a) The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

For whatever purpose Christians come together they will also meet for common prayer. Those who believe in Christ know that they depend on Him for everything. For this reason the separated Christians will only be able to advance on the way to unity if, again and again, they turn together to God through Christ in the Holy Spirit and ask for renewed clarity and freedom.

The Joint Working Group concerned itself first with the problem of "worship at ecumenical gatherings." Some guidelines were attached to the first official report. Since then it has dealt, in the first place, with the "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity." From the beginning of the ecumenical movement, this week has been the source of many new initiatives. Today it is being observed by more and more Churches. The Joint Working Group, desiring to serve the churches in this observance, made therefore arrangements for arriving at a fuller measure of agreement both on the concept of prayer for unity and on ways of preparing for the Week of Prayer. A consultation organized by the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity and the Secretariat on Faith and Order (October 16-20,1966) came to the following conclusions:

(i) A team shall be formed consisting of representatives of the Faith and Order Commission and of the Roman Catholic centers working in this field.

(ii) The task of this team shall primarily consist in the annual preparation of the leaflet for the Week of Prayer at the free disposal of Churches and Council of Churches.

(iii) The churches in the various countries shall be encouraged to adapt the text of the leaflet according to their needs. The adaptation in each country should be made, as far as possible, in ecumenical co-operation.

(iv) The week is not observed on the same date in all countries. While the majority keep the week January 18-25, come countries, for different reasons, have chosen other dates (especially the period between Ascension and Pentecost). None of these dates is to be considered as universally binding, but it is important that all churches in one country should observe the Week of Prayer on the same date. (For more details see report from the Consultation published in One in Christ, July 1967).

b) The Date of Easter

The efforts to reach a common date for Easter accepted by all Christians have been continued. The World Council of Churches has organized an inquiry on the subject and many of the member Churches have already sent in their replies. The question will be further examined on the basis of these replies. The Roman Catholic Church has created a commission for the study of the issue. The Joint Working Group is aware of the difficulties involved in this problem. A solution cannot be expected in the near future, since it must be based on solid agreement between all the churches.

c) The Theological Commission on Catholicity and Apostolicity

In the first official report, the joint Working Group proposed the establishment of a Joint Theological Commission of the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity and the Secretariat on Faith and Order. This commission has now been appointed and has held its first meeting (May 19-24, 1967). It is not yet ready with any results. If it is to deal in full with the subject entrusted to it, the deepest differences between the churches need to be examined and discussed. This will demand a considerable amount of time. The Commission consists of the following members:

d) Authority of the Bible

As certain exegetical and theological trends have a considerable impact on the search for the visible unity among Christians, the Joint Working Group intends to study the problem of the authority of the Bible and of its interpretation under both ecumenical and pastoral aspects.