church leaders agreed to establish the world council of churches on august 23, 1948.
church leaders agreed to establish the world council of churches on august 23, 1948.
when did church leaders agree to establish the world council of churches?
august 23, 1948
the ecumenical movement met with initial successes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including the edinburgh missionary conference of 1910 (chaired by future wcc honorary president john r. mott). in 1920, the ecumenical patriarch of the eastern orthodox church, germanus v of constantinople, wrote a letter "addressed 'to all the churches of christ, wherever they may be', urging closer co-operation among separated christians, and suggesting a 'league of churches', parallel to the newly founded league of nations". church leaders agreed in 1937 to establish a world council of churches, based on a merger of the "faith and order movement" (under charles brent of the episcopal church of the united states) and "life and work movement" (under nathan söderblom of the lutheran church of sweden) organisations.
world council of churches
nonetheless, during his time as president, fry became known among many church leaders as "mr. protestant," a moniker that captured his tireless work on behalf of greater unity among protestant church bodies and made famous by the cover story on fry in "time" magazine. seeing it as his mission to heal the christian church's fragmentation into numerous splinter groups, fry was a prime mover behind the formation of the lutheran world federation in 1947, the world council of churches in 1948, and the national council of churches in 1950. among his many activities with these groups, fry presided over the constituting convention of the national council of churches, and he headed the policy-making central committee of the world council of churches. he described the world council as a means to "hold christianity together, to keep the means of communication open, to keep conversation going even if there is no success in our lifetime." fry also became president of the 72-million-member lutheran world federation in 1957.
franklin clark fry