Continuing Committee On Common Witness  (CCCW)

Brief History

1985
In 1985, Father Joe Lang of the U.S. Catholic Mission Association and Rev. Jim Cogswell of the Division of Overseas Ministries of the National Council of Churches of Christ expressed a hope for an "ecumenical mission congress."

This conversation initiated a process that resulted in a jointly sponsored consultation in Madison, Connecticut in 1987.

1987
The theme of the first consultation was "Divided Churches/Common Witness: An Unfinished Task for U.S. Christians in Mission." There were a number of common convictions that led the ecumenical group of sponsors to undertake the consultation, among them:

1. That mission is at the cutting edge in calling us to unity
2. That our common purpose is the proclamation of the Gospel
3. That there is a sense of urgency about unity in mission in light
   of the critical situation in the world
4. That we must address the specific situation of U.S. Churches in mission.

At the close of the consultation, the Continuing Committee on Common Witness was formed.
View documentation from this 1987 conference.

1994
Based upon the very positive reception of the first consultation, a second consultation was held in Simpsonwood, Georgia, in April, 1994. It was attended by some 80 church leaders, representing Conciliar and Evangelical Protestants, Orthodox and Roman Catholics.

The final statement began with "a call to the churches in the U.S.A. to a renewed commitment to common witness in the name of Jesus Christ." The statement pledged to work together on four "concrete acts of common witness."

These projects included:

1. Ecumenical Missionary Orientation
2. Ecumenical Mission Education
3. A Communication Network
4. A New CWSW-USCMA Relationship (developing and strengthening ties)

1998
The next consultation in 1998, "Signs of Hope for Mission in a New Millennium," held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, proved to be just as successful and exciting as the previous two.

Eighty Roman Catholic, mainline Protestant, Evangelical and Orthodox participants explored the changing character of mission work and how that work might be better accomplished ecumenically at the Third Ecumenical Conference on Common Witness, held May 14-17 at the Bishop Cousins Center in Milwaukee.

The meeting was sponsored by Church World Service and Witness (CWSW), the humanitarian relief and refugee assistance ministry of the National Council of Churches (NCC), and the U.S. Catholic Mission Association (USCMA). This third conference also included individuals from several evangelical mission agencies.

Participants heard compelling stories of need and response from frontline workers in overseas missions, inner city ministries and refugee networks. Throughout the conference they strategized about how to further this kind of work on an ecumenical basis and helped draft an action plan that was released at the end of the weekend.

The Continuing Committee on Common Witness has continued meeting since 1987 to carry forward the work of ecumenical mission. The executive directors of the Church World Service and Witness (CWSW) Unit of the National Council of Churches and USCMA are ex officio members of the Committee and serve as conveners of the meetings. They each appoint six members to serve with them on the Committee.

The group looked for innovative new ways to share their vision of common witness and committed to invest in a Web site and communications network to continue the cooperative work that began in 1987.

"Although we have worked together well around certain issues, like refugee assistance, we have not done enough together institutionally in areas like mission education and training," said the Rev. Dr. Rodney Page, Executive Director of CWSW. "These conferences have brought together major Protestant and Catholic umbrella mission organizations in a counter-cultural struggle to find common ground. Already an ecumenical Gospel and Culture Network has been formed and a group of Presbyterians, Lutherans and Catholics are working together to train and orient missionaries. A communications strategy was one of the concrete initiatives to come out of this meeting."

"The relationships that are formed here mirror the inclusive body of Christ which cuts across denominational lines," said Rosanne Rustemeyer, SSND, Executive Director of USCMA. "In this Milwaukee conference, mission agency leaders gathered to consider new areas of mission, including mission in the city and mission among uprooted peoples. It is our hope that the conversations begun here will reach back into our churches and provide new stimulus for those engaged in mission." For documentation from this 1998 conference.

2001
View information regarding this Ecumenical Consultation, conference


2006
An Interfaith Consultation was held January 22-25, 2006 in Monrovia, Liberia at the invitation of faith leaders from the Mano River Union countries (Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea). View information on this Ecumenical Consultation.

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