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  (Photo: WCC)
  The Rev. Dr Geoff Tunnicliffe (left), international director of the World Evangelical Alliance, and World Council of Church General Secretary the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit meet in Geneva, March 2010.

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches and the international director of the World Evangelical Alliance recently met to discuss their common concerns about efforts toward Christian unity.

The meeting between WCC's the Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit and WEA's the Rev. Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe was held last week at the Ecumenical Center in Geneva, Switzerland, where the WCC's headquarters is located.

It was the first meeting between the two bodies since the Global Christian Forum in Limuru, Kenya, in 2007.

The meeting was also the first since Tveit took over as general secretary of the WCC in January.

The two leaders discussed areas of common interest and collaboration, including mission and evangelism and the ongoing work on a code of conduct on conversion, which also involves the Roman Catholic Church.

"We affirmed that all Christians have a common call to be one, and that we want to be sensitive to one another's concerns," Tveit said of the meeting.

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Tunnicliffe commented, "This important meeting was helpful in building bridges of understanding in regards to evangelism, religious liberty and caring for the vulnerable. We look forward to ongoing conversations with the WCC."

The two leaders affirmed the continued support of the WCC and WEA for the relatively new Global Christian Forum as a platform providing opportunities for encounters and dialogue between Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal and the African Instituted Churches.

The WCC brings together many of the world's Orthodox, Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Reformed, United and Independent churches, representing in total some 560 million Christians. The WEA represents 420 million evangelical Christians worldwide.