Theologians at the World Council of Churches have completed an ecumenical document that "brings to a close an intense period of ecumenical reflection on the meaning of 'Church'" that began nearly 20 years earlier.

The WCC said Tuesday that it's Faith and Order Standing Commission accepted by consensus the document entitled "The Church: Towards a Common Vision."

The document will be released publicly after a meeting of the WCC Central Committee in Crete in August for reception and commendation to the churches.

The document is one of the principal texts that will play a role in the 2013 Assembly of the WCC in Busan, Korea.

The commission's moderator, Metropolitan Dr. Vailios of Constantia-Ammochostos said the document represented a rare event.

He, along with other members of the commission met from June 17 to 22 on the island of Penang, in Malaysia to approve the new theological agreement, which is being called the Penang text.

The Metropolitan thanked God "that we have come to this important moment. This event does not happen often in Faith and Order. It happened in 1982 with Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry. It just happened again," he said.

The WCC said as in the case of that 1982 document "a significant, monitored process of reception" is being planned between the commission and the churches on this second convergence text.

The document reflects the growing convergence on ecclesiology achieved over 21 meetings (3 Plenary Commission meetings, 18 Standing Commission meetings.)

It includes responses of churches and theologians to two preceding texts that were staged towards a common statement: The 1998 "Nature and Purpose of the Church" and the 2005 document "The Nature and Mission of the Church."

The new document comes at the end of a period that began with the Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order at Santiago de Compostela, Spain in 1993.