in the Church just as, in the past,
it has analysed racial distortions.

The Director also noted with appreciation the Standing Com-

mission's attempt to deal with the administrative ambiguities
of the study. With regard to the follow-up, the Commission
must remember that the Secretariat is being asked to deal with
a range of important issues but without additional staff or
funding to compensate for the termination of the study pro-
gramme. Commission members must take some responsibility for
ensuring that Faith and Order studies are qualitatively in-
fused by the Community Study's results.

4. Official actions

a. The Standing Commission affirmed the nine working group

recommendations and urged that its general discussion be
taken into account in their implementation.

bs The Standing Commission expressed its appreciation to

Dr Parvey for her devoted work.
 62

VII. PREPARATIONS FOR THE 1982 MEETING OF THE FAITH AND

ORDER PLENARY COMMISSION

A. Staff Report

In July 1980, I visited Bolivia (La Paz, Cochabamba), Peru

(Lima) and Colombia (Bogota, Medellin) to look at various
sites which had been proposed for the next Faith and Order
Plenary Commission scheduled for January 1982. The sites
in Bolivia proved too small and inadequate for the size of
our meeting (mainly because few single rooms were available).
The Roman Catholic Seminary in Medellin would be an ideal
meeting place, but its location is somewhat isolated; office
equipment (typewriters, mimeographing machines, simultaneous
translation equipment) would need to be brought along.

In light of these factors, the Faith and Order Secretariat

decided to submit to the Standing Commission a propasal to
hold the meeting in Lima, Peru. Below I quote from my report
to the Faith and Order Secretariat. I visited the following
places in the Lima area:

(1) Oasis de los Santos Apostotes

This seems to be an ideal meeting place in Ricardo Palma which

is about one hour's drive from Lima. The Oasis lies ina
rather secluded spot. It has nice surroundings and offers
many possibilities. During 1980/81 a new “auditorio" (meeting
hall) (to accommodate about 200 persons) will be built. At
present there is an "auditorio" with a capacity of about 180
persons; this hall can be divided into three separate meeting
rooms. There is a small chapel which can easily be arranged
to seatup to 200 persons. The dining room is in the form of
12 cubicles ( = 12 apostles) and can seat 160 - 180 persons.
There are about 5-7 smaller rooms available which may serve
as administrative and mimeographing offices. There is also
a small independent cafeteria on the compound which operates
during conferences; its opening hours are flexible and can
be arranged according to our schedule.

The rooms (with toilet/shower facilities) are simple, but

adequate. The cupboards are somewhat small; coat-hangers
need to be brought along.

There are two small swimming pools, several resting areas

in gardens which offer much greenery and flowers.

All meeting rooms are free of charge. There will, however,

be a small charge for electricity used in connection with
our electrical equipment.

Daily timetable: Breakfast: 08.00, Lunch: 12.30, Dinner: 18:30

 63

The advantage of this meeting place is that we would have

the place to ourselves, but, of course, we would have to
find another place since there is not enough accommodation
available on the spot for the whole Commission.

(2) Centro Vacacional Huampani

I met with Mr Basurto, the administrator of the Centre, who

showed me around and also invited me to lunch. The food
is good and sufficient. There is a menu consisting of entrée,
main dish, dessert, coffee or tea, or an a la carte menu.
Vegetarian food is available on request. Most days there
is a meat dish, but at least twice in the week fish is served.

Daily timetable: Breakfast: 0O7.30-09.30, Lunch: 12.30-14.30

Supper: 18.30-20.30 (Tea or coffee can be served during
breaks, but is not included in the price for board and lodging.)
The dining room has waiter service.

The large meeting hall can take up to 600 persons (without

tables). It could be arranged with tables in 10 rows per
18 persons. The platform area is elevated one step and the
translation booths could be put up behind the audience.
There are various loudspeakers in the room. The hall seems
to be adequate for our purposes. There is a small chapel
near the main entrance which can easily seat 60 persons and
about 25 more if additional seats are brought in.

There are several group rooms: sala de televisidén, 30

persons; restorante Ganso de Oro, 20-80 persons; posta medical
lateral: 1 group room for 25 persons and a smaller one for
10-12 persons, without table arrangement, toilet faciltiies;
posta medical: one room for about 20 persons, toilet facilities;
salon de Casino: 250 persons.

There are six two-storey blocks which have 16 double rooms

on each floor - on one side toilet/shower facilities for
women; on the other the same for men. The rooms are simply
furnished and do not have closed cupboards, but mainly open
space for hanging clothes. There is a small chest of drawers
and a small bedside table with lamp, otherwise no tables in
the rooms. There are no shades on the windows, only light
curtains (if at all). There are chalets for 4 persons con-
sisting of two double rooms (one with a cupboard, the other
with open hanging space and a chest of drawers) and a small
living room with table, chairs, and sometimes another chest
of drawers; toilet/shower facilities with hot and cold water.
The chalets for 6 persons have a small front garden; 3 double
rooms (one with chest of drawers, one with cupboard but without
hanging facilities for clothes, and one with open hanging
space). There is a Gupboard in the hall, but not for hanging
clothes; shower/toilet, small wash basin, hot and cold water.
There is also a living room with table, several chairs, chest
of drawers (zona de gerencia). There are also other chalets
for 6 persons (lado del puente): 3 double rooms with open cup-
board facilities and living room as above.
 64

The centre has a swimming pool and several sport activity areas;
no entrance fee is charged for people staying on the campus.
There is a Salon de Te (small restaurant) which is open each
day between 8.00-12.00 and 13.00-18.00.

There are three rooms available for offices (secretariat/admin-

istration; duplicating and storage; stewards?).

Rental prices in July 1980 per day:

Conference hall USS@ 42750

Pachacutec hall 23.00
Salon de TV 13'550
Chapel 13.50 (if only used for short
Posta medical 13.00 service (one hour), no
Posta medical lateral £3 00 charge)
1 office 7.00
Salon de Casino P 23.00

Prices for accommodation in July 1980:

Double room (shower/toilet) per day per person USS - 15.00

Bungalow 4 persons (shower/toilet) 34.00
Bungalow 6 persons (shower/toilet) 50.50

This is a very large holiday centre (at present it can take

up to 800 persons and it is foreseen that by the time of our
meeting it will have‘a capacity of 1200 persons). It has
to be taken into account that January is the middle of their
summer and that a lot of people will be around, especially
for weekends.

