WCC NEWS: 100 years later, ecumenists will gather in Stockholm again

In 1925, archbishop of Sweden Nathan Söderblom, gathered more than 600 church leaders from 37 countries for a historic meeting in Stockholm. A century later, church leaders from around the globe will again convene in the Swedish capital, to commemorate the 1925 meeting and the achievements of the ecumenical movement ever since. View of Stockholm, Sweden. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC 03 June 2025 Hosted by the Christian Council of Sweden, the ecumenical week will aim to strengthen common efforts for peace, reconciliation, and Christian fellowship. With more than 60 public seminars, worship services, and cultural events on the agenda, the event is expected to attract large audiences. It will take place 18-24 August in different locations around the Swedish capital.  WCC central committee moderator Bishop Prof. Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm and WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay and Rev. Dr Susan Durber, WCC president from Europe will participate.  Just as in 1925, the worship service in the Storkyrkan cathedral will be attended by the king and queen of Sweden, along with the prime minister, government officials, church leaders, and international guests. Confirmed participants include:  His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch. His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East. His Excellency Archbishop Flavio Pace, secretary at the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, Vatican. Most Rev. Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York. Bishop Prof. Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, WCC central committee moderator.    Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay, WCC general secretary. Rev. Dr Susan Durber, WCC president from Europe. Rev. Dr Anne Burghardt, general secretary, Lutheran World Federation. Prof. Dr Azza Karam, CEO, Lead Integrity and former secretary general of Religions for Peace. Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, general secretary, ACT Alliance. A complete programme will be communicated as soon as it is finalized. Meanwhile, please see: Programme Ecumenical Week in Stockholm, 18-24 August Ecumenical year in Sweden makes “Time for God’s peace” (WCC feature story of 12 February 2025) 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

WCC NEWS: Tribute to Ernst Lange honours pioneer who saw the ecumenical movement as “test case of faith”

Former World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser has praised the contribution to the ecumenical movement of former WCC staff member Ernst Lange, who died suddenly 50 years ago on 3 July 1974. Photo: WCC 03 July 2024 Lange was director of the WCC’s division of ecumenical action, and the first German to serve as a WCC associate general secretary.  “Lange was convinced that the ecumenical renewal of the churches needs to be understood and organized as a process that sets in motion and raises the consciousness of their members,” Raiser writes in his tribute. Lange served at the WCC for only two years from 1968 to 1970 before ill health compelled him to return to Germany, followed by his untimely death in 1974 at the age of 47. Lange’s insights, even if unacknowledged, influenced the WCC as it has sought to change its self-image and its forms of action and decision-making, writes Raiser, who knew Lange personally. Particularly important in this context was Lange’s use of the idea of “conciliarity” based on a WCC study from 1971, and set out in his book And Yet It Moves: Dream and Reality of the Ecumenical Movement. For Lange, this meant developing a safe space where those with different points of view could seek a lasting consensus without having to give up their identities.  ”His most important ecumenical legacy is that he started from a comprehensive and inclusive understanding of ecumenism,” Raiser states. “For him, the aspects of action and reflection, grassroots and leadership responsibility, global and local challenges, unity and justice, consensus and conflict, which are often played off against each other, need to remain quite consciously related to each other in their tension.”   A pioneer who saw the ecumenical movement as the “test case of faith” Tribute to Ernst Lange by Konrad Raiser [available in English and German]   “The Test Case of Faith” Article by Ernst Lange published in The Ecumenical Review, July 1973 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 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland