Prof. Dr Amos Nascimento, from the United Methodist Church, serves on the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Ecumenical Education and Formation. In a video interview, he reflects deeply on how aspiring and dreaming toward unity keeps us reaching for the reality of unity.
“Of course, the World Council of Churches (WCC) has been the champion of unity and has been an important voice around the world in that regard,” says Nascimento.
He describes how the WCC Commission on Ecumenical Education and Formation, when it met in June in Korea, learned from Korean theological leaders and others, what it means to accompany people truly striving for unity.
“We learned from them that, despite all the lament, all the historical failures or disillusion that has happened throughout history, that the dream of ecumenical unity kept them going,” he says.
He also acknowledges that, when we talk about unity, we’re in a doubtful world.
“When we talk about unity, questions emerge, concerns emerge, doubts emerge: is this possible, especially in the world today that seems so polarized?” he asks, mentioning many countries that are experiencing high levels of polarization.
“How can we aspire to unity despite all those divisions that plague us today?” he asks.
Nascimento also shares inspiration about how, in 2025, the WCC will seek to renew the quest for unity of the churches and of all humanity by commemorating the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in 325.
“It was so powerful and so important that, to this day, we recite the outcome of that,” he says.
Post expires on October 6th, 2024