(3) Casa de retiro de las Madres Canonesas de la Cruz

The "Casa de Canonesas",.in Chaclacayo, is an ideal meeting

place, but unfortunately (for us!) it can only accommodate
up to 120 persons. The rooms are nicely furnished and have
shower/toilet facilities. It has a lovely garden (very
well kept) with a swimming pool. There are enough areas
for people to meet informally in the evenings.

Two large meeting halls are available ( one for about 120
persons - individual desks, and the other for about 80
persons). There are at least 7 smaller rooms for group
work. There is a relatively large chapel in which also non-
Catholic services may be celebrated.

(2) Casa de retiro La Molina

I also had a quick look at this possibility, but when I heard

that it can only receive up to 100 persons in double rooms, I
did not pursue it any further. I also think that the other
places are better situated.
 65

General Remarks

It seems a pity that none of the places visited is in itself

large enough to accommodate the whole of the Commission
(with the exception of Huampani). However, I have the
impression that Humapani will become very expensive if we
use the double rooms as singles. Therefore, the question
arises whether we should not repeat the experience of Banga-
lore of holding the meeting in two centres. For example,
the meeting could be held at the Oasis de los Santos Apostoles,
using all the rooms there are single rooms and making use
of the single rooms as well as the doubles at the Casa de
Canonesas because the doubles there are larger than the rooms
at the Oasis, and also using the triple rooms there as
doubles. If we take only breakfast and one meal at the
Canonesas, there is a reduction in the price. The distance
to be covered is about 8-10 kilometres on the main road; I
was told that transport could be easily arranged.

In discussing the possibility of organizing the next Plenary

Commission in Latin America, it was suggested by Latin
American Faith and Order Commission members "that partici-
pants in the Plenary Commission meeting should engage in
visitation to other Latin American countries prior to the
meeting". This proposal was made inorder to offer an
Opportunity to Faith and Order Commission members to get to
know the Latin American context for church life and doing
theology. In view of our restricted financial means, it will
unfortunately not be possible to take up this proposal
on a broad scale. However, it is planned to organize a
group visit (before or after the Commission meeting) to
Bogota where some of the CODECAL projects could be visited.
(CODECAL is a legally constituted, non-profit making body
working in the field of social education, developing content
and methods, and producing educational materials in this area,
and training persons in Latin America as well as organizing
courses on social education, e.g. family and community, human
rights, political formation, social alternatives, catechism,
etc.) It is suggested, therefore, that local visits should
be part of the meeting itself (e.g. the first day could be
a sort of "seminar" where special guests would be invited
to speak on particular topics (cf. Minister Fernandes in
Bangalore), to give Commission members an appropriate intro-
duction into the Latin American context from different angles
(socio-political, economic, liberation theology, etc.). These
theoretical exposés could be followed by local visitation
on one or two days when the Commission could be split into
smaller groups. Details need to be worked out on the local
level in consultation with the Secretariat.

It may also be possible to arrange some other orientation

programme(s) on church life and patterns of theological studies
in the Latin American context. For example, there could be
films which give insight into the life of various Latin
American countries; visits to local congregations, perhaps
 66

one or two folklore evenings (very low cost or even free).

The suggestion was also made that there could be a book ex-
hibition and an “artesania" exhibition. The churches in Peru
support a social institution in Huancayo (local handicrafts,.
weaving, Alpaca goods, etc. ); perhaps some representatives
from the centre could come and sell their goods.

Meeting in Lima, we would also have the advantage of being

able to count on the full cooperation of the regional CLAI
office (contact: Pastor Felipe Adolf). Mimeographing equip-
ment could be rented from one of the local churches perhaps
and it could also be arranged to have one or two private
cars on loan from the churches for the duration of our meeting.
A further advantage is that simultaneous translation equip-
ment is available for rent, at a reasonable price, in Lima.
I went to see it and found the equipment to be in good condi-
tion. Price: US$ 365 per day for 3 languages/200 persons;
US$ 400 per day for 4 languages/200 persons.

Another advantage is that we can arrive directly in Lima from

international centres. We would not have to rely on domestic
flights (all my internal flights underwent considerable time
changes, due to strikes and other factors). Whereas one per-
son can relatively easily make another arrangement, this will
prove difficult for a group of 15 persons or more.

In view of the probability of high inflation in Peru, I was

advised that our budget should be established in US dollars.

Renate Sbeghen

B. Plenary Discussion of Preparations for the 1982 Meeting

of the Faith and Order Plenary Commission and Suggested
Working Groups

les Logistical preparations for Lima

There was general enthusiasm for holding the next Plenary

Commission meeting in Latin America; the Standing Commission
expressed its appreciation to the Central Committee of the
World Council of Churches for endorsing the idea despite the
added costs. Attention was called to the memorandum from
Renate Sbeghen with its description of facilities. On the
basis of her on-site survey and the working group's recom-
mendation, the Standing Commission endorsed Lima as the
specific site for the 1982 meeting. Several observations
were made about the meeting and its preparations by Faith
and Order Commission members from Latin America, Nelson Kirst
and Juan Stam, and by special consultant, Felipe Adolf.
 67

a. Peru has at least three churches - Episcopal, Lutheran

and Methodist - with which the Commission can work.
Close cooperation can also be expected from the Roman
Catholic Church.

be Mr Adolf will serve as coordinator of the local organizing

committee. He will ask that the three WCC member churches
and the Roman Catholic Church name two representatives
for the committee. The work of the committee will be
augmented by the members of the Faith and Order Com-
mission from Latin America.

Cw An appropriate site in the centre of Lima (e.g. the

cathedral) will be sought for the opening worship.
It is hoped that H.E. Cardinal Juan Landazuri Ricketts,
leaders of other local churches, and Peruvian political
leaders will all be present for the opening session.

d. It was noted that the atmosphere in much of Latin America

is not very ecumenical. It is all the more important,
therefore, that the Commission enter into substantial
dialogue with the local churches, including those that
are not members of the World Council of Churches.

e. Despite the importance of the local context, it should

be stressed that this is not a Latin American meeting
as such. The first priority of the local committee
will be to serve the interests of Faith and Order and
the world-wide ecumenical movement.

