The essays are organised around six themes: Nicaea in historical and political perspective; theology, Christology, and Trinitarian doctrine; contextual readings of Nicaea from Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and Indigenous communities; gender, justice, and liberation; unity, apostolicity, and ecumenical dialogue; and liturgy, common prayer, and ecology. In his foreword, WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay describes the anniversary as “an opportune time and moment to (re)capture the aspirations, intentions, and formidable actions for Christian unity.” Reflecting on the council’s enduring relevance, he writes: “Christian unity is needed to challenge the numerous injustices we encounter in the world, and justice is needed to help us to understand and gain a taste of what true and enduring unity can honestly look like.” In the book’s prelude, “Echoes of Nicaea: Enduring Faith and Embracing Unity,” Pillay argues that “Nicaea offers us more than doctrinal legacy. It confronts us with five critical invitations: to live out our faith in action, to journey towards unity as a conciliar fellowship, to offer visible signs of unity through common celebrations, to pursue justice as an integral part of that journey, and to decolonise our communities and realities.” Rev. Dr Kuzipa Nalwamba, WCC programme director for Unity, Mission, and Ecumenical Formation, reflected that a council without mission is a museum piece. "Towards Nicaea 2025 understands that the confession of Nicaea, 'true God from true God,’ was never a formula to defend but a faith to share,” she said. “Nicaea 2025 is not just history revisited; it is unity rehearsed, mission renewed.” Nalwamba commended the volume as an essential text for every Christian formed in and for a divided world. “We insist that unity serves mission, and this book serves both brilliantly,” she said. The editors note in their introduction that, in a world “marked by increasing religious fragmentation and doctrinal divisions,” the themes explored “highlight Nicaea’s potential as a unifying reference point for Christian identity and cooperation.” The publication is offered as a contribution to the WCC’s 2025 Special Ecumenical Year and to the ongoing Pilgrimage of Justice, Reconciliation, and Unity. The volume is edited by Rev. Prof. Dr Benjamin Simon, former dean of the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, and current chair of cultural theology at University of Lausanne; Rev. Fr Prof. Dr Vasile-Octavian Mihoc, WCC programme executive for Ecumenical Relations and Faith and Order; Prof. Dr Ani Ghazaryan Drissi, WCC programme executive for Ecumenical Theological Education; and Dr Andrej Jeftić, director of the WCC Commission on Faith and Order. The volume grew out of an international ecumenical conference convened at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey in November 2024, in cooperation with the WCC’s Faith and Order secretariat. Around 80 in-person participants gathered at Bossey alongside online contributors, with notable engagement from young theologians and emerging scholars. Download the publication | 
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