Echos - Commission on youth in the ecumenical movement

The WCC’s 9^th Assembly called for the formation of a youth body to enable young people to develop their visions of the ecumenical movement and strengthen their role in the decision-making mechanisms of the Council.

At its first meeting in May 2007, the new consultative body adopted the name Echos - Commission on youth in the ecumenical movement. This is how the commission members explain their choice of name, which is a transcription of the Greek word Hχος meaning sound:

“We realized that our generation did not create many of the structures existing today. We are called to respond to the echos from the past of those ecumenical leaders ― young and old ―who have gone before us. We must also lay the groundwork for the youth that will come after this generation. So we hope to send our voices as echos into the future.”

The Echos commission consists of 25 young people from a broad cross-section of  churches and youth organizations within the ecumenical movement. It was set up as an "active think tank" to provide the WCC and ecumenical youth networks with new ideas on how young people can engage in ecumenical work.

Members of the Echos commission come from:

• each of the other WCC commissions
• from the executive committee to moderate and provide ongoing follow-up with WCC governing structures
• from the central committee and member churches
• from the broader ecumenical constituency