Lecture - The Church - by William Henn

5 Reageer Introduction [2] This new convergence text about the Church was presented one year ago at the 10 th General Assembly of the World Council of Churches held in [3] Busan, South Korea. At the time of its publication in early 2013, the Moderator of the Faith and Order Commission, Metropolitan Vasilios, and the Director of the same commission, Canon John Gibaut, claimed that it is “an extraordinary ecumenical achievement.” In the press announcement which appeared immediately after it was finally adopted by full consensus of the standing commission of Faith and Order several months earlier, Metr. Vasilios stated that the new text on ecclesiology could be compared to the famous Faith and Order agreement on “Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry” of 1982. [4] As soon as the commissioners indicated their unanimous assent to this convergence agreement, they all rose to their feet and spontaneously sang the Taisé hymn Laudate omnes gentes. 2 In the following introduction to De Kerk, naar een gemeenschappelijke visie I would like, first , to point how important the issue of a common vision of the church is for resolving divisions among our currently divided Christian communities. Second , I will explain the steps that produced this convergence text, because I believe that one cannot really appreciate an ecumenical document without some grasp of the stages that led to its ultimate shape and 2 From http://ecumenism.net/2012/07/wcc_fo_commission_approves_new_ theological_agreement.htm ; the website of the World Council of Churches [accessed September 13, 2013]. The Church: Towards a Common Vision will be referred to as The Church .