Dr Mary Tanner, from the Church of England, is a leading theologian and author who has been involved in the ecumenical movement in a variety of ways over the years. Among other contributions, she has led landmark studies and events, and moderated the WCC's Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order at Santiago de Compostela, Spain (1993).
Elected as one of the eight presidents of the World Council of Churches (WCC) at the 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre, Tanner speaks in the following interview about the promises and challenges lying ahead of the ecumenical movement, the role of the WCC, and why she thinks it is essential to work for full Eucharistic communion.How did you first become involved in the ecumenical movement?
In a sense there never was a time when I was not involved in it. My father's family were Methodist and my mother's family Roman Catholic. They became Anglicans but growing up I often attended Methodist and Roman Catholic services. During the war I went to a Baptist Sunday school. So, from a very early age I became familiar with different traditions. At university I became an active member of the Student Christian Movement. My first contact with the WCC came in 1974 when I was invited to the Plenary Commission meeting of Faith and Order in Accra, Ghana. I went as a proxy for my Professor, Geoffrey Lampe, a committed ecumenist who was also concerned to bring younger theologians and women into the ecumenical movement. That meeting was a life-changing event for me.
You have been involved in the ecumenical movement for many years in many varied roles. What do you hope to accomplish now as a president of the WCC?
I hope to be a faithful and effective ambassador of the fellowship of churches, always open to listen to the experience of others. At a time of such brokenness and violence in the world I hope to be able to get across the message that for Christians being together in witnessing to the reconciling power of the Gospel is a more credible and authentic way than our divided lives. We need to be together in witness, in service, in acting to overcome violence and in helping to protect and safeguard the creation. And we need to work even harder to overcome those things that prevent us from being together in Eucharistic communion. The WCC is a crucial space for helping churches to engage with all of this, while listening more attentively to one another and not simply seeing things from our own perspective.
How do you see the current situation of the ecumenical movement? What is the role of the WCC?
As to the current situation of the ecumenical movement, there are both hopeful signs and also new tensions and challenges.