2. The programme at Lima (January 2-16, 1982)

ae The Standing Commission agreed, after lengthy discussion,

that the primary theme of the Lima meeting should be "The
Unity of the Church" in order to show the continuity of
Faith and Order efforts. This theme reflects the long-term
emphasis of the Commission. The sub-theme of the meeting
should be "The Unity of the Church and the Renewal of Human
Community". This theme might serve as the organizing theme
for Faith and Order's contribution to the Vancouver Assembly
of the WCC.

De The Director observed that there are four goals which

dictate the shape of the programme:

aie To review and consolidate Faith and Order work

since Bangalore.
ii. To provide a focus for future Faith and Order pro-
grammes.
iii. To prepare Faith and Order's input to the Vancouver
Assembly.
iv. To benefit from the distinctive theological and
social context.
 68

In keeping with the last point (iv), three full days are
scheduled during the meeting for participation in local
church and community affairs. These will be preceded by
orientation sessions and followed by sessions for evaluation.

Cre There was considerable discussion regarding plenary

speakers for Lima.. The Standing Commission agreed:

aie To invite WCC General Secretary, Philip Potter,

to deliver an opening address on Sunday, January 3,
(see timetable below).
ii. To invite a prominent Latin American social scientist
to analyse major trends in Latin American society
today and to invite a leading Latin American theo~
logian to demonstrate the "doing of theology" in
such a revolutionary situation. While suggestions
were offered, final decision on speakers was left
to the Director and the Secretariat.

iii. That the. Secretariat should introduce the special

sub-theme of the meeting "The Unity of the Church
and the Renewal of Human Community" in plenary on
Monday, January 4 (see timetable below). This should
be primarily an historical survey of the relationship
between this theme and other work of Faith and Order.
It should not be a theological statement which could
be construed as an "official" Faith and Order posi-
tion on renewal of human community as a context
for church unity.

Sie Working Groups

The working groups in Lima will be responsible for a) pre-

paring material that shows the relationship of their parti-
cular theme (e.g. "Church Unity Developments") to the general
theme of Faith and Order's contribution to Vancouver (e.g.
"The Unity of the Church and the Renewal of Human Community")
and b) giving direction to the future programmatic develop-
ment of their particular theme. It is anticipated that the
first of these responsibilities will be completed before the
plenary discussion on Monday, January 11 (see timetable below).

The working groups will be divided as follows:

a. "Towards the Common Expression of the Apostolic Faith

Today" - one group of 25 persons.

ive The group should see as its task:

- to express clearly the design and purpose of the
study
- to prepare a memorandum on possible content of
the study
 69

ii. The group would draw on such resources as

- Faith and Order Paper no. 100
- Reports from the 1981 conferences in Turkey and
the USSR, along with any other regional working
groups
- The collected confessions of faith (e.g. Faith
and Order Paper no. 104).

Db. "Church Unity Developments" - two groups

Ls One group, perhaps entitled "Growing Towards Unity",

would undertake:

- a reconsideration of "what unity requires" in

light of the experiences shared at the Colombo
Consultation
- a consideration of models of union as steps on
the way to visible unity.

ii. A second group, perhaps entitled "Uniting Churches

and the Renewal of Human Community", would involve a
discussion of such questions as:

- €an uniting/united churches serve as signs for

the renewal of human community?
- Does union lead to more effective mission?
- How do social, political and cultural divisions
hinder the search for church union?
- How do these divisions prevent the realization
of “unity after union"?
- In what sense dco these divisions give a sense
of urgency to the search for church union?

Cc. "The Unity of the Church and the Renewal of Human Com-~
munity" - five groups. These groups will deal with the
five "sub-themes" of the study itself (see working group
report above):

Li. The cosmological context of the theme - unity within

the one creation and humanity's responsibility for nature.
ii. The historical context - challenges to unity based
on power, wealth, race, class, etc.
iii. The cultural context - relations among different
cultures, religions and ideologies.
iv. The generational context - alienation between parents
and children.
ve The missiological context - interrelation between
the unity of the Church and the mission to humankind
within the perspective of the Kingdom.
 70

d. "The Community of Women and Men in the Church" -=- two

groups.

BE The first would reflect on the interaction of

Community Study issues with the studies on baptism,
eucharist and ministry, and apostolic faith.
ii. The second would reflect on the interaction of
these issues with themes arising from "The Unity of the
Church and the Renewal of Human Community".

The Standing Commission also agreed to the following recom-

mendations put forward by the working group:

ake That materials sent to Commission members before Lima

include portions of the book to be written by Dr Parvey
on the Community. Study.
ii. That 50% of the stewards at Lima be women.

iii. That a "formidable percentage" of consultants at Lima

be persons who have been involved directly in the
Community Study or who have special expertise in its
issues.
BEVire That the worship materials for Lima be inclusive of
women ard men and that worship materials prepared for
the Sheffield Consultation be incorporated into the
worship for Lima.
That Faith and Order Commission members present at the
Sheffield Consultation be assigned to various drafting
groups in Lima in order to ensure the infusion of the
Community Study into the ongoing programmes.

e. "Baptism - Eucharist - Ministry" - one small (10 person)

drafting group, with the possibility that, at the discretion
of the staff, a second group be formed to deal with the issue
of "
reception". The following points were also stressed:

i. The plenary sessions at Lima must not be a drafting

group of the whole. Any possible changes suggested by
the plenary discussions would be formulated and brought
back to plenary by the small drafting group.
ii. The Lima meeting must complete a document ready for
immediate circulation to the churches.
iii.The Commission will not be voting on whether to
"approve" the texts but simply on whether to authorize
their distribution.
 71

VIET AMENDMENTS FO THE BY~LAWS OF THE FAITH AND ORDER

COMMISSION

The process of By-Law revision (art. 9) is as follows: "These

By-Laws may be amended by the Standing Commission subject to
approval by the Central Committee. Any proposed amendment
must be circulated in writing to members of the Plenary
Commission not less than three months before the meeting at
which it is to be considered for adoption and, for adoption,
requires the approval of two-thirds of the members of the
Standing Commission present and voting."

A. Staffing By-Law (4a)

1. Present text: "The appointment and re-appointment of members

of the Secretariat shall be made by the Central Committee or the
Executive Committee of the Council upon nomination of the
Standing Commission and after due consultation with the General
Secretary of the Council."

2. Problem: Ambiguity about who consults with whom.

3. Possible amendment: (change line 4 to read) "... Commission,

and after due consultation with the General Secretary of the
Council and between the officers of the Council and the officers
of the Commission."

