The gathering, which will run through 31 October, has drawn more than 80 participants, including members of the commission, young theologians from the Nordic region, consultants, and guests, all of whom aim to deepen relationships across confessions, regions, and generations.
This year’s meeting is hosted by the Church of Sweden in collaboration with the Nordic churches.
During a morning prayer, Rev. Dr Glenroy Lalor, from the Jamaica Baptist Union, and a vice moderator of the commission, reflected on the concept of love as total, active loyalty to God. "Love is the priority, the foundation, the motivation, and the summary of the life’s mission of the church,” he said. "Our anthropology and moral discernment flows from love.”
In an opening address, Rev. Prof Dr Stephanie Dietrich, moderator the WCC Commission on Faith and Order, said she has witnessed a renewed and substantial interest in the work of Faith and Order. “Faith and Order is not a closed academic conversation. Our work matters to the churches, and there is considerable interest in contributing to it,” she said. “This also places a responsibility upon us: to listen carefully, maintain and develop these connections, and ensure that insights from these encounters find their way into our ongoing studies.”
26 October 2026, Höör, Sweden: World Council of Churches (WCC) moderator of Faith and Order Rev. Dr Stephanie Dietrich speaks during the Commission on Faith and Order meeting taking place 25-31 October 2026. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC
Faith and Order Commission director Dr Andrej Jeftić reported on the work that the commission has done and pointed to the questions ahead. “What makes this space unique is not our publications or conferences,” he said. “It is that we, as Christians belonging to many and diverse traditions, are willing to stay together long enough to recognize the communion we already share, to name honestly what still divides us, and to discern together the next steps towards visible unity.”
Rev. Jennie Nordin, director of Ecumenical Relations and Interreligious Dialogue for the Church of Sweden, offered words of welcome, on behalf of the host, the Church of Sweden and the Nordic churches. “The history of the Church of Sweden is deeply interwoven with the history of the ecumenical movement and with the wider fellowship of churches throughout the world,” she said. “Through dialogue, encounter, and common witness, we have been challenged, enriched, and transformed.”
WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay offered a message conveying gratitude and encouragement.
“I remember well when we gathered in Tondano, Indonesia, two-and-a-half years ago, for the inaugural in-person meeting of this commission,” he said. “We were only beginning.”
Pillay also noted that the year 2025 was filled with many major ecumenical celebrations and events. “Faith and Order helped the WCC to mark the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, confessing together the faith that unites us, and we held a remarkable and very successful Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order in Wadi El Natrun,” he said. “I commend and congratulate each of you on what you have accomplished.”
WCC programme director for Unity, Mission, and Ecumenical Formation Rev. Prof. Dr Kuzipa Nalwamba reflected that the current Faith and Order Commission stands on the shoulders of giants while looking with urgency toward the horizon.
“Faith and Order is the theological engine of the ecumenical movement,” she said. “Your work on theological convergence is not an academic exercise; it is the foundation on which the churches' common witness rests.”
26 October 2026, Höör, Sweden: Participants pictured at the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Faith and Order meeting taking place 25-31 October 2026. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC
Bishop Johan Tyrberg, of the Diocese of Lund, noted Lund has a long tradition of international ecumenism. “Since 2016, when Pope Francis met Bishop Munib Younan in the Cathedral of Lund, a close communion has grown between the Catholic congregation and the Cathedral Parish in Lund. This is encouraging and makes me happy!”
Rev. Dr Sofia Camnerin, general secretary of the Christian Council in Sweden, expressed thankfulness that the WCC Faith and Order Commission is meeting in Sweden. “All my respect goes to theologians and to theology that draws deeply from its sources, science, tradition, and experience, and which from that foundation can broaden horizons, embrace complexity, interpret our times, and guide the churches forward, so that the whole world may live,” she said.
Greetings were also presented by the moderator of the WCC Commission for World Mission and Evangelism Rev. Dr Michael Blair.
The WCC Faith and Order Commission met previously in Sweden in August 1952, during the Third World Conference on Faith and Order, when the Lund Principle – to do together what can be done together, and to do separately what is best done separately—was adopted as a foundational concept in modern ecumenism.
The Lund Principle, which proposed that churches act together in all matters except those in which deep differences of conviction compel them to act separately, still serves as a moral and practical guide for how separate Christian denominations should approach ministry, service, and theological dialogue.
Moderator’s address "From Wadi El Natrun to Lund: Continuing the Journey Towards Visible Unity"
Director’s report: WCC Commission on Faith and Order in Lund, Sweden
Reflection by Rev. Dr Glenroy Lalor, vice moderator of the WCC Commission on Faith and Order
Photo gallery: Faith and Order Commission – Sweden 2026 |
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