Sometimes, to get clean water supplies to a village in Tanzania, direct action is needed. So says Moses Kulaba, a programme officer on accountable governance with Norwegian Church Aid, based in the south of the East African country.

This year’s International Day of Prayer for Peace, 21 September, features African churches working to build peace within and between diverse communities. The WCC invites Christians and churches to observe the day with prayers and liturgies and to give special attention to peace projects in Africa.

Military checkpoints are a way of life for Palestinians in Palestine and Israel. Each day tens of thousands of Palestinians move patiently through turnstiles and narrow caged walkways to go to work, school or home. It is a humiliating experience.

The International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) in the Jamaican capital Kingston in May 2011 will be a testimony of solidarity for the culture of peace that churches are trying to build on the island, says the Rev. Dr Paul Gardner, the president of the Jamaica Council of Churches, one of the event's hosts.

Her call to work in the World Council of Churches (WCC) as Catholic consultant for mission and evangelism came, she says, as “one of those surprises given us by God”. During the last five years her day-to-day encounter with people of other Christian confessions has been the occasion, she says, for “spiritual renewal” in her life. Alongside that, her appointment has been one of the various ways in which the Roman Catholic Church and the WCC...

While peace is a commonly held value within Judaism, Islam and Christianity, other religious values can often become sources of conflict. In order to build community beyond faith boundaries a group of young adults from each of the three faith groups spent a week focusing on the common value of peace recently.

The experience of African women theologians has been a crucial element in helping faith communities respond to the challenge of HIV and AIDS in Africa, says the coordinator of an ecumenical network on the pandemic on the continent.

A few days ago, I was handing out bottles of water within a few miles of Israel/Palestine’s only major river, the Jordan. The village of Al Fasayel lies in a desert landscape, a contrast to nearby Israeli settlements, which have access to almost unlimited water. Al Fasayel itself has not had water on tap for over seven weeks.

In times of exploding budget deficits and unemployment figures, migrants are often used as scapegoats for all the ailings and failings of society. In such a context it is the task of the church to uphold the human rights and dignity of all, the members of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Global Ecumenical Network on Migration have insisted during their annual meeting.

It has often been said that youth are the future of the Church. This may be true, but it is important to realize that while youth will eventually become the Church of tomorrow, they are also intricately involved in the formation and development of today's Church. In the time leading up to the June conference, Edinburgh 2010 has worked hard to increasingly incorporate the inspirational perspectives and ideas of young people within the Church.