B. Finance By-Law (8)

1. Present text: "(a) The normal working expenses of the

Commission and its Secretariat shall be borne by the general
budget of the Council. The Secretariat shall be responsible
for drawing up an annual budget of expenditure for submission,
through normal Council procedures, to the Finance Committee of
the Central Committee.
(b) There shall be a financial report
annually to the Standing Commission.
| (c) The Standing Commission shall be re-.
sponsible for deciding the allocation of available funds to
_particular studies, and the Secretariat shall communicate such
decisions to the officers of study groups."

| 2. Problem: The need for stronger financial responsibility to

be exercised by the Standing Commission. Compare CWME By-Law
4£: "The Commission shall prepare an annual budget ... in con-
-formity with the financial procedures of the WCC."

3. Possible amendment: (In (a) change second sentence to read):

"The Secretariat and the Standing Commission shall be responsible
for drawing up an annual budget in conformity with the financial
procedures of the World Council of Churches, and for submitting
it, through normal Council procedures, to the Finance Committee
of the Central Committee.
 We

C. The Standing Commission voted to present the changes suggest-

ed above as proposed amendments to the By-Laws of the Faith and
Order Commission. The proposed amendments will be circulated
in writing to members of the Plenary Commission no later than
Cctober 1, 1981 and will be considered for adoption at the
1982 meeting of the Commission.

D. The Standing Commission expressed appreciation to the

Executive Committee of the World Council of Churches for
the letter (see Appendix IV) regarding Faith and Order staff-
ing and finance that was sent to the Standing Commission on
its behalf by Archbishop Edward Scott and Acting General
Secretary, Konrad Raiser.
 73
APPENDIX I

PARTICIPATION

A, Attendance

Officers: Prof. N.A. NISSIOTIS, Moderator

Prof. John DESCHNER, Vice-Moderator
The Rev.Fr J.M. R. TILLARD, Vice-Moderator

Members: The Rev. Samuel K. ADA

Dr Kamol ARAYAPRATEEP
Prof. Ivar ASHEIM
Protopresbyter Vitali BOROVOI
Dr Paul A. CROW, jr
Dr Ulrich KUHN
Dom Emmanuel LANNE
Prof. Jan Milic LOCHMAN
Dr André MAMPILA
Prof. Keiji OGAWA
The Rev. Jeanne Audrey POWERS
The Rev. Ardi SOEJATNO
The Rev. S.K. PERERA
Dr Juan STAM
Mrs Mary TANNER
Dr W.M.S. WEST

Substitutes: The Rev. Principal S. DWANE (for the Rt Rev. D. TUTU)

Dr Nelson KIRST (for Dr. B. LESKO)

Apologies: Metropolitan BARTHOLOMEW

Fr Thomas HOPKO
Dr Béla LESKO
Mrs Florence MAHONEY
Prof. wolfhart PANNENBERG
Dr Karoly PROHLE
The Rt Rev. Desmond TUTU
The Rev. Ilda VENCE
The Rev. Peggy WAY
Prof. Gayraud WILMORE

suests: Pastor Felipe ADOLF

The Rev.Fr. René BEAUPERE
Mr Martin CONWAY
The Rev. Fr. Pierre DUPREY
Dr Anton HOUTEPEN
Frére Max THURIAN
Dr Geoffrey WAINWRIGHT

ear fs The Rev. Wesley ARIARAJAH (DFI)

Ms Jodi AUVIN
The Rev. Janet CRAWFORD (CWMC)
Dr Michael KINNAMON
Dr William H. LAZARETH
Dr Hans-Georg LINK
 74

Staff cont'd: Dr Constance F. PARVEY

Dr Todor SABEV (Unit I Moderator)
Mrs Renate SBEGHEN
Dr Choan-Seng SONG

B. Working Group Responsibilities

Towards_the Common_Expression_of the _Apostolic_Faith Today

Tillard (Moderator) Deschner

Asheim Houtepen
Borovoi Ogawa
Link (staff)

Wainwright (Moderator) Ktihn

Arayaprateep Lanne
: West
Thurian (staff)

The Unity_of the Church and the Renewal_of Human Community

Lochman (Moderator) Mampila
Beaupére Soejatno
Dwane Song (staff)

Powers (Moderator) Stam

Ariarajah Tanner
Conway Parvey (staff)

Crow (Moderator) Duprey

Ada Perera
Kinnamon (staff)

Preparations_for_the_1982_ Plenary Commission _meeting

Nissiotis (Moderator)
Adolf Sabev
Kirst Lazareth (staff)

C. Worship Responsibilities

The Opening worship service was conducted by the Rev.Fr J.M.R.

Tillard; the closing eucharist was presided by Dr Ulrich Ktihn.
During the course of the meeting, morning prayers were led by
Felipe Adolf, Mary Tanner, André Mampila, Ardi Soejatno and
Jeanne Audrey Powers.
 75
APPENDIX ir

FAITH AND ORDER PUBLICATIONS

1979-1980

NO. 95 Intercession (English, German)

96 Forum II. Report of the Second Forum on Bilateral

Conversations

oy, Louisville Consultation on Baptism

98 Minutes of the Meeting of the Standing Commission,

1979, Taizé

99 The Bible. Its Authority and Interpretation in the

Ecumenical Movement

100 Towards a Confession of the Common Faith

(English, French, German)

101 Survey of Church Union Negotiations 1977-79

102 Episkopé and Episcopate in Ecumenical Perspective

103 Spirit of God - Spirit of Christ. Ecumenical

Reflections on the Filioque Controversy (early 1981,
also in French and German)

104 Confessing the Faith Around the World (I)

105 Ordination of Women in Ecumenical Perspective

Other

Partners in Life: The Handicapped and the Church. Second

edition (early 1981)
APPENDIX III

1981 BUDGET

The Faith and Order Commission is part cf the World Council

of Churches. Every year the Secretariat has to submit to the
Central Administration of the World Council of Churches its
budget requests. In the light of the total situation of the
World Council of Churches, the Central Committee establishes the
amount to be made available for the activities of the Commission
on Faith and Order.

Due to the unusual timing of the meeting of the Standing

Commission in early January 1981, the final version of the 1981
budget had not yet been made available for distribution by the
Central Administration. Subsequent to Annecy, the following
authorized budget for 1981 was received.

