{"id":138240,"date":"2025-05-21T10:56:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T10:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/a-dip-into-church-history-from-nicaea-to-stockholm-to-todays-challenging-world-world-council-of-churches\/"},"modified":"2025-05-21T10:56:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T10:56:00","slug":"a-dip-into-church-history-from-nicaea-to-stockholm-to-todays-challenging-world-world-council-of-churches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/a-dip-into-church-history-from-nicaea-to-stockholm-to-todays-challenging-world-world-council-of-churches\/","title":{"rendered":"A dip into church history: from Nicaea, to Stockholm, to today\u2019s challenging world – World Council of Churches"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the \u201cLife and Work\u201d centenary conference continued on 20 May in Athens, participants took a deep dip into church history, emerging with challenging questions and topics that will inform their ongoing discussions. 
Holy Metropolitan Church of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, cathedral church of the Archbishopric of Athens and all of Greece.
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Prof. Dr Dimitra Koukoura essentially summarized two millennia\u2014and entered a third\u2014during a keynote speech entitled \u201c<\/span>From Nicaea to Stockholm: theological bridges.”
She described how the challenge of church unity is as nearly as old as the church itself. 
\u201c<\/span>In the post-apostolic era, various internal and external problems threatened the unity of the church communities,\u201d she said, leading up to describing the Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in 325 as an encounter of the church with the world.
\u201c<\/span>The delegates of the local churches met in Nicaea in the year 325 at the invitation of Emperor Constantine, for the unity of the church and the empire to be preserved,\u201d she said. 
She then offered an overview of church history from Nicaea to Constantinople\u2014and to the whole world.
\u201c<\/span>Above all, human passions and the abuse of faith for the exercise of secular power have strengthened divisions,\u201d she acknowledged. 
Yet the text of the Nicene Creed still stands as a visible sign of unity today. 
\u201c<\/span>Nevertheless, today, up to the ends of the earth, wherever there are Christian church communities, the faith of Nicaea-Constantinople is confessed,\u201d she said. \u201c<\/span>During worship it is wonderful to hear the congregation recite it in its own language solemnly, chant it to the accompaniment of the organ, sing it in its traditional rhythms or even sing it vividly to the accompaniment of rock music!\u201d
WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) helds its 60th meeting and the Life and Work Centenary conference on 18-22 May 2025 in Athens, Greece. Panelists on the 20 May: Prof. Dr Dimitra Koukoura, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, H.E. Metropolitan Gabriel of Nea Ionia and Philadelphia, and H.E. Metropolitan Job of Pisidia, vice moderator of the WCC Commission on Faith and Order.
Apart from the theological heritage, Koukoura  <\/span>concluded, Nicaea also left another equally important one for the continuators of the Life and Work movement, now carried by members of the current World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs. \u201c<\/span>It urged all subsequent defenders of human rights, justice, and peace to deepen on contemporary problems and to use a common code of communication with social sciences. However, their words and their thoughts should be inspired by the loving Lord of peace, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of history, the beginning and the end of the world.\u201d
In a response, H.E. Metropolitan Job of Pisidia, vice moderator of the WCC Commission on Faith and Order, put forth ideas to challenge the discussion of the commission moving forward. 
He commented on the relationship between the Nicaea Council and the way in which the church views social service. 
Social service by the church is not only a social service as another nongovernmental organization might offer it, Metropolitan Job said. 
\u201c<\/span>Our social work has a different flavor, has a different inspiration because we are building the body of Christ,\u201d he said. \u201c<\/span>Because, since the Son of God became a man, he has invited us to become members of his mystical body\u2014 which is the church.\u201d
Therefore, Metropolitan Job added, all the social service of the church takes on a transformative property. He cautioned against theological reductionism, bringing into light the very root of that transformation: Jesus Christ. 
\u201c<\/span>The church does not only make the world a better place as humanitarian and philanthropic organizations can do, but it also transforms the world by bringing the humans into the Body of Christ\u2014which is the church,\u201d he said. 
WCC international affairs conference: \u201cThe time for God\u2019s peace is now\u201d (WCC news release, 20 MAy 2025)<\/strong><\/a>
Life and Work conference opens with call for \u201cno discrimination in love among fellow human beings\u201d (WCC news release, 19 May 2025)<\/strong><\/a>
Learn more about the CCIA Life and Work Centenary Consultation, Athens<\/strong><\/a>
Photo gallery: CCIA Life and Work Centenary Consultation<\/strong><\/a>
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Ecumenical Centre<\/span>
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As the \u201cLife and Work\u201d centenary conference continued on 20 May in Athens, participants took a deep dip into church history, emerging with challenging questions and topics that will inform their ongoing discussions. Holy Metropolitan Church of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, cathedral church of the Archbishopric of Athens and all of Greece.Share this articleProf. Dr Dimitra […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138241,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-138240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}