Authority of the Church in the World
This study continues to discuss the nature of the Church's authority and its application in witness, as these affect the divisions among churches and our pilgrimage toward visible unity. The overarching issue at hand is the responsibility and authority in the world that the Church has from God. If the churches together believe that God wills full human flourishing, how can we understand the authority that God has given to the Church to foster such flourishing in the world?

Full Communion
Having identified the intrachurch understandings of unity/full communion in a 2000-2003 study, we will consider interchurch understandings of unity/full communion in 2004-2007. Particular attention would be given to the relationships of churches in the USA which are in stages of living into communion  such as Lutheran-Reformed, Lutheran-Episcopalian, Churches Uniting in Christ. The approach is to be twofold. We will look at the reception of these new relationships in the churches involved. Second, we will consider the significance of such relationships for other churches. Ecumenical findings from this study will be compiled in a narrative document.

Justification and Justice: Beyond the Dichotomies
While all areas of disunity among Christians are appropriate matter for Faith and Order discussion, one widespread area of church division that is explicitly a responsibility of the US churches is the division among Protestant communities between "Evangelical/Holiness/Pentecostal" and "Mainline/Liberal" expressions of the same theological heritage. One way this set of differences is sometimes characterized, or perhaps more accurately caricatured, is by speaking of an emphasis among some on personal "justification" and among others on corporate "justice." Justification, being put into right relationship with God, and justice are, of course, in fact the shared concerns of all the churches. Orthodox and Catholic churches and Protestant and Anglican communities that not experienced these divisions may have particularly valuable resources to bring to these discussions. Academics and social justice advocates have been engaged for many years now in attempts to bring "justification" and "justice" into a coherent ecumenical relationship. The Joint Declaration on Justification of the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church, 1999, has been a matter of interest of a number of US churches. The World Council of Churches Faith and Order Commission is engaged in a study of Theological Anthropology and included Greek Orthodox Commissioner, Despina Prassas, in their 2003 consultation. A request has come from one of our sending bodies for a study of justification and three requests for a study of theological anthropology. The time seems ripe to bring these strands of dialogue together into a US Faith and Order study.