1981 Budgets in Sw.Fr.

Items Faith and Order CWMC

Salaries & related charges 477.870 130.644

Professional services 26.250 4.280
(translations, interpretation,
etc.)
Mail, telephone, telex 23.100 8.400
Meeting of Commissions 21.000 2.100
Consultations:
(F&O includes Church Union
Conference 120.000) Aa I75¢9 80)
(CWMC includes international 357.300
consultation 336.300)
Travel & Hospitality 26.250 6.300
Cyclostyle & supplies 26.250 7.480
Publications 12.600 7.350

765.450 523.854
Office
See Sle SeeMaintenance
Se ee See eee

(cleaning, heating, lighting,

furniture) 36.720 12.240
Share in General Services 44.847 14.768
Conference Secretariat
Office of Income Coordination
Personnel Office
Library
Governing bodies
 Ue)

Financial Services 40.950 ig

Transfer to Community Study 10.000 --
Provisions for 1982 Commission
Meeting 115.000

1.012.967 550.862

Income
from Central Church Treasuries 653.527
(WCC - General budget)

Designated contributions 81.200* 423.112

Transfers
18.000
from Family Education, Faith
and Order, Women's Desk 127.750

Staff Secondments
(for Kinnamon, Link) 130.240
from Fund Balances 130.000

1.012.967 550.862

kno pledges received so far;

estimate based upon:
JSA: LCA US$ 10.000
Episcopalian Church 5 «000

Reformed Church 1.000

US$ 16.000 at 1.80 = 28.800 Sw.Fr.

25% = 7.200

“rom other sources for

Sommission Meeting 1982 SwFr74.000

81.200
 78

APPENDIX IV

World Council of Churches

GENERAL SECRETARIAT
150, route de Ferney
1211 Geneva 20 - Switzerland
To the Officers of the
Faith and Order Commission
12 December 1980
KR/ah <

Dear Friends,

The WCC Executive Committee has asked us to respond to the

letter which you addressed to them in August. We are grateful
for your letter and for the concern for communication and collab-
oration which it expresses.

We rejoice with you that the transition period in the Faith

and Order Secretariat has come to an end with the arrival of a
new Director and other colleagues, and we are grateful for the
leadership which they are already giving in the life of the WCC.

We regret the misunderstandings which had arisen regarding

procedures in relation to staffing and finance matters. The
Executive Committee has affirmed the important role of Commis-
sions and Working Groups in decisions regarding staff and
finance and has taken steps to clarify the relevant procedures.
As you will have heard already, the Executive Committee has also
taken the necessary steps to ensure that the Study on the Com-
munity of Women and Men in the Church will be brought to its
intended culmination at the international consultation to be held
at Sheffield, England, in July 1981. We look forward to close-
cooperation with you with the help of the Director of the Faith
and Order Secretariat and of the Staff Moderator of Unit I.

We have noted your concerns regarding the work of the Review

Committee. The ongoing process of programme review involves
Commissions and Working Groups, the Executive Committee, Unit
Committees and the Central Committee itself. The Review Com-
mittee has deliberately limited its attention to certain points
which it felt needed special consideration in the Central Com-
mittee.

As we move toward the Sixth Assembly we are grateful for

your support and count on your full participation. All Commis-
sions and Working Groups will be involved in the process of
preparation for the Assembly, and we solicit your contribution
 vy

and count on the full involvement of the Faith and Order Com-
mission. Please convey our greetings to the meeting of your
Standing Commission in January.

With fraternal greetings,

Yours sincerely,

Edward W. Scott Konrad Raiser

Primate, Anglican Church of Canada Acting General Secretary
Moderator, WCC Central Committee
 80
APPENDIX V

PROVISIONAL TIMETABLE OF 1982 COMMISSION MEETING

January 2 Arrival

January 3

morning Opening worship

Official .opening
Roll Call
Reports: General Secretary
Moderator
Discussion in Plenary
afternoon Director's report
Discussion in Plenary
evening Folklore programme

January 4
morning Latin American presentation (societal)
Latin American presentation (theological)
Discussion in Plenary
afternoon Introduction into "Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry"
texts
Baptism and Eucharist (discussion in Plenary)

January 5
morning Ministry (discussion in Plenary)
Report on “Unity of the Church and Renewal of Human
Community"
afternoon Groups
evening Latin American presentation re: Visitation programme

January 6

Visitation

January 7
morning One Apostolic Faith (discussion in Plenary)
afternoon Groups; Meeting of the Standing Commission
evening Reflection panel on visits of previous day
 81
January 8
morning Community of Women and Men in the Church
(discussion in Plenary)
afternoon Groups

January 9
morning United and Uniting Churches (discussion in Plenary)
afternoon Groups

January 10

Visit to congregations (including worship)

January 11
morning Role of Faith and Order at Sixth Assembly
(discussion in Plenary)
afternoon Groups
evening Cultural programme

January 12
morning Report of Lima editorial group on "Baptism, Eucharist
and Ministry" (discussion in Plenary)
afternoon Groups i
evening Latin American panel re: Visitation programme

January 13
Visitation

January 14
morning One Apostolic Faith
(reports from groups in Plenary)
afternoon Unity of Church and Renewal of Human Community
(reports from groups in Plenary)

January 15
morning To be scheduled
afternoon Plenary: Commission Business Session

January 16
morning Concluding worship
Departure
 82

MEMBERS OF THE FAITH AND ORDER COMMISSION

AND THE SECRETARIAT OF THE COMMISSION

* denotes a member of the Standing Commission

OFFICERS

Moderator: *Prof. Nikos A. NISSIOTIS (Church of Greece),

5 Achilles Street, P. Faliron, Athens, Greece

Vice-Moderators:

*Prof. John DESCHNER (United Methodist Church), 3211 Drexel

Drive, Dallas, TX 75205, USA

* Mrs Florence MAHONEY (Church of the Province of West Africa),

P.O. Box 23, Banjul, The Gambia

‘*The Rev.Fr Jean M.R. TILLARD (Roman Catholic Church), Couvent

Dominicain, 96 Avenue Empress, Ottawa K1R 7G2, Canada

MEMBERS OF THE SECRETARIAT

The Rev.Dr Michael K. KINNAMON (Christian Church (Disciples of

Christ)), 150 route de Ferney, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland

