The Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) is an ecumenical organization representing Christian churches in the Pacific region. It seeks the visible unity of the church on issues of justice, peace and integrity of creation, initiatives on capacity building, and solidarity with its members during times of natural disasters and internal social upheavals.
Reverend James Bhagwan of Fiji was elected General Secretary of the PCC in November 2018. [1]
The roots of the Pacific Conference of Churches can be traced to a 1961 consultation held at Malua Theological Seminary in Samoa, followed by its founding in 1966 when its first assembly met on the Loyalty Island of Lifou, New Caledonia. [2] Its first chairman was the Tongan Methodist Sione 'Amanaki Havea, serving from 1966 to 1971. [3]
From very modest beginnings in the early 1960s, its membership is now numbered at about 27 Pacific member Churches and 11 National Council of Churches (NCCs). The head office of the Pacific Conference of Churches is based in Suva, Fiji. [2]
At their meeting in Pago Pago, American Samoa, in 2007, the ninth General Assembly of the Pacific Conference of Churches agreed on six main programmes to focus on.
Furthermore, there are two sectoral programmes specifying on certain target groups.
PCC is “a fellowship of Churches and Church organisations […] that seeks to fulfill together their common calling to the Glory of One God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (PCC Constitution Part 4).
In essence, PCC strives toward a vision of a Pacific region that is characterized by the values of unity, solidarity, justice, peace, dialogue and leadership after the heart and mind of Jesus, and a spirituality that gives grounding and substance to PCC’s existence and to the work it does.
Recognising PCC's Aims as stipulated in its Constitution (Part 5), its mission is to:
Churches Uniting in Christ (CUIC) is an ecumenical organization that brings together mainline American denominations, and was inaugurated on January 20, 2002, in Memphis, Tennessee on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. It is the successor organization to the Consultation on Church Union.
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.
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 non-denominational or inter-denominational initiative which encourages greater cooperation and union among Christian denominations and churches. Ecumenical dialogue is a central feature of contemporary ecumenism.
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.
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The Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) is a movement within the Catholic Church that is part of the wider charismatic movement across historic Christian churches.
The Canadian Council of Churches is a broad and inclusive ecumenical body, now representing 26 member churches including Anglican; Eastern and Roman Catholic; Evangelical; Free Church; Eastern and Oriental Orthodox; and Historic Protestant traditions. Together these member churches represent 13,500 worshiping communities and comprise 85% of the Christians in Canada.
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The Washington Theological Consortium is an ecumenical organization of Christian theological schools and interfaith partners located in Washington, DC, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Members cooperate to deepen ecumenical unity in theological education and to broaden interfaith dialogue and understanding and to prepare both clergy and laity with skills they need to minister in a diverse church and society. The Consortium is one of the most diverse of its kind in the nation, as it includes Roman and Byzantine Catholic traditions, mainline Protestants, Evangelicals, and Historic Black Divinity schools; with partners in spiritual formation, Jewish, and Islamic education.
The Catholic Church has engaged in the modern ecumenical movement especially since the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) and the issuing of the decree Unitatis redintegratio and the declaration Dignitatis humanae. It was at the Council that the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity was created. Those outside of the Catholic Church were categorised as heretics or schismatics, but in many contexts today, to avoid offence, the euphemism "separated brethren" is used.
The United Church of Christ is a Christian denomination. Periodically, bodies within the United Church of Christ issue resolutions for various reasons. These statements may or may not be representative of the United Church of Christ. This article documents notable resolutions from the various formal bodies of the United Church of Christ.
Lukas Vischer was a Swiss Reformed Theologian. From 1961 he was Research Secretary of the World Council of Churches’ (WCC) Faith and Order Commission in Geneva and from 1966 until 1979 the Commission’s Director. From 1980 until 1992 he headed the Protestant Office for Ecumenism in Switzerland and taught Ecumenical Theology at the Theological Faculty of the University of Bern. From 1982 until 1989 he was moderator of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches’ (WARC) Theology department and from 1982 until 2008 moderator of the John Knox International Reformed Centre’s Programme Commission in Geneva. In these years, ecological responsibility of the Churches became a focal point of his work.
The General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns (GCCUIC) addresses the interreligious and ecumenical concerns of The United Methodist Church. The GCCUIC's office is located at The Interchurch Center in New York City. The Commission's President is Bishop Mary Ann Swenson and the General Secretary is Stephen J. Sidorak Jr. The Ecumenical Officer of the Council of Bishops is Bishop Sharon Zimmerman Rader and serves as the corporate ecumenical officer of The United Methodist Church, working in collaboration with GCCUIC.
Ecumenical Christian Centre (ECC) was founded in 1963 by M. A. Thomas. ECC is located in Whitefield in Bengaluru on a 29-acre (120,000 m2) campus.
The Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) is an ecumenical fellowship of Churches and Christian organisations in Malaysia. It is one of the three constituent members of the Christian Federation of Malaysia.
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.
The Canadian Centre For Ecumenism (CCE) is a non-profit organization whose main focus is interfaith dialogues and is established in Montreal, Québec, Canada. The centre is supported by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. It promotes conversations, interfaith dialogues and ecumenical dialogues.
The Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa - CCCAS is a theologically Calvinist and Congregational denomination in American Samoa.
Tantur Ecumenical Institute is an international ecumenical institute for advanced theological research in Jerusalem.
contemporary conferences of theological experts and representatives of Christian denominations convened to resolve matters of doctrine and practice | ||
| The Anglican Church with the |  | |
| The Assyrian Church of the East with the | ||
| The Roman Catholic Church with the | ||
| The Eastern Orthodox Church with the | ||
| The Lutheran Church with the | ||
| The Oriental Orthodox Church with the | ||
| Multilateral | ||
| see also | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
