Lukas Vischer (23 November 1926 – 11 March 2008) was a Swiss Reformed theologian. From 1961 he was research secretary of the World Council of Churches’ (WCC) Faith and Order Commission in Geneva and from 1966 until 1979 the commission’s director. From 1980 until 1992 he headed the Protestant Office for Ecumenism in Switzerland and taught Ecumenical Theology at the Theological Faculty of the University of Bern. From 1982 until 1989 he was moderator of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches' (WARC) Theology department and from 1982 until 2008 moderator of the John Knox International Reformed Centre’s Programme Commission in Geneva. In these years, ecological responsibility of the Churches became a focal point of his work.
Life and work Early years in Basel 1926–1953 Lukas Vischer's family on both sides played a part in public life in Switzerland. Born on 23 November 1926, he grew up in Basel as the youngest of four children and attended the Humanist Grammar School ("Humanistisches Gymnasium") there. After a trial semester of law and history, from 1946 Vischer studied theology at the Universities of Basel, Strasbourg and Göttingen. He completed his tertiary education with a term in Oxford and a doctoral thesis with Oscar Cullmann on the Church Father Basil the Great (1953).Andreas Karrer: Lukas Vischer (* 1926), in: Stephan Leimgruber/Max Schoch (ed.): Gegen die Gottvergessenheit, Schweizer Theologen im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, Basel 1990, pp. 522ff (in German).
Parish ministry in Herblingen/Schaffhausen 1953–1961 In 1953, Lukas Vischer married doctor of law Dr Barbara Schmidt and began his ministry in the parish of Herblingen near Schaffhausen where their four children were born. In the Canton of Schaffhausen Vischer became involved in the inner-Protestant beginnings of what would become the Working Group of Christian Churches in Switzerland and became a delegate to the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches’ Ecumenical Commission.
Alongside his parish duties, Vischer completed his post-doctoral thesis ("Habilitation") "The Interpretation History of 1 Cor 6:11. Waiver of Right and Mediation" in 1955 (original German title: "Die Auslegungsgeschichte von 1. Kor. 6,1-11. Rechtsverzicht und Schlichtung").
In 1956, Vischer made contact with the World Council of Churches (WCC) in view of the WCC's Central Committee meeting in Hungary. His aim was to point out the suppression of church representatives in Hungary. The WCC hired him as a translator for the meeting. Soon after this, Vischer received his first official post as tutor of the graduate school of the Ecumenical Institute Bossey near Geneva. Following nomination by WCC General Secretary Willem Adolf Visser ’t Hooft, Vischer was elected to become Research Secretary in the WCC Faith and Order Commission (1960).Andreas Karrer: Lukas Vischer (* 1926), in: Stephan Leimgruber/Max Schoch (ed.): Gegen die Gottvergessenheit, Schweizer Theologen im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, Basel 1990, pp. 522ff (in German).See Lukas Vischer: Ein Rückblick auf acht Jahrzehnte, 2006, pp. 30-33 (in German; unpublished).
World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva 1961–1979 The start of Lukas Vischer’s work for the WCC coincided with the 3rd WCC Assembly in New Delhi 1961. This Assembly changed the ecumenical movement considerably: The International Missionary Council (IMC) and the WCC united; the Orthodox Churches of Russia, Bulgaria, Romania and Poland joined and created an important Orthodox presence; several “young” Churches in the southern hemisphere widened the international spectrum, and observers of the Roman Catholic Church attended an assembly for the first time.
The main objective of the Faith and Order Commission, where Lukas Vischer served as Research Secretary and from 1966 as Director, was: “The movement for Faith and Order is an integral part of the World Council of Churches. Its aim has always been ‘to proclaim the unity of the Church of Jesus Christ and to call the churches to the goal of visible unity’. This goal is mainly being pursued through study programmes which engage with those theological questions which divide the Churches. […] The main working method of Faith and Order are consultations in all parts of the world where issues which divide Churches are discussed and examined. […] Responsible for the organisation of these consultations and the publication of the results of these meetings is the Secretariat of the Faith and Order Commission at the World Council of Churches in Geneva.”Glauben und Kirchenverfassung (in German).
Ecumenical relations Leuenberg Concord – church unions – world confessional bodies Soon after Lukas Vischer began working in Geneva, he was asked to accompany the conversations between Lutherans and Reformed, which had started in 1955, on a European level. It was declared that the condemnations of the past “no longer related to today’s teaching”. In 1973 the Leuenberg Concord was adopted after ten years of work and ratified by the governing bodies of the participating Churches. This led to the formation of the Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE) in 2003.André Birmelé in: Karin Bredull Gerschwiler/Andreas Karrer/Christian Link/Jan Milic Lochman/Heinz Rüegger (ed.): Ökumenische Theologie in den Herausforderungen der Gegenwart, Lukas Vischer zum 65. Geburtstag, Göttingen 1991, p. 225 (in German).
Accompanying advice at negotiations of church unions was also part of the work of Faith and Order as well as the relations with the world confessional bodies and their bilateral dialogues – the contact to the world confessional bodies had the aim to integrate their activities into the ecumenical movement.See W.A. Visser’t Hooft (ed.): The New Delhi Report, The Third Assembly of the World Council of Churches, 1961, Geneva 1962, pp. 130ff (https://archive.org/details/wcca11/page/130/mode/2up).