Prof. William H. LAZARETH (Lutheran Church in America), Director,

150 route de Ferney, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland

The Rev.Dr Hans-Georg LINK (Evangelical Church in Germany) ,

150 route de Ferney, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland

The Rev.Dr Constance F. PARVEY (Lutheran Church in America),

Executive Secretary, Community Study, 150 route de Ferney,
1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland

The Rev.Dr Choan-Seng SONG (Presbyterian Church in Taiwan),

150 route de Ferney, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland

Miss Yvonne ITIN, Secretary, Community Study

Mrs Renate SBEGHEN, Administrative Assistant

Mrs Isa SCHMIDTKUNZ, Secretary, Community Study

Miss Anne WILLIAMSON, Administrative Assistant

 83

MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION

Pastor Samuel K. ADA (Evangelical Church of Togo), Ecole de

Théologie, B.P. 176, Porto-Novo, R.P. Benin

Archbishop Shahe AJAMIAN (Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem),

P.O. Box 14001, Jerusalem, Israel

The Rev. Dr S.T. Ola AKANDE (Nigerian Baptist Convention) ,

Baptist Building, P.M.B. 5113, Ibadan, Nigeria

Archpriest Pavel ALES (Orthodox Church in Czechoslovakia),

Rimice 106, 783 26 Bila Lhota, okr. Olomouc, CSSR

Prof. Stéphane ALEXE (Rumanian Orthodox Church), Staourdzastras-

se 2, 757 Baden-Baden, Federal Republic of Germany

Prof. Alfredo ALTAMIRA (Roman Catholic Church), Avenida Mitre 3226

(Casilla 10), 1663 San Miguel (Buenos Aires), Argentina

Dr Kamol ARAYAPRATEEP (Evangelical Church), Thailand Theological

Seminary, P.O. Box 37, Chiangmai, Thailand

The Rev. Fr Cyrille ARGENTI (Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constan-

tinople), 23 rue de la Grande Armée, 13001 Marseille, France

Prof. Ivar ASHEIM (Church of Norway), Réyskattlia 40, 1347 Hosle,

Norway

Metropolitan BARTHOLOMEW (Archondonis) (Ecumenical Patriarchate

of Constantinople), Rum Patrikhanesi, H. Fener, Istanbul,
Turkey

Dr Robert BERTRAM (Great Rivers Synod of Association of Evangel-

ical Lutheran Churches), Concordia Seminary in Exile, 607
North Grand Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63103, USA

The Rev. Plutarco BONILLA (Methodist Church), Seminario Biblico

Latinoaméricano, Apdo 901, San José, Costa Rica

Protopresbyter Vitali BOROVOI (Russian Orthodox Church), Moscow

Patriarchate, 150 route de Ferney, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland

Miss Haydée BOUZADA (Roman Catholic Church), Quintino Bocayuva 663,

1216 Buenos Aires, Argentina

Prof. Raymond E. BROWN (Roman Catholic Church), Union Theological

Seminary, 3041 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10027, USA

Prof. Robert McAfee BROWN (United Presbyterian Church), Pacific

School of Religion, 1798 Scenic Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA

The Rev. Albert To BURUA (United Church of Papua New Guinea),

Assembly Office, P.O. Box 3401, Port Moresby,
Papua New Guinea

Dr Manas BUTHELEZI (Evangelical Lutheran Church in South Africa),

80 Jorissen Street, P.O. Box 31190, Braamfontein, Transvaal
2017, South Africa
 84

Prof. James H. CONE (African Methodist Episcopal Church), Union

Theological Seminary, 3041 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10027, USA

The Rev. Martin CRESSEY (United Reformed Church), Principal's

Lodge, Westminster College, wasabi Road, Cambridge
CB3 OAB, England

*Dr Paul A. CROW, jr. (Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)),

P.O. Box 1986, Indianapolis, IN 46206, USA

The Rev. Herbert DAUGHTRY (Pentecostal Church), House of the Lord,

415 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11217, USA

Dr Raoul DEDEREN (Seventh-Day Adventist Church), Andrews

University, Berrien Springs, MI 49104, USA

Prof. Kwesi A. DICKSON (Methodist Church), University of Ghana,

Dept. for the Study of Religions, P.O. Box 66, Legon, Accra,
Ghana

The Rev. UTha DIN (Burma Baptist Churches Union), Myanma Insti-
tute of Christian Theology, Seminary Hill, Insein, Burma

The Rev. Fr B.-D. DUPUY (Roman Catholic Church), ISTINA, 45 rue

de la Glaciére, 75013 Paris, France

Dr Ellen FLESSEMAN-VAN LEER (Netherlands Reformed Church),

Amstelhoven 10, 1181 PA Amstelveen, Holland

The Rev. John G. GATU (Presbyterian Church of East Africa), Pres-

byterian Church Office, P.O. Box 48268, Nairobi, Kenya

Bishop GREGORIUS (Coptic Orthodox Church), Anba Rueiss Bldg,

Ramses Avenue, Abbassiya, Cairo, Egypt

Archbishop Kyrill GUNDIAYEV (Russian Orthodox Church), 18/2

Ryleeva, Moscow G=2, USSR

Prof. Juan GUTIERREZ (Roman Catholic Church), Avenida Universidad

1700, Apdo 21984, Mexico 21, D.F., Mexico

Ms Seni HAAPIMAA (Orthodox Church in Finland), Huopalahdentie

18 A 8, 00330 Helsinki 33, Finland

Dr Adolfo HAM (Presbyterian-Reformed Church), Reforma 560, Luyano,

La Habana 7, Cuba

The Rev. Fr Michel HAYEK (Roman Catholic Church), 7 rue Coétlogon,

75006 Paris, France

Ms Jeanne HENDRICKSE (United Congregational Church of Southern

Africa), 1617 Ashby Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94703, USA

Prof. E. Glenn HINSON (Southern Baptist Convention), Southern

Baptist Theological Seminary, 2825 Lexington Road, Louisville,
KY 40206, USA

Rektor Christoph HINZ (Federation of Evangelical Churches in the

GDR: Lutheran), Adelheidring 23, x301 Magdeburg, GDR
 85

*Fr Thomas HOPKO (Orthodox Church in America), St. Vladimir's

Seminary, 575 Scarsdale Road, Tuckahoe, N.Y. 10707, USA

Bishop Sawa (HRYCUNIAK) (Orthodox Church in Poland), ul. Naru-

towicza 46, Lodz, Poland

Mrs Jean JACKSON (Episcopal Church), 11 Bloch Terrace, Lake

Oswego, OR 97034, USA

The Rev. Dr O. Vasant JATHANNA (Church of South India), Karnataka

Theological College, Balmatta, Mangalore 575.001, India

Prof. Istvan JUHASZ (Reformed Church in Rumania), str Kogalni-

ceanu 29, 3400 Cluj-Napoca, Rumania

Prof. Dr Walter KASPER (Roman Catholic Church), Kath.-Theol.

