The year 2025 marks the 1700th anniversary of the world’s first Ecumenical Council, the Council of Nicaea of 325, a key moment in the history of Christian faith and for the ecumenical journey today.
To mark the anniversary, the World Council of Churches is planning a year of activities with member churches, other churches, Christian World Communions, national and regional organizations, and theological and ecumenical institutions.
At the centre of the WCC’s activities will be the holding of the Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order, gathering church leaders and theologians of different traditions around the theme “Where now for visible unity?” with a focus on the issues of faith, unity, and mission.
Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order
The conference will take place at the ancient St Bishoy Monastery at Wadi El Natrun, near Alexandria, Egypt, from 24 to 28 October 2025, around the theme “Where now for visible unity?”
Affirming the Christian faith in the triune God
The first Ecumenical Council in 325 was a gathering of Christian bishops in Nicaea, now İznik in present-day Türkiye, as the first attempt to reach consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom, and to affirm the Christian faith in the triune God.
In Nicaea, Christians who only recently had been persecuted in the Roman Empire were able to gather under the patronage of the Emperor to affirm their faith and witness to the society around them. Then, as now, the call to unity was heard within the context of a troubled, unequal, and divided world.
The anniversary offers an opportunity to celebrate and reflect on the affirmation of faith in the Nicene Creed, the mission of God’s triune love and the implications this has for the common witness and service of the churches, and offers the opportunity to ask afresh with others what Nicaea means for churches and Christians today.
For further information please contact Nicaea2025@wcc-coe.org.
