“Let us aspire to live the unity for which Christ prayed, that the world may believe and experience God’s gifts of healing, justice and abundant life,” the Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches has said in a call to all Christians agreed on the last day of the 24-28 October gathering.

The gathering of members of the World Council of Churches (WCC), including the Scottish Episcopal Church, took place between 24 to 28 October 2025 and was on the theme “Where now for visible unity?”

The conference, the sizth since 1927, took place at Wadi El Natrun – a historic centre of Coptic monasticism located southwest of Alexandria, Egypt.

The Rev Canon Prof Charlotte Methuen, Convener of the Inter-Church Relations Committee (pictured) attended the meeting and had been co-moderator of the committee which drafted the conference’s message.

Commenting on the first day of the conference Prof Methuen said: “I am delighted and privileged to be taking part in the Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order, to experience the generous hospitality of the Coptic Orthodox Church in this historic place, and to explore the theme of Christian unity with nearly 400 Christians from all denominations and across the world.”

Prof Methuen spoke in a panel on the final day on Unity, and in a panel in the subgroup on baptismal ecclesiology.

The WCC described the conference as “the centrepiece of the WCC’s activities to mark the 1700th anniversary of the first Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, a key moment in the history of Christian faith and for the ecumenical journey today.

“Bringing together church leaders and theologians of different traditions as well as involving a new generation of ecumenists, the Sixth World Conference will approach the theme “Where now for visible unity?” from the interconnected vantage points of faith, mission, and unity.”

You can read the full message from the conference here, and watch the recorded proceedings of the conference at the WCC youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@worldcouncilofchurches/streams

Photos: Albin Hillert/WCC