| 10.08.2004 | | Orthodox voices are heard but not always understood
A black-robed priest wanders slowly along the dazzling white walls of a monastery, beneath a bright blue sky. This is the “postcard” image which many western Christians have of the Orthodox world. The reality is much richer and more varied. Read more
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| 06.08.2004 | | Human sexuality - a question of identity
One Sunday afternoon last year at the ice hockey stadium near the small US town of Durham, a small but noisy protest group confronted a larger group of university students. The demonstrations were controlled by mounted police. It was an unusual context for the consecration of a bishop, but this was an unusual consecration. Read more
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| 06.08.2004 | | Colourful ecumenism
Those who imagine theological discussions to be arid debates better suited to grey, badly lit cloisters would certainly have been surprised during the recent World Council of Churches (WCC) Faith and Order plenary commission meeting. Read more
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| 06.08.2004 | | What is our understanding of human nature?
What the churches can say together about what it means to be human, made in the image of God? The question is important and is closely linked to how we make ethical choices and deal with particular events and circumstances of life. The study on the understanding of human nature marks one of the most significant steps forward in the work of Faith and Order. Read more
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| 06.08.2004 | | Living in a world of difference
The World Council of Churches (WCC) Faith and Order plenary commission is just that – churches meeting to discuss theological issues touching on the way they conceive the Christian faith, and the way in which, on the basis of that faith, their life together in fellowship is organised. But on Thursday 5 August, two Malaysian women – one Christian, one Muslim – made powerful pleas for genuine inter-religious dialogue. Read more
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| 06.08.2004 | | Next generation of Asian theologians coming up
"Future Asian theologians should be like ants, bees and spiders! Ants because of their way of patiently gathering nourishing materials, bees because they have to fly all over the world and bring home more knowledge and good ideas, and spiders because they have to be able to build webs between different theological concepts from around the globe and the inherited notions of their local cultures and religions." Read more
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| 06.08.2004 | | In the jungle of ecclesiology, how do we avoid the tigers?
There are over three hundred and forty members of the World Council of Churches. But what do they think that a church is, and how does each church relate to other churches? The study of these issues is called "ecclesiology", and it's a central issue on the Faith and Order agenda as well as a concern of the WCC.
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| 05.08.2004 | | Christians in Sandokan's land
They represent nearly all confessional families but together do not constitute 10 percent of the population. They are thankful for the freedom of religion they enjoy in this majority-Muslim nation but they have to buy tickets to see The Passion of the Christ in the churches. They are allowed to worship freely but if they marry a Muslim they must adopt that religion. They descend from immigrants but are committed to the construction of national unity. They are Malaysian Christians. Read more
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| 03.08.2004 | | Baptism: the long road to mutual recognition
Throughout the Christian world, baptism is acknowledged to be a commandment of Jesus and the fundamental rite of initiation into his church. But the theology and practice of baptism in different communions is very diverse, and bringing these different understandings together is an enormous theological task. Read more
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| 30.07.2004 | | The ecumenical movement is a gift of God - Interview with John Radano
This is what Monsignor John A. Radano says in a break during the Faith and Order Plenary Commission, which is meeting in Kuala Lumpur from 28 July to 6 August 2004. A senior member of the Roman Catholic delegation in Kuala Lumpur, Radano is head of the Western Section of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and principal liaison person between the Vatican and Faith and Order. Read more
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| 26.07.2004 | | Being Christians in a Muslim-majority country
- Interview with Hermen Shastri
Rev. Dr Hermen Shastri, the general secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia, a fifty-seven year old ecumenical body which is hosting the upcoming meeting of the WCC Faith and Order plenary commission, speaks in this interview about the life and witness of churches in a minority situation, where the meanings of evangelization, inter-faith dialogue, ecumenism and politics are different. Read more
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| 22.07.2004 | | "Today, the dominant note in Faith and Order is hope"
Interview with David Yemba
The voice sounds kind and humble on the phone and does not reveal that the owner is just recovering from a touch of malaria. The Rev. Dr David K. Yemba, moderator since 1998 of the World Council of Churches' (WCC) commission on Faith and Order, speaks confidently of hope and of churches growing together in communion. Read more
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