As "the global food crisis continues to unfold and impact on the most vulnerable in our societies," the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia has called on international institutions and governments to move into swift action.

The Commission on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) agreed to hold a mission event involving some 200 participants in mid-2012, in advance of the WCC 10th assembly to take place the following year.

Communities have an important role to play when it comes to mental disorders. This was the unanimous view of experts who spoke at Geneva's Ecumenical Centre on Mental Health Day.

Under the title "Cultures and religions for all ages" around 150 persons gathered yesterday at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva to celebrate the UN International Day of Older Persons.

The United Nations Liaison Office of the World Council of Churches (WCC) co-sponsored an international dialogue on September 25 between some 300 religious leaders and political figures - including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - aimed at exploring faith perspectives and the role of religion regarding global issues such as poverty, war and prejudice while deepening mutual understanding.

The executive committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) meeting 23-26 September in Luebeck, Germany announced their decision to extend the contract of Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, the current WCC general secretary, through the time when a new general secretary takes office.

Patriarchy has been the dominant influence in shaping men and oppressing women, a workshop sponsored by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC) has concluded.

In the comfort of a simple Swedish meeting room, 25 Christian and Muslim women met to talk about how religion, which is often blamed to cause violence, can move people toward peace. When Rev. Marika Palmdahl welcomed the participants in the meeting "Moving towards a peace through religion" which was held 4-7 September and co-organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and Teheran's Institute for Interreligious Dialogue (IID), her...

"New paradigms and models of ecumenical work and engagement" are necessary to counter "a malaise in the ecumenical movement" in Asia, a group of ecumenists from the region stated.

As hundreds of thousands of people from the US Gulf Coast have evacuated their homes, fleeing from Hurricane Gustav as they did from Katrina three years ago, US churches keep praying and providing relief. They also denounce underlying social and economic conditions that make for the vulnerability of the region.