75th Anniversary of Faith and Order
Schedule of Events
Sunday 25th August 2002

The 75th anniversary of the first world conference of the Commission of Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches in Lausanne, August 3rd 1927.

1500hrs Wreath-laying in the Cimetière du Bois de Vaux at the grave of Bishop Charles Brent of the Episcopal Church of the USA. He had preached the sermon at the first conference and later retired to live in Lausanne and died there.

The short ceremony will be attended by the officers and staff of the present Faith and Order Commission. Rev Dr Gunther Gassmann, past Director of the Faith and Order Commission will lead the prayer at the graveside; Rev. Prof. David Yemba ,Moderator of the Faith and Order Commission, and the Rev. Dr Alan Falconer, current Director of the Faith and Order Commission will lay a wreath at the grave.
(Cimetière du Bois de Vaux, Route de Chavannes 2, Lausanne)

1600hrs Convocation at which a number of presentations will be made on the work, impact and future of Faith and Order. The celebration will be chaired by Rev. Prof. David Yemba, Moderator of the Faith and Order Commission who will welcome the participants to the event.

Among the speakers will be a young theologian, Anastasia Vassiliadou of the Church of Greece will look to the future of Faith and Order for a new generation of ecumenists; Dr Mary Tanner, past Moderator of the Faith and Order Commission will offer some insights on the impact of Faith and Order dialogues on the unity of the churches, and the Rev. Dr Lukas Vischer , a former Director of Faith and Order, will explore a phrase from the sermon in 1927 of Bishop Brent "concerted action".

During the event, a number of messages will be presented by representatives of the churches. Among these , Präses Manfred Kock, President of the Council of the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland; Rev Dr Ruedi von Sinner of the Swiss Protestant Federation, of the Church of the Canton of Vaud
(At the Aula du Palais de Rumine, Place de la Riponne, Lausanne)

1800hrs Ecumenical Service of Celebration in the Cathedral of Lausanne. It will be a time of thanksgiving for the work of the Faith and Order movement. The preacher at the service is His Beatitude, Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania. The special service has been created by a joint committee of representatives of the churches in Lausanne and staff of the Faith and Order secretariat.
(The Cathedral of Lausanne, Place de la Cathédrale, Lausanne)

1930hrs Reception
(The cathedral of Lausanne, Place de la Cathédrale, Lausanne)

Contact people
Local ecumenical committee:
Pastor Martin Hoegger: Tel: 0041 21 635 9708; mobile: 0041 79 7744 149
Email: Mhoegger@hotmail.com

WCC Faith and Order:
Rev Dr Alan Falconer: Tel: 0041 22 791 6337
Email: WCC Contact

Biographical details:

Rev. Dr Gunther Gassmann (Evangelical Church of Germany)
served as Professor at the Institute for Ecumenical Research, Strasbourg and as
Director of the Faith and Order Commission 1984 -1995

Rev. Prof. David Yemba (United Methodist Church.) from the Democratic Republic of Congo is the Moderator of the Faith and Order Commission. He is the Dean of Theology of Africa University, Mutare ,Zimbabwe.

Rev. Dr Alan Falconer (Church of Scotland ) served on the staff and as Director of the Irish School of Ecumenics, Dublin and has been the Director of the Faith and Order Commission since 1995.

Ms Anastasia Vassiliadou (Church of Greece) studied theology in Greece at the University of Thessaloniki and in the United States. She is currently working as an intern with the Faith and Order team in the World Council of Churches

Dr Mary Tanner (Church of England) is the past Moderator of the Faith and Order Commission. She was the General Secretary of the Church of England Council for Christian Unity.

Dr Lukas Vischer ( Swiss Protestant Federation ) was Director of the Faith and Order Commission 1966 -1979, after which he was Director of the Protestant Office for Ecumenism in Berne, Switzerland.

His Beatitude Anastasios of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania is the primate of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania. He was born in Piraeus, Greece. Before joining the staff of the WCC in 1969, he lectured at the University of Marburg, Germany. In the WCC's then-Department of World Mission and Evangelism, he was secretary for research and relations with Orthodox churches. Before becoming a bishop, Dr Anastasios(Yannoulatos) was a rofessor in the University of Athens, and was dean of the Faculty of Theology 1984-88. A former Moderator of the WCC Commission on Mission and Evangelism, Archbishop Anastasios is a member of the WCC Central Committee, and of the Faith and Order Commission. Since 1993, he has been a corresponding member of the Academy of Athens.