The Committee on Ecumenical Relations (CER) meets twice annually, in the fall and the spring. It carries out its responsibilities ordinarily through its subcommittees: Christian Unity and Relations, and Ecumenical Ministries and Formation. The CER is funded through the per capita budget of the Office of the General Assembly.

Purpose

The purpose of CER includes:

• giving a high profile to the vision of the ecumenical involvement and work as central to the gospel and key to the life of the church,
• planning and coordinating, in consultation with the agencies and governing bodies of the church, the involvement of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in ecumenical relations and work,
• connecting the ecumenical efforts of all governing body levels of the church,
• providing a common point for all ecumenical efforts to connect us with those outside the PC(USA),
• keeping a unity of vision that includes the ecclesiastical, programmatic, ecumenical, and denominational (organizational) parts of our ministries and commitments,
• articulating the Reformed and Presbyterian identity in the midst of our ecumenical commitments
• promoting awareness of the role of the unity of all humankind in the search for the unity of the church, and
• promoting the unity of the church as an exhibition of the kingdom of God to the world.

Responsibilities

The committee has a number of responsibilities. Here are some of them:

• Start the process of selecting those churches that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will invite to send ecumenical delegates to the next General Assembly.
  
  
• Make appointments to ecumenical dialogues, consultations, union negotiations, and special consultations.
  
  
• Nominate and elect as appropriate persons to represent the PC(USA) in ecumenical and conciliar assemblies.
  
  
• Explore how to engage the PC(USA) in leading and influencing churches of Christ toward Christian unity.
  
  
• Discern what, if any, guidance the committee wishes to give the General Assembly on matters of interfaith relations.
  
  
• Provide guidance to General Assembly agencies on new opportunities to strengthen the relationships with other faith communities and on strategies for fulfilling the General Assembly mandates on interfaith relationships.
  
  
• Envision, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, how the PC(USA) leads and participates in the search for the unity of Christ’s Church within this nation and worldwide, and propose appropriate strategies to the General Assembly, its agencies, and other governing bodies.
  
  
• Represent the PC(USA) in negotiation and coordination of the search for Christian unity with other communions as authorized by the General Assembly.
  
  
• Select PC(USA) representatives to serve on ecumenical dialogues, ecumenical negotiations on church unions, multilateral and bilateral dialogues, and representatives from the PC(USA) serving as PC(USA) ecumenical representatives to other church assemblies.
  
  
• Oversee the implementation of “A Formula of Agreement” (Full Communion) with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, the Reformed Church in America, and the United Churches of Christ, and represent the PC(USA) in planning and coordinating structures to carry this out.
  
  
• Provide guidance to the General Assembly Council for our church’s conversations and understanding with non-Christian religious bodies in order that interests and concerns may be shared and common action undertaken where compatible means and aims exist (see Book of Order, G-15.0104).