Seminar, Universitat Tiibingen, Liebermeisterstrasse 12,
74 Ttibingen, Federal Republic of Germany

Bishop Aram KESHISHIAN (Armenian Apostolic Church), Prélature

Arménienne du Liban, B.P. 409, Beirut, Lebanon

Metropolitan George KHODR (Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of

Antioch), Orthodox Archbishopric, Hadeth nr Beirut, Lebanon

Dr Nelson KIRST (Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession

in Brazil), Caixa Postal 14, Faculdade de Teologia, 93.000 Sao
Leopoldo - RS, Brazil

Prof. Jean-Louis KLEIN (Evangelical Lutheran Church in France),

18 Avenue du Panorama, 92340 Bourg-La-Reine, France

Prof. Totu KOEV (Orthodox Church of Bulgaria), Académie de Théo-

logie, Clément d'Orkhid, Pl. Lenin 19, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria

Prof. Gerassimos KONIDARIS (Church of Greece), 120 Avenue

Alexandrou, P. 705, Athens, Greece

Prof. Kosuke KOYAMA (United Church of Christ in Japan), Union

Theological Seminary, 3041 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10027, USA

*Dr Ulrich KUHN (Federation of Evangelical Churches in the GDR:

Lutheran) , Denkmalsblick 17, x703 Leipzig, GDR

Bishop Victor LABBE DIAZ (Pentecostal Church) , Unidén de Misiones

Pentecostales Libres, Casilla no 24, Correo 7, Santiago, Chile

*Dom Emmanuel LANNE (Roman Catholic Church), Monastére Bénédictin,

5395 Chevetogne, Belgium

*Dr Béla LESKO (United Lutheran Church in Argentina), Azopardo

1422/28, 1107 Buenos Aires, Argentina

*Prof. Jan Milic LOCHMAN (Swiss Protestant Church Federation) ,

Heuberg 33, 4051 Basel, Switzerland

Prof. Nicolas LOSSKY (Patriarchate of Moscow), 91 Avenue Philippe

Auguste, 75011 Paris, France
 86

*Dr André MAMPILA (Roman Catholic Church), Grand Séminaire

Jean XXIII, B.P. 4707, Kinshasa II, Rep. of Zaire

Dr Jaci MARASCHIN (Episcopal Church), Associagao de Seminarios

Teolégicos Evangélicos, Rua Ruego Freitas 530, F=- 13, Sao
Paulo - SP, Brazil

The Rev. Dorothea MARGENFELD (Evangelical Church in Germany:

Lutheran), Karlsplatz 9, 714 Ludwigsburg, Federal Republic
of Germany

The Rev. Martin MBWANA (The Church of the Province of East

Africa), Lindi Avenue, P.O. Box 899, Dodoma, Tanzania

Prof. José MIGUEZ-BONINO (Methodist Church), Camacua 282,

1406 Buenos Aires, Argentina :

Dr Lazar MILIN (Serbian Orthodox Church), Hektoroviceva 7,

11000 Belgrade, Yugoslavia

Prof. Helen MILTON (Anglican Church of Canada), Dept. of Reli-

gious Studies, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario N9B
3P4, Canada

Prof. Jtirgen MOLTMANN (Evangelical Church in Germany: Reformed),

Biesingerstrasse 25, 74 Tiibingen, Federal Republic of Germany

Mr Jesse MUGAMBI (Church of the Province of Kenya ), University of

Nairobi, Dept. of Philosophy and Religious Studies, P.O. Box
30197, Nairobi, Kenya

Bishop Dr Emerito NAPCIL (Methodist Church), Office of the Bishop,

900 United Nations Avenue, P.O. Box 756, Manila, Philippines

The Rev. Principal Iqbal NISAR (United Presbyterian Church of

Pakistan), Gujranwala Theological Seminary, P.O. Box 13,
Gujranwala, Pakistan

Mrs Mercy ODUYOYE (Methodist Church), P.O. Box 1261, Ibadan,

Nigeria

*Prof. Keiji OGAWA (United Church of Christ in Japan), 3-2-90-2

Hibarigaoka, Hoya-shi, Tokyo 202, Japan

Metropolitan Geevarghese Mar OSTHATHIOS (Orthodox Syrian Church

of the East), Parumala Seminary, Parumala P.O., Mannar,
Kerala, India

*Prof. Wolfhart PANNENBERG (Evangelical Church in Germany:

Lutheran), Sudetenstrasse 8, 8032 Grafeling, Federal Republic
of Germany

Dr Jorge PANTELIS (Methodist Church), San José 1457, Montevideo,

Uruguay

Archimandrite Spyridon PAPAGEORGE (Ecumenical Patriarchate of

Constantinople), 153 via Sardegna, 00187 Rome, Italy
 87

Prof. Martti PARVIO (Church of Finland), Pyh&n Laurin tie 6B,

00340 Helsinki 34, Finland

Mrs Carolina PATTIASINA (Maluku Protestant Church), Jalan

Pancasila, P.O. Box 15, Ambon, Maluku, Indonesia

Mrs Katakshamma PAUL RAY (South Andhra Lutheran Church), Nayu-

pudet 524.126 Nellore Distr., Andhra Pradesh, India

The Rev. S.K. PERERA (Methodist Church), Methodist Headquarters,

Colombo 3, Sri Lanka

Prof. Per E. PERSSON (Church of Sweden), M6llev&ngsvdgen 47,

222 40 Lund, Sweden

*The Rev. Jeanne Audrey POWERS (United Methodist Church) ,The

United Methodist Church, Commission on Christian Unity and
Interreligious Concerns, 475 Riverside Drive, New York,
NY 10115, USA

The Rev. Dr Victor PREMASAGAR (Church of South India), C.S.I.

