Peace and overcoming violence will preoccupy the Board of Directors of the United States Conference for the WCC at their 24-25 October meeting in New York.

"Pathways to Peace: Religious Perspectives on Solving Global Problems" is the title of an interreligious briefing at the Church Center at the United Nations in New York on 11 October 2007. Rev. Christopher Ferguson, the WCC representative to the UN, serves on the panel along with Nurah Jeter Ammat'ullah, executive director of the Muslim Women's Institute for Research and Development and Aaron Etra from the Jewish service organisation B'nai...

The Joint Consultative Group between Pentecostal churches and the World Council of Churches (WCC) is meeting in its new configuration for the first time since the 9th WCC Assembly in 2006 renewed its mandate. Fifteen members of Pentecostal churches or WCC member churches are convening at the Focolare Centre in Baar near Zurich in October to set the agenda for the next seven years.

Thirty human rights activists, scholars and other members of Asian WCC member churches and related organizations will be gathering in Bangkok, Thailand, from 4-6 October to work “Towards an Ecumenical Agenda for Advocacy on Human Rights and Human Dignity”.

This international ecumenical consultation will assess best practices in dealing with large-scale crimes affecting entire nations or ethnic communities. During the first days of October, some thirty international academics and reconciliation practitioners meeting at the Dominican retreat centre Tallaght, Dublin, will study the exemplary cases of Guatemala, Germany, South Africa, Cambodia, Northern Ireland.

At a public hearing in Beirut, a panel of experts from different regions of the world will examine the ethical dimensions of migration and how churches are affected. Migrant groups, churches and secular organizations are invited to share their experiences with the panel. Drawing on lessons learned from past experiences in the ministry to migrants and work on overcoming racism, guidelines for future ecumenical work will be suggested.

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 2007, 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 Europe and its theme “Make me an instrument of your peace”.

Prof. Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Roman Catholic lay community of Sant'Egidio, will give a public seminar on the movement's worldwide work for peace and social justice during his one-day stay in Geneva on Thursday 20.

Church and civil society experts on environment and human rights from Switzerland, South Africa, Germany, Sri Lanka, Canada and Sweden will discuss future steps and strategies in support of more action at the UN Human Rights Council on the right to water.

The 3rd European Ecumenical Assembly (EEA3) which convenes in Sibiu, Romania, Sept. 4- 9, is deeply rooted in the world wide ecumenical movement as expressed through the World Council of Churches (WCC). From its founding in the 1950’s the Conference of European Churches has brought the ecumenical movement close to home for Europeans by bridging the gap between the Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and more recently Roman Catholic churches.