World Council of Churches (WCC)
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a prominent global interchurch organization dedicated to promoting Christian unity and collaboration among diverse denominations. Founded in 1948, the WCC emerged from the ecumenical movement of the early twentieth century, which aimed to foster closer ties among different branches of Christianity. The organization encompasses over 300 member churches, including many from the Orthodox, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, and Reformed traditions, while the Roman Catholic Church, although not a member, engages with the WCC through official delegates.
Historically rooted in Europe and North America, the WCC has expanded its presence to over 110 countries, with a significant number of affiliates in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The WCC’s activities include evangelism, humanitarian initiatives, and advocacy for social justice, as exemplified by its stance against apartheid in South Africa and efforts to address human rights violations in Latin America. The governing structure includes an Assembly that convenes every six to eight years, supported by a Central Committee and an Executive Committee.
With more than 350 accredited members representing approximately 580 million Christians worldwide, the WCC continues to adapt to contemporary issues while striving to fulfill its mission of ecumenism and Christian witness in a rapidly changing global context.
World Council of Churches (WCC)
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a global interchurch organization that mandates the unification of the Christian faith. Rooted in the ecumenical movement of the early twentieth century, which sought to foster increased cooperation among the various branches of Christianity, the WCC was officially founded in 1948. It currently comprises more than three hundred recognized member churches, including the majority of the world’s Christian Orthodox faith communities and a large number of Baptist, Independent, Lutheran, Methodist, Reformed, and United denominations. The world’s largest Christian community, the Roman Catholic Church, has eschewed membership, though it does send official delegates to the council’s assembly meetings.
During its early history, most of the organization’s member churches were based in Europe and continental North America. Today, the WCC has affiliates in more than 110 countries around the globe, the majority of which are based in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America. In addition to Christian unification, the WCC promotes evangelism, missionary campaigns, and humanitarian initiatives.
The Founding of the WCC
During the nineteenth century, the Christian faith underwent transformative change as a large number of new sects and churches were established, including Christian Science, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses, among many others. Christianity also experienced an influential lay movement, in which many faith communities reformed or abandoned traditional hierarchical structures in favor of more direct and less ritualistic approaches to worship. As a result, Christianity grew to house a far broader spectrum of faith traditions than ever before.
In 1910, the World Missionary Conference was held in Edinburgh, Scotland. The gathering was attended primarily by representatives of Anglican and Protestant churches based in the United Kingdom and the United States and is widely cited as the birthplace of the ecumenical movement. In general terms, ecumenism sought to unify the increasingly diverse and divergent branches of Christianity to expand the faith’s influence and global reach. Ten years after the Edinburgh World Missionary Conference, the Orthodox Synod of Constantinople released an encyclical endorsing the idea of a global organization of churches, which was envisioned as a religious analog to the League of Nations, the predecessor organization of the United Nations. Christian leaders from around the world convened in 1937 and 1938 to formalize such a union, and representatives of more than a hundred faith communities voted to found the WCC.
However, the official incorporation of the WCC was delayed by the outbreak of World War II. In 1946, with the war at an end, the council established the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), a public policy platform, and the Ecumenical Institute, a theological academy based in Switzerland. Two years later, the WCC held its inaugural assembly, which included representatives of 147 Christian churches. During the 1960s, the WCC membership grew rapidly as many new Christian sects emerged in many parts of the world, including newly independent former European colonies in Africa and the Caribbean.
The Roman Catholic Church declined to join the WCC, fundamentally rejecting the notion that Christianity can have many distinct expressions. While relations between the Catholic Church and the WCC were strained during the council’s early years, tensions eased after the Second Vatican Council, held between 1962 and 1965, endorsed a formalized basis for cooperation between the two governing bodies. Although the Roman Catholic Church now sends official representatives to the World Council of Church assemblies, it has never joined the organization as a full member.
Organization and Mandate of the WCC
The WCC is structured around an Assembly consisting of delegates representing the organization’s member faith communities. This Assembly meets every six to eight years to review policies, evaluate programs, and map out the organization's future direction. It is supported by the Central Committee and the Executive Committee. The Assembly elects the Central Committee from its delegates and has an eight-year mandate, during which its members manage programs and govern administrative and budgetary initiatives. It meets biannually and is also responsible for selecting a twenty-six-member Executive Committee, which meets twice yearly and is headed by a General Secretary. The role of the Executive Committee is to supervise ongoing projects and manage human resource requirements.
Churches gain membership in the council by applying to the General Secretary; applications are then reviewed by the Central Committee and are evaluated for eligibility. According to Rule I of the constitution of the WCC, Christian faith communities are eligible to join the organization if they have at least ten thousand members; however, a membership of at least fifty thousand people is required if the church wishes to participate in the Assembly’s decision-making processes.
The stated objective of the WCC is to further the principles of ecumenism by making Christianity a visibly unified religion. It also operates evangelical initiatives and supports the work of missionaries worldwide while participating in humanitarian programs that occasionally venture into politics. For example, the WCC was a vocal opponent of apartheid in South Africa and staged a diplomatic intervention during an extended civil war in Sudan. The organization has also worked to promote the reunification of North and South Korea and has spoken out against the human rights abuses perpetrated by military dictators in Latin America during the second half of the twentieth century.
In the twenty-first century, the WCC has over 350 accredited members in 120 countries, representing an estimated 580 million Christians worldwide. In the early 2020s, the WCC undertook a reconfiguration strategy seeking to remain relevant and viable in the twenty-first century. For example, the Assembly voted to change the "Public Witness and Diakonia" program to the "Life, Justice, and Peace" to reflect an inclusive and integrated approach to modern social issues.
Bibliography
Aagaard, Anna Marie, and Peter Bouteneff. Beyond the East-West Divide: The World Council of Churches and “The Orthodox Problem”. WCC Publications, 2001.
Derr, Thomas Sieger. Barriers to Ecumenism: The Holy See and the World Council of Churches on Social Questions. Orbis Books, 1983.
"History." World Council of Churches, www.oikoumene.org/about-the-wcc/history. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
"The 1910 World Missionary Conference." Virtual Museum of Protestantism, museeprotestant.org/en/notice/the-1910-world-missionary-conference-in-edinburgh. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
"Organizational Structure." World Council of Churches, www.oikoumene.org/about-the-wcc/organizational-structure. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
"WCC Strategic Plan 2023-2030 Revised." World Council of Churches, June 2023, www.oikoumene.org/sites/default/files/2023-06/PRO%2003%20rev%20WCC%20Strategic%20Plan%202023-2030.pdf. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
"What We Do." World Council of Churches, www.oikoumene.org/what-we-do. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.