Synod, Cathedral, Madras 600.086, South India

*Prof. Karoly PROHLE (Lutheran Church in Hungary), Villany ut 38,

1113 Budapest, Hungary

The Rev. Ursula RADKE (Federation of Evangelical Churches in the

GDR: Lutheran), Georgenkirchstrasse 69, 1017 Berlin, GDR

The Rev. Jean W. RABEMANAHAKA (Church of Jesus Christ in

Madagascar), Iot IV N 50 A. Ankadifotsy, Tananarive,
Madagascar

prof. Samuel RAYAN (Roman Catholic Church), 23 Raj Niwas Marg,

Delhi 110.054, India

Dr Paolo RICCA (Waldensian Church), 42 via Pietro Cossa,

00193 Rome, Italy

The Rev. Hugh A.A. ROSE (United Church of Canada), 366 St Paul
Street, St. Catherines, Ontario L2R 3N2, Canada

Dr William G. RUSCH (Lutheran Church in America), 231 Madison

Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA
Dr Horace O. RUSSELL (Jamaica Baptist Union), 25 East Queen
Street, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies

Dr Letty RUSSELL (United Presbyterian Church), Yale Divinity

School, 409 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06510, USA

The Most Rev. N.p. Anando Rao SAMUEL (Church of South India),
Bishop's House, Eluru 534.002, West Godawari, South India

Prof. V.C. SAMUEL (Orthodox Syrian Church in the East), Edayil,

Lakshmipura, Ramohalli, P.O., Bangalore South 560.060, India
 88

Prof. Luigi SARTORI (Roman Catholic Church), Seminario Vescovile,

29 via Seminario, 35100 Padova, Italy

Dr Gabriel SETILOANE (Methodist Church), Private Bag 0022,

Gaborone, Botswana .

Dr Philip SHEN (Anglican Church, Sheng Kung Hui), Chung Chi

College, Dept. of Philosophy and Religion, Shatin, N.T.,
Hong Kong

Prof. Walter SIDJABAT (Lutheran Church in Indonesia), Tebet

Barat 69, Jakarta-Selatan, Indonesia

The Rev. Kelly Miller SMITH (American Baptist Convention),

Vanderbilt Divinity School, Nashville, TN 37240, USA

Prof. Josef SMOLIK (Evangelical Church of the Czech Brethren),

Belgicka 22, Prague, CSSR

*The Rev. Ardi SOEJATNO (Reformed Church in Indonesia), Council of

Churches in Indonesia, Jln Salemba Raya 10, Jakarta-Pusat,
Indonesia

*Dr Juan STAM (Evangelical Church), Seminario Biblico Latinoamé-

ricano, Apdo 901, San José, Costa Rica

Dean Nam Dung SUH (Evangelical Church of the Republic of Korea),

131-1 Sinchon Dong, Sudaimon Ku, Seoul (120), Korea

Ms Veronica SWAI (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania),

Women's Work, P.O. Box 195, Moshi, Tanzania

Dr Maurice .TADROS (Coptic Orthodox Church), Institute of Coptic

Studies, Anba Rueiss Bldg, Ramses Avenue, Abbassiya,
Cairo, Egypt

*Mrs Mary TANNER (Church of England), Highclere, Camp End Road,

St George's Hill, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 ONW, England

The Rt Rev.Maxwell THOMAS (Church of England in Australia),

Bishop's Lodge, Wangaratta, Vic. 3677, Australia

*The Rt Rev. Desmond TUTU (Church of the Province of South Africa),

P.O. Box 31190, Braamfontein, Transvaal 2017, South Africa

Dr Giinter WAGNER (Baptist Church, Germany), Baptist Theological

Seminary, 8803 Rtischlikon (ZH), Switzerland

The Rev. Dr Geoffrey WAINWRIGHT (Methodist Church of Great

Britain), Union Theological Seminary, 3041 Broadway, New York,
NY 10027, USA

*The Rev. Peggy WAY (United Church of Christ), The Divinity School,
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, USA

*Dr W.M.S. WEST (Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland),

Bristol Baptist College, Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UN,
England ;
 89

*Prof. Gayraud WILMORE (United Presbyterian Church in the USA),

1100 Goodman Street, Rochester, NY 14620, USA

Prof. J. Robert WRIGHT (Episcopal Church), The General Theological

Seminary, 175 Ninth Avenue, New York, NY 10011, USA

The Rev. Norman YOUNG (Methodist Church in Australasia), Queen's

College, Parkville, Vic. 3052, Australia

Prof. John D. ZIZIOULAS (Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople),

Dept. of Systematic Theology, 2 Southpark Terrace, Glasgow
G12 8LA, Scotland

LIAISON OFFICERS

Dr Claude BROACH (Baptist World Alliance), 1715 Hogback Mt Road,

Tryon, NC 28782, USA

Metropolitan DAMASKINOS (Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople),

Fondation orthodoxe, 37 avenue de Chambésy, 1292 Chambésy/GE,
Switzerland

The Rev. Fr Pierre DUPREY (Roman Catholic Church), Secretariat

for Promoting Christian Unity, 00120 Vatican City, Vatican

The Rev. Joe HALE (World Methodist Council), Lake Junaluska,

NC 28745, USA

Dr H. Jackson FORSTMAN (Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)),

The Divinity School, Vanderbilt University, Nashville,
TN 37240, USA

The Rt Rev. John HOWE (Anglican Consultative Council), 14 Great

Peter Street, London SW1P 3NQ, England

The Rev. Dr Carl MAU (Lutheran World Federation), 150 route de

Ferney, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland

Dr M.F.G. PARMENTIER (Old Catholic Church), Kinderhuissingel 73,

Haarlem, Holland

The Rev. Richmond SMITH (World Alliance of Reformed Churches),

150 route de Ferney, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland

Ao4344e
RY.
CLAREMONT. CALIF.
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6 World Council of Churchese Commission
2W775 on Faith and Ordere Standing
A48 ' Commissione
1981 Minutes of the meeting of the
Standing Commission : held at the
Centre Jean XXIII, Annecy, France,
January 3-10, 1981 / Commission on
Faith and Ordere -- Geneva : World
Council of Churches, The Commission,
c1S8l1le
ig 89 pe $3 21 cme -- (Faith and orde:
paper ; noe 6)
ISBN 2-8254-0681-3
le World Council of Churchese
Commission on Faith and Ordere Standin;
Commission--Congressese 2e Christian
union--Congre sseSe Ie Title
Ao 4 349t IIe Series

ccsc 09 OCT 84 7873697 CSTMxc 81-19680¢