WCC NEWS: A dip into church history: from Nicaea, to Stockholm, to today’s challenging world

As the “Life and Work” centenary conference continued on 20 May in Athens, participants took a deep dip into church history, emerging with challenging questions and topics that will inform their ongoing discussions.  Holy Metropolitan Church of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, cathedral church of the Archbishopric of Athens and all of Greece. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC 21 May 2025 Prof. Dr Dimitra Koukoura essentially summarized two millennia—and entered a third—during a keynote speech entitled “From Nicaea to Stockholm: theological bridges." She described how the challenge of church unity is as nearly as old as the church itself.  “In the post-apostolic era, various internal and external problems threatened the unity of the church communities,” she said, leading up to describing the Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in 325 as an encounter of the church with the world. “The delegates of the local churches met in Nicaea in the year 325 at the invitation of Emperor Constantine, for the unity of the church and the empire to be preserved,” she said.  She then offered an overview of church history from Nicaea to Constantinople—and to the whole world. “Above all, human passions and the abuse of faith for the exercise of secular power have strengthened divisions,” she acknowledged.  Yet the text of the Nicene Creed still stands as a visible sign of unity today.  “Nevertheless, today, up to the ends of the earth, wherever there are Christian church communities, the faith of Nicaea-Constantinople is confessed,” she said. “During worship it is wonderful to hear the congregation recite it in its own language solemnly, chant it to the accompaniment of the organ, sing it in its traditional rhythms or even sing it vividly to the accompaniment of rock music!” WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) helds its 60th meeting and the Life and Work Centenary conference on 18-22 May 2025 in Athens, Greece. Panelists on the 20 May: Prof. Dr Dimitra Koukoura, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, H.E. Metropolitan Gabriel of Nea Ionia and Philadelphia, and H.E. Metropolitan Job of Pisidia, vice moderator of the WCC Commission on Faith and Order. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC Apart from the theological heritage, Koukoura  concluded, Nicaea also left another equally important one for the continuators of the Life and Work movement, now carried by members of the current World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs. “It urged all subsequent defenders of human rights, justice, and peace to deepen on contemporary problems and to use a common code of communication with social sciences. However, their words and their thoughts should be inspired by the loving Lord of peace, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of history, the beginning and the end of the world.” In a response, H.E. Metropolitan Job of Pisidia, vice moderator of the WCC Commission on Faith and Order, put forth ideas to challenge the discussion of the commission moving forward.  He commented on the relationship between the Nicaea Council and the way in which the church views social service.  Social service by the church is not only a social service as another nongovernmental organization might offer it, Metropolitan Job said.  “Our social work has a different flavor, has a different inspiration because we are building the body of Christ,” he said. “Because, since the Son of God became a man, he has invited us to become members of his mystical body— which is the church.” Therefore, Metropolitan Job added, all the social service of the church takes on a transformative property. He cautioned against theological reductionism, bringing into light the very root of that transformation: Jesus Christ.  “The church does not only make the world a better place as humanitarian and philanthropic organizations can do, but it also transforms the world by bringing the humans into the Body of Christ—which is the church,” he said.  WCC international affairs conference: “The time for God’s peace is now” (WCC news release, 20 MAy 2025) Life and Work conference opens with call for “no discrimination in love among fellow human beings” (WCC news release, 19 May 2025) Learn more about the CCIA Life and Work Centenary Consultation, Athens Photo gallery: CCIA Life and Work Centenary Consultation See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa.  Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland