World Council of Churches

World Council of Churches
World Council of Churches logo
AbbreviationWCC
General secretaryJerry Pillay
RegionInternational
Origin1948; 76 years ago (1948)
Members352 (member churches)
Official websitewww.oikoumene.org
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The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism.[1] Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Union of Utrecht, the Lutheran World Federation, the Anglican Communion, the Mennonite churches, the World Methodist Council, the Baptist World Alliance, the World Communion of Reformed Churches, the Pentecostal churches, the Moravian Church and the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church.[1][2][3] Notably, the Catholic Church is not a full member, although it sends delegates who have observer status to meetings.[1][4]

The WCC describes itself as "a worldwide fellowship of 352 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service".[5] It has no head office as such, but its administrative centre is at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland.[6] The organization's members include denominations which claim to collectively represent over 500 million people across the world in more than 110 countries.[7]

Many regional affiliates of the World Council of Churches, such as the Middle East Council of Churches and National Council of Churches in Australia, work for the cause of Christian unity at the domestic level, with member denominations including the Oriental Orthodox Churches, Lutheran churches, Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox churches, Methodist churches, Anglican Communion, Reformed churches, among others.[8][9]

  1. ^ a b c Harmon, Steven R. (15 March 2010). Ecumenism Means You, Too: Ordinary Christians and the Quest for Christian Unity. Wipf & Stock. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-62189-277-9. Since its creation, it has also established a cordial cooperation with the World Council of Churches and regularly names Catholic observers at various ecumenical gatherings and invites observers of "fraternal delegates" of other churches or ecclesial communities to major events of the Catholic Church. The PCPCU publishes a journal called Information Service four times a year, in English and French. The WCC is the broadest and most inclusive among the many organized expressions of the modern ecumenical movement. It brings together 349 churches, denominations and church fellowships in more than 100 countries and territories throughout the world, representing over 560 million Christians and including most of the world's Orthodox churches, scores of Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed churches, as well as many United and Independent churches. …It describes itself as a fellowship of churches which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Savior according to the Scriptures and therefore seek to fulfill together their common calling to the glory of the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with the goal of visible unity in one faith and one Eucharistic fellowship, expressed in worship and in common life in Christ.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Roberson1995 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Member list". World Council of Churches. 2014. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  4. ^ Cross & Livingstone (1974). The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-211545-4.
  5. ^ "Handbook of Churches and Councils". World Council of Churches. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  6. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". World Council of Churches. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  7. ^ "What is the World Council of Churches?". World Council of Churches. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  8. ^ "Churches". Middle East Council of Churches. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  9. ^ "Member Churches". National Council of Churches in Australia. Retrieved 9 October 2020.