“We believe.” These are the first words of the original Nicene Creed, written 1,700 years ago at the Council of Nicaea. This ecumenical council in 325 AD produced a summary statement of Christian belief that has been professed by Christians around the world ever since. Both for its longevity and its universal appeal, the Nicene Creed stands apart from every other statement of Christian belief. It also has a profound ecumenical significance, which I explored in January’s One Body article, Do You Believe This?

At the end of November, Pope Leo XIV is expected to visit Nicaea with Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew. Each year, the pope and patriarch send delegations to the other to celebrate their patronal feasts of Sts. Peter and Paul in Rome on June 29 and St. Andrew in Constantinople (Istanbul) on November 30. This year, in the modern city of Iznik, where Nicaea once was, the two leaders will together commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the first ecumenical council. They will also commend the church to continue in the dialogue of life and love begun at the end of the Second Vatican Council.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

A number of years ago, at a local dialogue meeting of Catholics and Mennonites in Edmonton, we considered together that section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church that pertains specifically to the “one-ness” of the Church (#811-822).

I remember in particular a great discussion that ensued around CCC #815. It delineates the “bonds of communion” which, for Catholics, mark and hold Christians in unity with one another within the Body of Christ. That paragraph reads:

What are these bonds of unity? Above all, charity “binds everything together in perfect harmony.” But the unity of the pilgrim Church is also assured by visible bonds of communion:

• profession of one faith received from the Apostles;
• common celebration of divine worship, especially the sacraments;
• apostolic succession through the sacrament of Holy Orders, maintaining the fraternal concord of God’s family.

… Read more » … lire la suite »

This year, 2025, marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of The United Church of Canada (UCC). It is a uniquely Canadian church, formed in part in response to the desire to minister effectively to the many small Christian communities scattered across the sparsely populated prairie provinces. The UCC has been committed to the search for Christian unity from the time of its foundation, something it has clearly expressed in its fifty year dialogue with the Canadian Roman Catholic Church.

Following an exchange of correspondence between the UCC General Council and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) in the fall of 1974, the Roman Catholic/United Church Dialogue held its first meeting in November 1975. Appointed by the UCC’s Inter-Church and Inter-Faith Relations Committee and the CCCB’s Episcopal Commission for Ecumenism, dialogue participants are committed to improving relationships between the two churches, and to countering misinformation, stereotypes, and prejudices. It explores pastoral, theological, and ethical issues, including those that have traditionally prevented full unity.  In consultation with its two sponsoring bodies, the group determines its agenda, reports periodically on the dialogue and seeks ways of communicating what it has learned from the dialogue.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

A planning meeting for the World Council of Churches (WCC) Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order and the Global Ecumenical Theological Institute 2025 (GETI) was convened in St Bishoy Monastery in Egypt, 28-29 June. The hybrid gathering focused on logistics, a stewards programme, communications, church and cultural visits, and budget.

The cohost for the conference is the Coptic Orthodox Church, marking the first time such a conference is hosted by an Oriental Orthodox church.

The Sixth World Conference for Faith and Order, being hosted at the invitation of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, will be held in Wadi El Natrun, Egypt, from 24-28 October with the theme “Where now for visible unity?”

This will be the sixth such conference in a century, with previous gatherings held in 1927 (Lausanne, Switzerland), 1937 (Edinburgh, Scotland), 1952 (Lund, Sweden), 1963 (Montreal, Canada),1993 (Santiago, Spain) and 2025 (Wadi El Natrun, Egypt).
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The Rt. Rev. Shane Parker, Bishop of Ottawa, was elected the 15^th Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada on June 26, 2025, at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, Ontario, during the 44^th session of the General Synod.

Primate-elect Parker has served as the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa since 2020. Prior to that, he was dean of the Diocese of Ottawa and rector of Christ Church Cathedral in Ottawa for two decades. He has a master’s degree in sociology from Carleton University, as well as an honorary doctorate from Saint Paul University, where he has served as a part-time professor of pastoral ministry and chairs its Anglican Studies Advisory Committee.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The Christian Reformed Church’s Indigenous Christian Fellowship (ICF) in Regina, Sask., is pleased to announce the appointment of Joe Elkerton as its new director, effective July 21, 2025. Elkerton will replace Bert Adema, who is retiring after 32 years of service.

“This appointment marks a pivotal moment for the Indigenous Christian Fellowship,” said Albert Postma, the CRCNA’s executive director-Canada. “Joe’s diverse background and his clear sense of calling to this specific role truly excite us. We believe his leadership will bring vibrant new energy and direction as we continue to grow and serve the community in Regina.”
… Read more » … lire la suite »

In a statement, the World Council of Churches (WCC) central committee commemorated 80 years of the United Nations, particularly its founding principle of multilateral cooperation.

“The Pact for the Future, adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2024, lays out some important directions and needed reforms,” notes the statement. “But even deeper and more fundamental reform will be required, including of the Security Council itself, in order to restore the organization’s credibility and to address the historic exclusion of nations still under colonial domination at the time of the 1945 San Francisco Conference.”
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Long-time Bridgefolk participants remember the booming voice of the late Ivan Kauffman celebrating historic moments that have marked the development of closer relationships between Mennonites, Roman Catholics, and other divided Christians: “It’s a miracle!”

Kauffman would almost shout it. But he had a solidly empirical definition for miracles to match his exuberance: “Things that everybody agreed could not happen, but that happened anyway.”

If Kauffman could have been in Zurich, Switzerland on 29 May 2025, we would surely have heard his booming voice again. Commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Anabaptist movement that began in January of 1525, its spiritual descendants in Mennonite, Amish, Hutterite, and related churches gathered at the city’s Grossmünster cathedral there at the invitation of Mennonite World Conference (MWC).
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Between 2014 and 2024, the proportion of students of European descent at Montreal Diocesan Theological College (often abbreviated as Dio) went from about 60 per cent to 25 per cent, says the Rev. Jesse Zink, the school’s principal.

“We have been moving in a direction that’s much more diverse along lines of immigration status, country of origin, racial, and ethnic identity. And I would just say, I think this is wonderful,” he says. “I was teaching a three-hour class last week. We took a break, and I noticed that students were having little side conversations during our break, and there was one that was happening in English, and there was one that was happening in French, and there was one that was happening in Swahili.”
… Read more » … lire la suite »

June 10, 2025 marks 100 years since 8,000 people gathered in the Mutual Street Arena in Toronto to formally inaugurate, with declarations and worship, The United Church of Canada. Members of the United Church today will easily acknowledge that its history is an ecumenical history, and they remember and celebrate its important contributions to the ongoing search for Christian unity and interfaith cooperation. Reflecting on this history in today’s world of increasingly violent division, fear, and distrust of difference, celebrations also bring questions: what is the continuing ecumenical call to a church committed to “Deep Spirituality, Bold Discipleship, and Daring Justice?”

I offer here a review of that ecumenical history: the beginnings and subsequent life and witness of the United Church, an overview of the church’s ecumenical witness today, and some questions and challenges arising as the church enters the next phase of its life in the world.
… Read more » … lire la suite »