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 first in a series of seminars to discuss the Wesleyan responses to Nicaea will be held on March 3-4, 2025:
March 3 (focus on Asia and Pacific) 07:00 to 08:30 GMT
(15:00 Manila, 16:00 Seoul, 20:00 Auckland)
Speakers:
- Prof. Te Aroha Rountree, Trinity Methodist Theological College, Auckland, New Zealand
- Rev. James Bhagwan, Methodist Church in Fiji, General Secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches
- Rev. Dr. Hermen Shastri, Methodist Church Malaysia, former vice moderator of the WCC Faith and Order Commission
- Rev. Dr. Lisette Tapia Raquel, United Methodist Church, Union Theological Seminary, Manila, Philippines
Moderator: Revd Dr Seferosa Carroll, United Theological College, North Parramatta, Australia
March 4 (focus on the Americas) 20:00 to 21:30 GMT
(15:00 Eastern, 09:00 March 5 Auckland) – Translation to Spanish will be available
Speakers:
- Rev. Dr. Blanches de Paula, Methodist Church Brazil, Methodist University Sao Paulo,Brazil
- Rev. Dr. Pablo Rubén Andiñach, Methodist Church Argentina, Universidad del Centro Educativo Latinoamericano, Rosario, Argentina
- Prof. Sarah Lancaster, United Methodist Church, Methodist Theological School in Ohio, Columbus, USA
- Prof. Gladson Jothanna, Church of South India, Drew University, Madison, NJ, USA
Moderator: Rev. Dr. Edgardo Colon-Emeric, United Methodist Church, Duke Divinity School, Durham, NC, USA
For more details, and to register for the event visit A Wesleyan Response to Nicaea: Reflections on Faith, Unity, and Mission on the 1700th Anniversary of the Council of Nicaea – Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome You can also use the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/aWYjeb0zTwuuw_akn2lbyA
