November 2005
> African church leaders visit Israel & Palestine
> Ecumenical Water Network consultation
> Interreligious event on "My neighbour's faith and mine"
> Women-to-women solidarity visit to Pakistan
> The Roman Catholic Church and the WCC: 40 years of cooperation
> Consultation on terrorism, human rights and counter-terrorism
> Kobia supports Bread for the World campaign
> European youth, Asian, German, Baltic and Nordic churches prepare for WCC Assembly
> African church leaders visit Israel & Palestine
> 5-12 November, Jerusalem, Israel
A high-level delegation from the All Africa Conference of Churches, South African Council of Churches, Quaker Africa, Zimbabwe Council of Churches, as well as two bishops from Sri Lanka and Nigeria will be visiting Israel/Palestine to learn about the WCC's Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI).
They will meet with current ecumenical accompaniers, regional church leaders and local partners with a view to assuming the role of national coordinators in their respective countries, thus extending the programme to more Southern countries.
> Ecumenical Water Network consultation
> 7-11 November, Machakos, Kenya
An Ecumenical Water Network (EWN) "Water for Life" consultation, sponsored by Norwegian Church Aid, Bread for the World Germany, and the WCC will look at successful community-based initiatives in South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique and Tanzania in order to connect African discussions on water policies with the international debate. Some 70 people working with water and experts on the politics of water, as well as church leaders, mostly from Kenya, but also from the Pacific, Latin America, Asia, Europe and North America, will participate in the consultation.
EWN was formed by Christian agencies and movements to promote the preservation, responsible management and equitable distribution of water for all, based on the understanding that water is a gift of God and a fundamental human right.
www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/jpc/earthdocs.html
> Interreligious event on "My neighbour's faith and mine"
> 12-14 November, Geneva, Switzerland
"My neighbour's faith and mine: Religious identity - for better or for worse?" will be the theme of a major multi-faith event being organized by the WCC in partnership with the Geneva Interreligious Platform. Local and international speakers will debate the impact of religious identities on coexistence in plural societies. A public conference with religious leaders, a youth interfaith forum, a multi-faith celebration at St Pierre Cathedral as well as a colloquium on tolerance will all be open to the general public.
wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/interreligious/index-e.html
> Women-to-women solidarity visit to Pakistan
> 12-19 November, Lahore and Peshawar, Pakistan
On the heels of the recent earthquake, an Ecumenical Women’s Delegation from WCC and the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) will pay a pastoral women-to-women solidarity visit to Pakistan. The team, comprised of women from the USA, Guyana, Indonesia, Philippines and Geneva, will focus on issues facing Pakistani women, especially Christians, like honour killing, and discrimination against women by the state.
The delegation will also meet with church leaders to learn about their work in relation to women’s issues as well as with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and the UN special rapporteur on freedom of religion. The delegation may also visit Afghan refugee camps in Peshawar.
wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/jpc/women.html
> The Roman Catholic Church and the WCC: 40 years of cooperation
> 17-19 November, Bossey, Switzerland
A consultation "Towards the renewal of ecumenism in the 21st century", organized by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the WCC, will celebrate the common journey of the two bodies since the Second Vatican Council, and evaluate the mandate of their Joint Working Group (JWG).
After a public event at the Ecumenical Centre, Geneva, on Thursday 17 November, the consultation, involving the JWG Executive group and a few former JWG members, will take place at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute. Walter Cardinal Kasper and Bishop Brian Farrell, respectively president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, as well as WCC central committee moderator Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church (See of Cilicia), and WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, will participate in the consultation.
www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/ecumenical/index-e.html
> Asian churches prepare for WCC assembly
> 22-25 November, Tomohon, Indonesia
On 24-25 November, delegates from Asian churches will meet to prepare for their involvement in the WCC's 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre. Participants will also discuss specific Asian issues like the situation on the Korean peninsula, as well as militarization and human rights. On 22-23 November, the meeting will take the form of a Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV) Asia Focus consultation on "Building communities of peace", with case studies from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Korea.
> Consultation on terrorism, human rights and counter-terrorism
> 23-24 November, Geneva, Switzerland
In preparation for the WCC Assembly, a small group of experts, theologians, political and social scientists, as well as peace and human right activists, will reflect on how to develop an understanding of contemporary terrorism. In considering theological and ethical perspectives, they will seek answers to such questions as: What are the moral and ethical dilemmas? What principles can be developed to counter terrorism? What constitutes a responsible approach to the role of religion?
A draft comprehensive convention on terrorism is currently under debate in the General Assembly of the United Nations.
> European youth getting ready for Porto Alegre
> 23-27 November, Sinaia, Romania
An Ecumenical Youth Council in Europe (EYCE) course for 30 young WCC Assembly delegates and stewards from Europe is designed to equip them with the skills needed to raise the voice of young people at the Assembly. Young people from central, east and south-east Europe - where leadership training is particularly needed - will receive special attention. EYCE is coordinating the involvement of young people from Europe in Porto Alegre on behalf of the WCC, laying the ground for them to be elected into WCC working structures like the Central Committee.
> German churches prepare for WCC Assembly
> 25-26 November, Hanover, Germany
In their third pre-Assembly meeting, delegates from the Evangelical Church and other WCC Assembly participants from Germany will have the opportunity to learn about the new consensus decision-making procedures, and discuss main Assembly topics such as globalization and an 'appeal for an ecumenical future'. A group of some 60 people from Germany - Protestants, Orthodox and Catholics - will be going to Porto Alegre.
> Kobia supports Bread for the World campaign
> 27 November, Herrnhut, Germany
On the first Sunday of Advent, WCC general secretary Samuel Kobia will give the keynote address at the opening worship of the 47th annual campaign of the German aid agency Bread for the World. The theme of this year's campaign is "God's rules for a just world" ["Gottes Spielregeln für eine gerechte Welt"]. The campaign opening will be hosted in Herrnhut by the Moravian Church in Germany. Bread for the World presently supports more than 1000 projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
www.brot-fuer-die-welt.de [German only]
> Baltic and Nordic churches prepare for WCC Assembly
> 27-29 November, Tallinn, Estonia
Hosted by the Estonian Evangelical-Lutheran Church, some 80 participants from the Nordic and Baltic countries will meet to prepare for the WCC Assembly. They will discuss ecumenical issues and the future of the WCC, coordinate regional concerns, focus on information on the WCC's new consensus decision-making methodology and a major statement on ecclesiology and unity. They will also work in small groups on more specific issues such as reconfiguration, economic justice, religious plurality and DOV.
> Major WCC events coming up:
World AIDS Day
1 December 2005
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2006
18-25 January 2006, world-wide
WCC 9th Assembly (2006)
14-23 February 2006, Porto Alegre, Brazil