The Wisconsin Council of Churches engages in conversation with policy makers and governmental agencies with the purpose of furthering the Common Good of the human community. Most of these conversations are on the state level, but from time to time the Council works in partnership with local, national or international groups to address issues on these levels. Inspired by the message of the biblical prophets and by Jesus, the Council's special concern in its public policy work is the well being of the least powerful and most vulnerable members of society, whose interests are often overlooked by leaders in government, business and even the church. The Council cooperates with other faith-based public policy organizations in this work, including the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, the Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin, Wisconsin Jewish councils and Wisconsin IMPACT.

For more information on these ministries, contact Scott Anderson or Peter Bakken or telephone (608) 837-3108.

Peace and Justice Committee

The  Peace and Justice Committee consists of ten representatives of member judicatories who work with WCC staff to promote peace and justice issues in Wisconsin, including periodic workshops and events.  For additional information contact Ken Pennings or call (608) 837-3108.

Unity and Relationships Committee

The Unity and Relationships Committee (formerly Faith & Order) is made up of representatives from each member judicatory. It meets 5 times a year. The many New Testament texts that speak about the importance of the Church's unity for its mission of reconciliation in the world provide the inspiration for the work of the Commission. One of the most important of these is Jesus' prayer on the night of his arrest, found in John 17. On that night in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed that all who would ever believe in him would be perfectly one as he and the Father are one, so that the world would believe his message of God's love.

The Committee keeps abreast of the most important national and international dialogues leading to greater unity within the Church. These include the Roman Catholic/Lutheran Joint Declaration on Justification, the Call to Common Mission proposal of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Episcopal Church, the Formula of Agreement between the ELCA and the three Reformed Churches and developments among the COCU Churches. Working with the judicatories, the Commission encourages discussion and implementation of these agreements on the state and local levels.  

Believing that prayer is the soul of the ecumenical movement, the Committee also encourages ecumenical worship and prayer. Each year it promotes observances of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (January 18-25) in the churches or Wisconsin and distributes resources for use in these observances. It also holds an annual School of Prayer. This one-day event familiarizes participants with some of the various ways of praying that have long existed in the Christian community, some of which are not widely known.  

In addition to its work promoting unity and renewal in the Church, the Committee participates in and encourages dialogue with other religions through the Interfaith Committee.  

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