“This is a time of big challenges for ecumenical relations within Europe. The Churches In Dialogue Commission can play a key role in promoting ecumenical dialogue, especially between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Churches within the continent”. Here’re the words of Colin Williams, secretary general of Kek (Conference of European Churches whose members are 125 Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and Old Catholic Churches), just before the meeting of the Churches in Dialogue Commission (part of Kek) which is due to open tomorrow June 8th in Tallinn, Estonia (until 12th), to discuss the relations between Orthodox Churches and Reformed Churches. A meeting which, explains Collins, "will help us see how things stand and make plans about the future". The fifteen members of the Commission, coming from different European churches, will reflect on the recent theological consultations that have taken place between Orthodox and Protestants (the subject of reports by Sisto Saarinen, from the Evangelical Theological Faculty of Helsinki University, and by father Andrei Eliseev, from the Russian Orthodox Church). The points on the agenda will include the process of rearrangement of Kek, the Third European Ecumenical Assembly (Aee3), the relations with the other religions, cooperation between theological faculties and ecumenical education in Europe.
