The progress of these dialogues as well as articles highlighting local efforts are published in the bi-annual Current Dialogue. The WCC has also published a study guide, My Neighbour's Faith and Mine, which has been translated into numerous languages and is used by churches around the world.
Among the team's present foci are:
* multi-religious reflection on secularization, the role of religion in public life and the challenges of religious plurality;
* Christian-Jewish-Muslim dialogue on the issue of Jerusalem;
* Hindu-Christian dialogue on issues such as proselytization, religious extremism and caste;
* Christian-Muslim forum on human rights.
historical note
Interest in a Christian approach to people of other faiths can already be seen in the New Testament.In the book of Acts, Peter, responding to the realities of a multi-faith context, says to the gentile Cornelius, "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him" (Acts 10.34-35).
This basic understanding of God's direct access to all people echoes what is asserted in the Hebrew scriptures by the prophet Malachi when he says, "For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering for my name is great among the nations says the Lord of hosts (Malachi 1.11).
It is in this light that people within the modern ecumenical movement have been trying to grasp the meaning of their obedience to the gospel in a world of many religions and cultures. Historically, these concerns have been pursued from the perspective of mission and evangelism, beginning withthe World Missionary Conference held at Edinburgh (1910), then through the International Missionary Council, and later within the WCC through the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism.
In 1971 a sub-unit within the WCC was formed to promote dialogue between people of living faiths. A major landmark in this area came in 1977 at a meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand where agroup of Christians representing many different ecclesiastical traditions drew up Guidelines on Dialogue. These guidelines serve as the basis of interreligious dialogue sponsored by the WCC and many churches around the world.
Taking stock of some thirty years of experience of interreligious dialogue within the WCC, a document entitled Ecumenical Considerations for Dialogue and Relations with People of other Religions was produced. This document was received by the WCC Central Committee in 2002.
present context
During the last few decades, questions about religious and cultural pluralism have attracted renewed interest in the churches. Everywhere there is a fresh sense of urgency to build creative relationshipsbetween peoples of differing faiths. As interest in dialogue has grown, so has its actual practice, enabling various religious communities to understand one another better and to work more closely together. Here are but a few examples:
* In the Middle East, Clergy for Peace brings together rabbis, priests, pastors and imams in Israel and in the West Bank for common action and witness to peace and justice in the region;
* In Southern India, the Council of Grace brings together Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Sikhsand Jains in an attempt to address situations of community conflict;
* In the Pacific, Interfaith Search brings together representatives of many religions in Fijiseeking to overcome prejudices and to promote mutual respect and appreciation for one another.
People engaged in dialogue have felt their own faith challenged and deepened by the new dimensions of religious life which they have observed, and many find in interreligious encounter a new impetus for doing theology and reviving spirituality. Communities in dialogue function as the leaven in the larger community, facilitating the creation of a society transcending religious barriers.
We stand at the historic moment when the Christian theological tradition must take full account of the experiences of those who have been living for centuries in religiously plural societies, as well asof the convictions of those who are newly stimulated by the broadening religious plurality of their surroundings. Our experience in dialogue suggests strongly that many "classical" Christian theological presuppositions and convictions need to be informed and challenged afresh by the realities of our times.
kinds of dialogue
Very often people associate dialogue only with formal conversations between two groups. In actual fact, many different kinds of dialogue take place and it is important to recognize the value of this .The most common is the dialogue of life that goes on in all situations of plurality.Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, people of many different faiths in fact, live and work together sharing a common life. Even though these dialogues go unnoted and are not consciously religious, we should recognize their importance in the building up of human relationships. A similar dialogue also takes place where people of different traditions come together to struggle for justice,peace, human rights and other issues that concern society as a whole.
Organized dialogue is of three types. The most common, multi-lateral and bi-lateral dialogues, are where representative groups of people come together to discuss a subject relevant to the communities concerned. The relationship of religion to the family, to education, to the state, etc. has been one subject of discussion encouraged by the WCC between Christians and Muslims in recent years (bi-lateral dialogue). On the other hand, a multi-lateral dialogue in India dealt with the theme of "Religious Identity in a Multi-Faith Society"; its main aim was to deal with the problem of increased violence between religious factions in India. In addition to clarifying points of differences, such dialogues hope to facilitate the building up of trust and openness between religious groups.
A second type of organized dialogue could be called academic dialogue where exponents of different religious faiths meet and discuss the theological/philosophical bases of their traditions. Here genuine attempts are made to arrive at a common appreciation of the way in which each religious tradition has sought to explain and approach reality. These dialogues help in breaking down prejudices and misconceptions accumulated over centuries. They enrich, enlarge, challenge and correct the way some religions have understood and approached religious life in other traditions.
Yet another form of dialogue may be described as spiritual dialogue. Here believers attempt to meet each other, as it were, in the "cave of the heart". They expose themselves to each other's spiritual and worship life. Often such dialogues take the form of participating in the prayer or mediation practices of others. This type of dialogue remains controversial because Christians are not agreed on whether it is possible to participate in the spiritual life of their neighbours without compromising their own faith.
It has a very charitable 'ring' to it. 
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