The Ecumenical Movement and the World Council of Churches

Overview

Word ecumenical, doctrinal basis on which churches join the World Council and work carried on under Unity, Mission and Ecumenical Relations.

What you need to know

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Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What does the word ecumenical mean?

   Model answer

   It comes from the Greek for the whole inhabited world, and it names the effort to bring the divided churches into visible unity.

2. 2

   Why is the World Missionary Conference of 1910 treated as the beginning of the modern movement?

   Model answer

   The missionaries who met at Edinburgh judged that competition between denominations was a scandal that obstructed their work abroad, and the co-operation they set up grew into the later ecumenical bodies.

3. 3

   Which movements formed the World Council of Churches, and which joined it later?

   Model answer

   Faith and Order, which dealt with doctrine and church structure, and Life and Work, which dealt with practical and social co-operation, merged to form it in 1948; the International Missionary Council joined in 1961.

4. 4

   Which slogan expressed the approach of the Life and Work stream?

   Model answer

   That doctrine divides while service unites, so churches should act together even while their theologies still differ.

5. 5

   When and where was the World Council of Churches founded?

   Model answer

   At its first assembly in Amsterdam in 1948, with about 150 member churches.

6. 6

   State the doctrinal basis on which churches join the World Council.

   Model answer

   A member is a church that confesses the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour according to the scriptures, and seeks with the others to fulfil their common calling to the glory of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

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