Christians throughout the world will be praying "that they may become one in God's hand" during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2009.

The central committee is the WCC's highest governing body in the interval between assemblies, and meets every 18 months. It is responsible for executing Assembly resolutions, reviewing WCC programmes, monitoring their implementation, and approving WCC budget plans.

Dates and venue to be confirmed.

The 1910 Edinburgh World Mission Conference is widely regarded as the symbolic starting point of the modern ecumenical movement. Its forthcoming centenary is proving to be a suggestive moment for many people who are seeking direction for Christian mission in the 21st century.

The World Council of Churches' 9th assembly decided that the conclusion of the Decade to Overcome Violence be marked by an International Ecumenical Peace Convocation. This convocation aims at witnessing to the peace of God as a gift and responsibility of the oikumene. It seeks to assess and strengthen the church's position on peace, provide opportunities for networking and deepening our common commitment to processes of reconciliation and peace.

The World Council of Churches in Geneva, together with the Volos Academy for Theological Studies in Greece, is organizing a meeting on ethical issues surrounding stem cell research, to be held at the Chateau de Bossey, Celigny (Switzerland) on 1-2 December 2008.

The United Nations Advocacy Week (UNAW) 2008 will be marked by the overarching framework of “Human Rights at 60 Years” and will focus on three advocacy areas: climate change, migration and Sri Lanka. Organized by the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, the week includes capacity building and formation on advocacy within the UN system, theological reflection and analysis, panels and discussions on the advocacy focus areas.

Men and women who, throughout the history of the church, have set examples of Christian life have left a rich heritage to the ecumenical community. An international symposium at the monastery of Bose, Italy will explore the meaningful content which the joint remembrance of these witnesses to the faith can give to ecumenical worship.

The consultation organized by the Ecumenical Disabilities Advocates Network (EDAN) will offer opportunities to share experiences and to discuss issues such as the causes and effects of violence, domestic violence or the role of women with disabilities in the church.

The Philippines - a country where approximately a tenth of the population is indigenous and lives in isolated areas where access to basic services and opportunities for economic growth is lacking even as natural resources abound - will be the meeting place for some 30 theologians belonging to indigenous peoples of Latin America, North America, Europe, Australia and Asia.

The consultation is part of a WCC study project on Poverty, wealth and ecological debt. It continues a process which was started at the WCC 8th Assembly in Harare in 1998 and became known as Alternative Globalization Addressing People and Earth (AGAPE) since the 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre. Today, the issue of socio-economic justice is no less pressing.

Some 40 lecturers and professors of theology from different churches in Eastern Europe will participate in a seminar on "The Future of Ecumenical Theological Education in Eastern and Central Europe" which will take place from 24 to 28 of September in the academy at the Monastery of Sambata de Sus in Romania.

On 21 September, churches and communities throughout the world are committing to the International Day of Peace through prayer, meditation and other forms of spiritual observance. For 2008, the WCC office for the Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV) has made available prayer and liturgical resources developed in the context of this year's DOV focus on the Pacific region and its theme “Witnessing to God’s Peace”.

Around 65 theologians and church representatives from member churches of the World Council of Churches (WCC), theological faculties and regional ecumenical organizations will gather in Bern, Switzerland, from 10 to 14 September 2008, in order to reflect on issues such as the “Promised Land”, “the Church and Israel” and “Justice and Peace”.

Christian and Muslim women are peacemakers in many ways. Both separately and also together in groups throughout the world, they address the absence of true peace on a global level, in society and in the community of women and men. A 4-7 September meeting in Gothenburg, Sweden aims to take the existing dialogue between Christian and Muslim women one step further.