An ecumenical council, also called general council, is a meeting of bishops and other church authorities to consider and rule on questions of Christian doctrine, administration, discipline, and other matters in which those entitled to vote are convoked from the whole world (oikoumene) and which secures the approbation of the whole Church.
The Fourth Council of Constantinople was held in 879–880. It confirmed the reinstatement of Photius I as patriarch of Constantinople.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. 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. Notably, the Catholic Church is not a full member, although it sends delegates to meetings who have observer status.
The ecumenical patriarch is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul) and New Rome, and primus inter pares among the heads of the several autocephalous churches which compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. The ecumenical patriarch is regarded as the representative and spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide. The term ecumenical in the title is a historical reference to the Ecumene, a Greek designation for the civilised world, i.e. the Roman Empire, and it stems from Canon 28 of the Council of Chalcedon.
A synod is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word synod comes from the Ancient Greek σύνοδος 'assembly, meeting'; the term is analogous with the Latin word concilium'council'. Originally, synods were meetings of bishops, and the word is still used in that sense in Catholicism, Oriental Orthodoxy and Eastern Orthodoxy. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not. It is also sometimes used to refer to a church that is governed by a synod.
Ecumenism – also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalism – is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjective ecumenical is thus applied to any interdenominational initiative that encourages greater cooperation and union among Christian denominations and churches.
The World Student Christian Federation (WSCF) is a federation of autonomous national Student Christian Movements (SCM) forming the youth and student arm of the global ecumenical movement. The Federation includes Orthodox, Protestant and Catholic students.
The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) was inaugurated in May 1974 at its First General Assembly in Nicosia, Cyprus, and now has its headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon. Initially it consisted of three "families" of Christian Churches in the Middle East, the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Evangelical Churches, which were joined in 1990 by the Catholic Churches of the region. It is a regional council affiliated with the mainstream ecumenical movement which also gave birth to the World Council of Churches, of which the MECC is also a member.
The Conference of European Churches (CEC) was founded in 1959 to promote reconciliation, dialogue and friendship between the churches of Europe at a time of growing Cold War political tensions and divisions.
Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) is an ecumenical organisation. The members include most of the major churches in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. CTBI is registered at Companies House with number 05661787. Its office is in Central London. As of 2022 the General Secretary is Nicola Brady, who succeeded Bob Fyffe.
The Church of Christ in Thailand (C.C.T.) is a Protestant Christian association. It is the largest Protestant denomination in Thailand and is considered to be the largest by group of Protestant members in Thailand.
Conciliarity is the adherence of various Christian communities to the authority of ecumenical councils and to synodal church governance. It is not to be confused with conciliarism, which is a particular historical movement within the Catholic Church. Different churches interpret conciliarity in different ways.
The Rev. Dr. Larry D. Pickens is a graduate of North Park University and holds a master of theology degree and master of divinity degree from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, a doctorate in ministry from Chicago Theological Seminary, and a Juris Doctor from DePaul University College of Law. Larry is the executive director of the Pennsylvania Council of Churches. Larry is the former general secretary of the General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns of the United Methodist Church. During his tenure as the ecumenical staff officer these significant events took place. Pickens served as the Ecumenical Director of The Lehigh Conference of Churches in Allentown, Pennsylvania from 2014-20.
According to the Catholic Church, a Church Council is ecumenical ("world-wide"), if it is "a solemn congregation of the Catholic bishops of the world at the invitation of the Pope to decide on matters of the Church with him". The wider term, 'ecumenical council', relates to Church councils recognised by both Eastern and Western Christianity.
Vilakuvelil Cherian Samuel (1912–1998), called Samuel Achen was an Indian Christian philosopher, scholar, university professor, theologian, historian, polyglot and ecumenical leader. He was a priest of the Indian Orthodox Church. He was the author of many doctrinal books and papers including The Council of Chalcedon Re-Examined: Historical Theological Survey.
The Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, previously named the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU), is a dicastery within the Holy See whose origins are associated with the Second Vatican Council which met intermittently from 1962 to 1965.
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The National Council of Churches in Korea is a Christian ecumenical organization founded in Korea in 1924 as the National Christian Council in Korea. It is a member of the World Council of Churches and the Christian Conference of Asia.
Sarah Chakko was an Indian college professor and administrator, president of Isabella Thoburn College in Lucknow, and the first woman to be elected to the presidency of the World Council of Churches. She was a member of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.
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