Zizioulas frames the Church as the concrete form of divine **communion**, so every major theme in his ecclesiology unfolds from that core insight:
– **Trinitarian Ontology** – The Church is the “icon” of the Trinity: as the Father, Son and Spirit exist as persons *in* communion, so ecclesial being is relational, not individualistic[1][5].
– **Eucharistic Ecclesiology** – “The Eucharist makes the Church.” Each local Eucharistic assembly, gathered around its bishop, manifests the whole Church here and now[4][8].
– **Local Church = Catholic Church** – Because the fullness of communion is present in every Eucharist, the one Church exists “as churches”; Zizioulas uses this to address the classic “one-and-many” tension of primacy, collegiality and unity[11].
– **Eschatological Orientation** – The Eucharist is an event where the future kingdom breaks into history; the Church “roots its identity in its future,” living between history and eschaton[2][6].
– **Personhood, Freedom and Otherness** – True personhood is realized in relational freedom; communion sustains both oneness and otherness without collapsing either[2][6].
– **Pneumatological Dimension** – Christology is always “constituted by Pneumatology”; the Spirit unites diverse members and bestows charisms, grounding conciliarity and catholicity[2][5].
– **Relational Authority** – Hierarchy mirrors Trinitarian relationships: the bishop serves as personal focus of unity, yet authority is exercised conciliar-ly within the communion of all believers[5][8].
Together these themes present the Church not as an institution added to individual believers, but as the very mode of existence into which humanity—and ultimately all creation—is invited through *communion*.
Sources
[1] John Zizioulas’ Trinitarian Ecclesiology – Czasopisma UKSW https://czasopisma.uksw.edu.
[2] The Theology of John Zizioulas – Introduction https://
[3] The Eschatological dimension of anamnesis in Zizioulas’ Ecclesiology https://zizioulas.org/
[4] The Great Inventor: In Memoriam Metropolitan John Zizioulas of … https://talkabout.iclrs.org/
[5] Leon Siwecki https://czasopisma.uksw.edu.
[6] 653 https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/
[7] John Zizioulas’ Trinitarian Ecclesiology https://www.academia.edu/
[8] Eucharist, ministry and authority in the ecclesiology of John Zizioulas https://www.academia.edu/
[9] Reading Summary Zizioulas https://www.scribd.com/
[10] Church – John Zizioulas Foundation Official Website https://zizioulas.org/
[11] The approach of Metropolitan John Ziziulas to the ecclesiological question of the relationship between one and many https://doi.ub.kg.ac.rs/doi/
[12] Retrieving Michael Ramsey’s Paschal Ecclesiology https://www.semanticscholar.
[13] Renewing the Narrative of the Age to Come: The Kingdom of God in NT Wright and John Zizioulas https://www.mdpi.com/2077-
[14] Is Africa Godforsaken? Neo-Pentecostal prophetism on African human agency and transcendence https://verbumetecclesia.org.
[15] Book Review: VI. Ecclesiology: Ecclesiology https://zenodo.org/record/
[16] The liturgy after the liturgy, mission and witness from an orthodox perspective https://hts.org.za/index.php/
[17] The pastor as spiritual mediator between God and the congregation: Corruptions of the relationships of the ‘under-shepherd’, the ‘flock’ and the ‘chief shepherd’ in a Zambian context and their implications for spiritual maturity https://hts.org.za/index.php/
[18] Exploring the practical theological study of congregations https://www.ajol.info/index.
[19] The Creative Tension between the Universal Church and the Local Church https://journal.unpar.ac.id/
[20] The pillars of our faith https://verbumetecclesia.org.
