Salvation Army participates in the Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order
Commissioner Jane Paone, The Salvation Army’s Secretary for International Ecumenical Relations, has represented the movement at the Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order held at the Logos Papal Center in Wadi El Natrun, Egypt, from 24 to 28 October 2025.
The landmark event was the first World Conference on Faith and Order to be held in Africa and marked the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, with the theme ‘Where Now for Visible Unity?’. Nearly 500 people attended from 100 countries, representing the 356 member churches of the World Council of Churches (WCC). Commissioner Paone attended as an advisor.
The Nicene Creed, formulated in AD 325 at the First Council of Nicaea, remains central to many Christian traditions and is recited in Sunday liturgies worldwide. The Salvation Army does not recite the creed, but its theological influence is evident in Salvation Army doctrines and practices.
‘It was a huge privilege to be part of this global gathering with rich theological inputs,’ shared Commissioner Paone.
Prayer, plenary and study groups
Each day began and ended with united prayer and multilingual worship, reflecting the diversity of global Christianity. Plenary sessions explored pressing themes, including:
- Where Now for Visible Unity?
- Faith in the Middle East
- The Triune God and the Identity of the Church
- Mission: Common Witness and Apostolic Discipleship
- Unity: Living and Visible?
- Ecumenical Future
Each afternoon small groups engaged with three major study areas: Being Church on the Way to Visible Unity, Being Human in the Image of God, and Being Church in and for the World.
Voices calling for deeper commitment
At the first World Conference on Faith and Order, held in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1927, the attendance was predominantly male. In 2025, the shared commitment to faith included many women, indigenous people and people with disabilities.
Revd Dr Susan Durber (WCC European President) challenged delegates to move beyond ecumenical agreements towards radical and mutual alliance, where there is a willingness to receive gifts from one another. She highlighted demographic shifts, noting that Christians from the Global South increasingly bring the gospel to Europe, creating new opportunities for unity. Bishop Thomas of the Coptic Orthodox Church urged that ecumenical dialogue must reach the grass-roots level and not only occur within large global conferences.
WCC General Secretary, Revd Prof Dr Jerry Pillay, facilitated a dynamic exchange with nine representatives of the Conference of Secretaries for Christian World Communions. Commissioner Paone emphasised the importance of the bonds of prayer, sharing how Salvation Army leaders joined other church leaders in prayer during a time of violent persecution. Along with representatives from the Pentecostal World Fellowship, Lutheran World Federation, Catholic Church, United Reformed Church, World Methodist Council, Mennonite Church, Anglican Church and Disciples of Christ, Commissioner Paone shared how together the various traditions are embodying and communicating the message of Christ with conviction, humility and compassion. She quoted the line of a song: ‘What is divine about my creed, if I am blind to human need?’.
Challenges and hopes for the future
Final-day discussions questioned whether the Church has lost its ecumenical imagination, urging a shift from proximity to power towards solidarity with the poor and wounded. Prof Dr Athanasios Despotis, serving in Germany, reminded participants that Christ washed the feet of all disciples, calling the Church to be a serving community.
Bishop George Cooriloos of the Syrian Orthodox Church, serving in India, envisioned an ‘ecumenism of the feet’. He stated that when Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, it was much more than a humble gesture; it was a counter-cultural, subversive act. At the foot of the Cross, all ground is level, he said, framing unity as an egalitarian movement.
Young theologians from the Global Ecumenical Theological Institute (GETI) presented a closing statement lamenting the gap between dialogue and practice: ‘Ecumenical theology often seeks unity through doctrinal coherence, and yet, we must also explore how unity becomes visible through our embodied experience.’
A shared journey forward
For Commissioner Paone, the gathering affirmed The Salvation Army’s role in sacramental, incarnational ministry around the world: ‘I sensed a strong desire to worship the one true God, to follow in Christ’s footsteps – even if that means sacrifice – and go forward in the power of the Holy Spirit.’
All the World magazine has featured a series of articles on the Nicene Creed.
IHQ Communications