2025 marks the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, a council of church leaders and others called by the Emperor Constantine in the year 325 to reflect on the being of Jesus Christ. One of the important results of this Council was the consensus documented in one of the great Creeds of the Christian tradition – the Nicaean-Constantinopolitan Creed, which is recited to this day and has had a profound cultural and political influence throughout the centuries.
To mark this important year, several ecumenical events are being promoted, including the Sixth
World Conference of Faith and Order, organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) to take place near Alexandria, Egypt, on October 24-28, 2025. In preparation for this bigger event, the year 2025 has started with the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” on January 18-25, 2025. This year will also be special because all Christians will celebrate Easter and Pentecost on the same date, thus signaling a possible consensus among different Christian traditions, including the Eastern Orthodox and Western Christianity – and the various groups and denominations such as the Roman Catholic Church, Protestant denominations, and many other churches and movements.
As part of this process, the World Methodist Council (WMC) is promoting a series of events under the title “A Wesleyan Response to Nicaea: Reflections on Faith, Unity and Mission.” Speakers representing the geographical and denominational diversity within Methodism have been invited to consider the historical complexity of the Councils in Nicaea and Constantinople in the year 325 and its differentiated impact today, especially from a Wesleyan perspective.
The WMC is promoting the following webinars:
- March 3 (Focus on Asia-Pacific)
- March 4 (Focus on North and South America)
- March 18 (Focus on Europe and Africa)
To register for these events, please use the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/aWYjeb0zTwuuw_akn2lbyA