Relations with Orthodox Churches For the WCC Lukas Vischer maintained relations with the Orthodox Churches of Russia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Poland and Armenia and with the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I. In later years the relationship with Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia became especially important to him. Relationships with Communist Eastern Europe included persistent advocacy for human rights and freedom of religion.See Emilio Castro: Karin Bredull Gerschwiler/Andreas Karrer/Christian Link/Jan Milic Lochman/Heinz Rüegger (ed.): Ökumenische Theologie, pp. 14f. (in German). In the context of Russia, cooperation with the representative of the Moscow Patriarch at the WCC, the Russian Orthodox theologian Vitaly Borovoy, was of particular importance. In 1964 Lukas Vischer organised together with Vitaly Borovoy and other Orthodox colleagues a dialogue between theologians of the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox traditions with the aim to work to overcome the 1,500-year-old schism.See Minutes of the Meeting of the Working Committee 1966 Zagorsk, Geneva 1967, p. 17 (https://archive.org/details/wccfops2.052/page/16/mode/2up).
The Second Vatican Council and the Relationship with the Roman Catholic Church Lukas Vischer came to international attention as the WCC’s official observer at the Second Vatican Council 1962–1965. In those days, the Roman Catholic Church opened itself up for cooperation with other Churches through the Decree on Ecumenism. The “Joint Working Group” of the WCC and the Roman Catholic Church began its work in 1965 and Lukas Vischer was one of its two Secretaries until 1979.See “Vischer, Lukas” in: Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement, 2nd edition, Geneva 2002, p. 1195. The Group explored questions of the relationship between Unity and Authority as well as Catholicity and Apostolicity in the Church and produced annual material for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.New Directions in Faith and Order, Minutes of the Meeting of the Working Committee 1967 Bristol, Geneva 1967, pp. 116,120,123f. (https://archive.org/details/wccfops2.054/page/122/mode/2up).
Ecumenical Assemblies and Studies on Church Unity Unity of All in each Place The WCC General Assembly in New Delhi 1961 was of special importance because of its Statement on Unity. The Statement speaks of a “fully committed fellowship” of “all in each place”, who are united through being “baptized into Jesus Christ” and “breaking the one bread”, through confessing him as “Lord and Saviour” and through “holding the one apostolic faith”, through “preaching the one gospel” and “joining in common prayer” and through “having a corporate life reaching out in witness and service to all”. And “at the same time [they] are united with the whole Christian fellowship in all places and all ages in such wise that ministry and members are accepted by all, and that all can act and speak together as occasion requires for the tasks to which God calls his people.”W.A. Visser’t Hooft (ed.): New Delhi Report, p. 116 (https://archive.org/details/wcca11/page/116/mode/2up). It remained open how this was to be achieved.
Convinced that to achieve a fully committed fellowship one could learn lessons from the methods of the early Christian Councils, Lukas Vischer initiated, whilst still in New Delhi, research work on the Councils.See W.A. Visser’t Hooft (ed.): New Delhi Report, p. 131 (https://archive.org/details/wcca11/page/130/mode/2up).See Lukas Vischer: Ein Rückblick auf acht Jahrzehnte, 2006, p. 38 (in German; unpublished).
The Patristic Study Group, a group with strong Orthodox participation, began its work in 1962.See Minutes of the Faith and Order Working Committee 1962 Paris, Geneva 1962 pp. 8f. (https://archive.org/details/wccfops2.040/page/8/mode/2up). The New Delhi Unity Formula was further expanded at the Fourth World Conference on Faith and Order 1963 in Montreal and at the commission’s conference in Aarhus in 1964.
Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry and other Studies The work on Ministry and the Sacraments has been part of Faith and Order’s agenda since the first World Conference in 1927. It was one of Lukas Vischer’s roles to continue with this. The Commission’s approach to the division at the Eucharist is reflected in the Report of the Section on Unity in New Delhi 1961: "Wherever existing convictions allow for a more direct progress towards intercommunion between Churches, it should be made without waiting for consensus and common action in the ecumenical movement as a whole."W.A. Visser’t Hooft (ed.): New Delhi Report, p. 128 (https://archive.org/details/wcca11/page/128/mode/2up). In the question of Ministry, church traditions also lay rather far apart, but during the study process a remarkable convergence in theological positions was achieved. It was important to Lukas Vischer to have a broad consultation process in order to facilitate the adoption of the paper by the member churches. Shortly after his resignation from the WCC, the Convergence Declaration “Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry” was adopted at the commission’s plenary meeting in Lima in 1982.See Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry, Faith and Order Paper No. 111, the “Lima Text”.
Further studies in these years related to tradition and traditions; the authority of the Bible; the Council of Chalcedon and its significance for the ecumenical movement; worship today; Spirit, order and organisation as well as common witness and proselytism.See Faith and Order Louvain 1971, Study Reports and Documents, Faith and Order Paper No. 59 (https://archive.org/details/wccfops2.065
Unity of the Church – Unity of Mankind